.■'T^ 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


n 


CC  B3C    9410  "-Aeei^  . 

A^O]      Audin,    1793-1851. 

History  of  the  life,  works, 
and  doctrines  of  John 


^at 


'''^f^r^iWm 


S     X  f  4 


\\\ 


HISTORY 


OF   THE 


LIFE,  WORKS,  AND  DOCTRINES 


OF 


JOHN    CALVIN, 


FROM   THE   FRENCH   OF 


J.   M.  V.   AUDIN, 


KNIGHT    OF    THE    ORDER     OF    ST.    GREGORY  THE    GREAT,     MEMBER    OF   THE   ACADEMY 

AND   LITERARY      CIRCLE      OF      LYONS,      OF     THE     TIBERINE      ACADEMY,      AND 

OF    THE    ACADEMY    OF    THE    CATHOLIC    RELIGION,  OF    ROME. 


TRANSLATED  BY  REV.  JOHN  McGlLL. 


"POST    TENEBRAS    SPERO    LUCEM." 

Device  of  Catholic  Geneva. 


BALTIMORE:  — JOHN    MURPHY, 

B.  J.  WEBB  &  BEOTHEE: LOUISVILLE. 


COPY      RIGHT      SECURED      ACCORDING      TO      LAW 


B.    J.    WEBB    &   BROrHER,    PRINTERS. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  MST  FRENCH  EDITION. 


When,  in  some  pamphlet  of  Luther,  Cochleus,  Eck,  Emser,  Catharin, 
had  encountered, — and  this  good  fortune  frequently  befell  them, — some 
faults  against  dogma,  morals,  history  or  grammar,  which  they  immedi- 
ately denounced  to  the  Catholic  world,  the  furious  Doctor  amused 
himself  by  casting  in  the  face  of  his  adversaries,  all  the  injurious  expres- 
sions which  he  found  in  his  dictionary  or  his  brains,  and  both  were 
equally  rich  in  these  materials.  His  anger  being  appeased,  the  monk 
revised  his  work,  expunged,  blotted,  effaced,  corrected  the  assailed 
passages,  and,  quite  joyous,  for  his  own  justification,  threw  the  blame 
upon  his  printer.  Of  Hans  Lufft  he  said  :  "My  printer  is  called  John, 
and  John  he  wnll  remain.  Paper,  impression,  proofs — every  thing  he 
presents  me  is  detestable.  Moreover,  they  are  all  like  him  :  what  do 
they  care  for  the  glory  of  a  poor  devil  of  an  author,  provided  they 
get  money?" 

We  prefer  the  method  employed,  about  the  same  period,  by  our  Ca- 
tholic writers,  who  thought  that  they  had  reason  to  complain  of  their 
proof-reviser,  when  a  skillful  reader  had  discovered  some  typographical 
error  in  their  works. 

"Friendly  reader,"  said  one  of  them,  "the  theologian  to  whom  we  are 
Indebted  hx ''The  Antiquity  of  the  Orthodox  Doctrine,'"  not  having 
been  able  to  preside  over  the  printing  of  our  book,  please  excuse  faults, 
as  an  i  for  ij,  cBrianis  for  arianis,  garo  for  saxoj' 

We  must  admit,  that  this  formula  is  greatly  more  polite.  We  shall, 
therefore,  say,  like  Master  John  Lefebvre,  cur6  of  Totes,  in  Normandy: 
we  were  not  at  Paris  when  our  History  of  Calvin  was  printed,  and 
the  reader  will  believe  our  word ;  but,  we  must  conscientiously  confess, 
that  some  of  those  errata  which  critics  have  had  the  signal  kindness  to 
place  to  the  account  of  typography,  belong  legitimately  to  ourselves; 
this  avowal  costs  our  self-love  nothing  whatever. 

At  present,  we  have  given  the  greatest  attention  possible  to  there,- 
vision  of  our  proofs,  aided  by   skillful   correctors.     Should  the  reader 


PREFACE. 


have  the  misfortune  to  meet,  in  the  present  edition,  the  faults  which  had 
given  oflfence  in  the  former,  we  know  not  what  excuse  we  should  be 
able  to  allege  :  our  publishers  would  be  similarly  embarrassed. 

But  a  conscientious  writer  should  not  limit  his  duty  merely  to  the 
material  amelioration  of  the  text.  A  man  of  the  world,  it  is  probable, 
that  our  expressions,  in  a  book  in  which  difficult  problems  of  Psycolo- 
gy  are  agitated,  were  not  always  characterized  by  the  severity  of  the 
language  of  the  schools.  We  bad  but  one  resource,  which  was  to 
submit  our  labours  to  masters  versed  in  this  holy  science,  designated, 
by  the  sixteenth  century,  the  mistress  of  all  the  sciences. 

Our  first  volume,  in  all  that  trenches  upon  dogma,  has  been  revised 
by  a  member  of  that  celebrated  society  of  Jesuits,  which,  at  Rome, 
had  so  materially  aided  us  in  our  historical  researches.  The  second  has 
been  examined  by  a  professor  of  theology.  How  much  do  we  regret, 
not  to  be  allowed  to  mention  here  the  names  of  these  two  ecclesiastics; 
our  readers  would  perceive  what  a  pledge  of  correct  information,  their 
aid  offered  to  the  historian. 

If  the  critics,  who  with  such  indulgent  kindness  gave  an  account  of 
our  first  labour,  should  deign  glance  at  this  new  edition,  they  will  see 
that  we  have  profited  by  the  suggestions  they  have  made  us.  In  pursu- 
ance of  ancient  usage,  we  have  inscribed  on  the  title-page  of  our  work  : 
revised  and  augmented.  This  is  not  a  vain  promise,  but  a  reality. 
Our  revisions  have  affected  the  literary  form  of  the  work ;  our  additions 
consist  in  a  certain  number  of  documents,  relative  either  to  the  Refor- 
mation or  to  its  representative  Calvin,  which  we  have  procured  at  Rome, 
from  that  rich  collection  of  Theses,  dissertations,  pamphlets,  sometimes 
stray  leaves,  which  the  Cardinal  Passionei,  with  the  passion  of  a  Savant 
and  Bibliophilist,  had  gathered  together,  and  which  he  afterwards  pre- 
sented to  the  Bibliotheca  Angelica.  While  giving  insertion  to  these 
documents,  we  have  remained  faithful  to  the  law,  to  which  we  volunta- 
rily subjected  ourselves  in  the  History  of  Luther,  to  admit,  against  the 
memory  of  him  whose  biography  we  were  writing,  no  testimony,  which 
was  not  derived  either  from  the  works  of  the  individual  himself,  or  from 
the  books  of  his  co-religionists.  Meiiage,  one  day,  had  the  fancy  to 
inscribe  on  one  of  his  publications:  revised  and  diminished:  We 
might  have  used  the  formula  of  this  writer  of  many  books.  In  fact, 
we  have  retrenched  from  this  edition  some  facts,  in  support  of  which 
we  were  not  able  to  invoke  the  authority  of  reformed  writers  :  this  we 
did,  because,  above  every  thing,  we  desire  to  merit  the  eulogy  of  an 
impartial  historian,  awarded  to  us,  publicly,  by  one  of  our  most  learn- 
ed professors,  in  one  of  his  lectures  in  the  College  de  France. 


INTRODUCTION, 


We  should  not  deceive  ourselves  respecting  the  character  of  the  Re- 
formation of  tlie  sixteenth  century.  At  Wittenberg,  it  was  a  revolt  of 
the  cloister ;  at  Geneva,  a  political  movement.  Under  this  double 
form,  it  deluded  the  souls  whom  it  bore  along  upon  its  tide.  In  Saxo- 
ny,  its  destiny  was  to  terminate  in  anarchy;  in  Switzerland,  to  end  in 
despotism.  Carlstadt  was  the  first  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  his  faith  in 
the  Protestant  principle.  In  magnificent  terms,  the  superiority  of  reason 
over  authority,  had  been  proclaimed  by  the  Monk  of  Eisleben.  Carl- 
stadt was  exiled,  and  forced  to  beg  his  bread  from  village  to  village, 
because  he  had  interpreted  a  demonstrative  pronoun,  differently  from 
Doctor  Martin.  Schwenkfeld,  (Ecolampadius,  and  other  grave  minds, 
experienced  the  wrath  of  the  reformer,  for  not  having  believed  in  his 
infallibility.  There  were  heresies  in  a  church  whicli  had  erected  free  ex- 
amination into  a  dogma.  But,  besides  this  intellectual  disorder,  God 
reserved  other  chastisements  for  Germany  ;  she  was  punished  in  blood. 
The  preachings  of  Luther  aroused  the  peasants  of  Thuringia  and  Suabia, 
who  were  desirous  to  fish  in  the  pools,  and  hunt  in  the  forests  of  their 
masters,  in  virtue  of  the  right  which  Luther  had  given  to  the  electors, 
to  pasture  their  horses  on  the  meadows  of  the  monks,  to  drink  out  of  the 
cups  of  the  convents,  and  to  sew  the  precious  stones  of  the  Bishops  upon 
their  vesture. 

"Father,"  said  they,  "wq  have  read  the  Bible.  It  is  written  in  the 
holy  book,  that  God  makes  his  sun  shine  for  all  men.  Our  princes, 
therefore,  revolt  against  the  Lord  !  for  we  hardly  ever  behold  this  great 
luminary: — we  miners, — shut  up,  as  we  are,  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
and  compelled  daily  to  forge  lances  for  our  masters,  iron  for  their 
horses,  and  collars  for  their  dogs.  They  cause  us  to  pay  for  the  air  we 
breathe,  and  for  the  light  of  which  we  are  deprived ;  the  tythes  of  our 
flocks  and  of  our  fields  belong  to  them.  Father,  to  these  electors,  al- 
leady  so  rich,  thou  hast  given  croziers,  mitres,  ostensers  of  gold,  the 
1^ 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

wine  from  the  convent  cellars,  the  carpets  of  the  Cathedrals,  sacred 
vessels  quite  covered  with  precious  stones  ;  abbeys,  monasteries,  pre- 
bends: *  We  ask  simply  to  be  allowed  to  cut  in  the  forests,  and  only  in 
winter,  a  little  wood,  with  which  to  warm  ourselves;  in  summer,  to 
take  a  little  grain  from  the  fields  of  our  Seigniors ;  in  autumn,  some 
grapes  for  our  newly  born  babes,  and,  once  a  week,  to  gather  a  little 
grass  on  the  meadows  for  our  sheep.  If,  like  them,  we  are  children  of 
God,  sons  of  Adam,  created  from  the  same  slime,  why  should  our  con- 
ditions  be  so  different?  This  is  not  in  the  order  of  Providence.  The 
book,  which  you  have  recommended  us  to  read,  has  told  us  so.  We 
send  you  our  grievances;  put  them  under  the  eyes  of  our  princes.  If 
they  will  not  do  us  justice,  God  has  given  us  arms,  an  anvil,  a  hammer, 
pikes;  we  will  use  them ;  and,  as  it  is  written  in  the  Bible,  we  will 
combat  for  the  Lord.  God  will  send  us  his  angel,  who  shall  overturn 
the  mighty  and  raise  up  the  feeble.  We  will  strike,  pink  !  pank  \  upon 
the  anvil  of  Nimrod,  and  the  turrets  shall  tumble  under  our  blows, 
dran  !  dran  !  dran  !"t 

This  is  the  substance  of  the  long  prayer  of  the  peasants,  which  you 
may  read  in  Sarlorius,i  or  in  our  own  Father  Catrou,§  an  historian  too 
much  neglected. 

The  Princes,  alarmed,  asked  Luther  if,  in  the  Scriptures,  there  were 
not  some  texts  which  could  be  opposed  to  those  with  which  the  miners 
had  swelled  their  memorial.  The  monk  was  not  long  searching  for 
them  :  he  found  some  at  almost  every  page,  which  he  collected  and' 
drew  up,  in  the  form  of  a  notice  or  iuarning\\  to  the  revolted  labourers. 
Munzer,  their  leader,  replied  by  new  quotations  from  the  Bible,  and  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  summoned  his  brethren  to  arms.  Luther,  on  his 
side,  shouted  the  same  cry,  to  which  the  princes  responded.  He  main- 
tained, as  may  be  seen  in  his  works,  that  a  little  straw  or  fodder  is 
sufficient  for  a  peasant,  as  well  as  for  an  ass  :  that  if  he  shake  his  head, 
the  stick  must  be  used  ;  should  he  become  restive  or  kick,  a  bullet  must 
whistle.  1"  The  princes  made  use  of  these  arguments  in  the  order  indi- 
cated by  the  reformer,  and  the  peasants  yielded.     The  number  of  dead 

*  Luthnr  gab  den  ftirstcn  die  Stifter,  Kloster  und  Abtein;  den  Priestern  jjah 
cr  die  Wuibur;  deni  geincincn  Mannc  die  Frcilieit,  und  das  that  viel  zur  Sache, 
Pred.  Gasp.  Brochniand,  in  examine  politico.     Conf.  Aug.  p.  163, 

t  Menzel,  (Ad.)  Neure  Gcscliichte  der  Deutschen. 

t  Sirtoiius,  Versuch  einer  Geschichto  dcs  Deutschen  Bauornkriegs,  Ber- 
lin, 1795. 

^  Histoire  du  fanatisme  dans  la  religion  Protestantc,  depuis  son  origine. 
2  vols,  in  12mo.  Paris,  1733. 

11  Verniahnunor  an  de  Fiirsten  und  an  de  Bauern. 

If  An.  Joh.  Ruhel,— Luther's  Briefe.  de  Wcttc.  p.  669,  t.  11. 


INTRODUCTION. 


is  said  to  have  reached  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand.  A  new  seed 
of  sectarians  sprang  from  the  blood  of  the  miners.  The  Anabaptists 
appeared,  announcing, — what  Eck,  Miltitz,  Prierias,  and  other  Catholics 
had  taught, — that  Luther  was  marching  amid  darkness;  and  they  added,, 
tliat  they  only  had  the  light  and  understanding  of  the  holy  word.  For- 
tunately  for  Catholicism,  Luther's  gospel  had  given  birth  to  a  crowd- 
of  sects,  such  as  those  of  the  Sacramentarians,  of  the  GEcolampadians, 
of  the  Majorists^  of  the  Antinomists,  which,,  in  their  turn,  protested,  in 
the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  against  the  pretensions  to  infallibility 
claimed  for  itself  by  Anabaptism.  So  that,  as  in  the  days  of  Pagan- 
ism, every  thing  was  God  except  God  himself,  and  every  pulpit  infalli- 
ble except  the  Chair  of  Truth. 

At  GenevcL,  they  had  scarcely  become  acquainted  with  a  single  line  of. 
the  Lutheran  Symbol,  when  Froment  and  Farel  appeared  there,  to. 
preach  their  novelties.  An  unjust  hatred  for  the  house  of  Savoy,  drove 
into  the  ranks  of  the  revolution,  a  crowd  of  Patriots,  who  foolishly  im- 
agined that  Catholicism,  in  the  moment  of  danger,  would  refuse  its  aid 
and  assistance.  As  if,  in  the  person  of  its  bishops,  it  had  not  already 
nobly  allied  itself  with  the  people,  against  the  pretensions  of  the  Em- 
perors !  as  if  the  city  had  not  been  indebted  for  its  franchises  to  Adhe- 
mar  Fabri,  one  of  the  ornaments  of  the  Genevan  Episcopacy  !  We 
shall  invoke  some  of  those  holy  prelates  in  the  present  work,  and  you 
will  then  see  what  was  their  worth,  and  wlietlier  they  were  wanting  in 
courage,  devotedness,  charity  and  science  !  Geneva  has  been  able  to 
forget  them,  but  it  is  our  duty  to  recall  them  to  its  remembrance.  Car 
tholicism  has  not  left,  upon  the  path  of  its  progress,  even  one  human 
glory,  with  which  it  has  not  essayed  to  ornament  its  crown.  That 
bridge  of  Arve,  from  which  Froment  sounded  his  summons  to  the  peo- 
ple to  revolt  against  the  spiritual  sovereign,  was  erected  by  a  bishop  at 
the  expense  of  his  own  purse.  Was  it  not  Catholicism  that,  in  the 
middle  ages,  resuscitated  the  arts,  reanimated  the  cultivation  of  the  muses., 
revived  industry,  and  gave  fecundity  to  the  spirit  of  association  ?  It 
could  no  more  leave  people  in  darkness  than  in  servitude  !  Behold  it, 
at  the  epoch  of  its  greatest  development !  Does  it  not  sustain  the  cities 
and  the  Italian  republics,  in  their  struggles  with  the  Germanic  empire? 
la  the  thirteenth  century,  does  it  not  infuse  itself  into  that  political 
movement  which  agitates  all  nations  ?  At  Grutli,  does  it  not  come  for- 
ward to  sanction  the  oath,  of  the  three  liberators,  against  the  oppression 
of  the  house  of  Austria?  Was  it  not  a  Catholic  hand,  which  planted, 
at  Fribourg,  the  Linden-tree  of  Morat  ?  And  did  not  Byron  see,  groping 
through  the  chambers  of  the   little  tower  of  Stanztadt,   the  shade  of 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

Nicholas  de  Flue,  as  good  a  patriot  as  William  Tell  ?  A  glance  at  the 
German  nation  would  suffice  to  convince  an  impartial  observer,  that,  of 
all  the  forms  of  religion,  Protestantism  is  the  most  inimical  to  the  liber- 
ties  of  the  people.  And  let  no  one  appeal  to  England,  in  disproof  of 
this  fact,  for  there  Catholicism  had  so  deeply  laid  the  foundations  of  liber- 
ty, that  Protestantism  had  no  alternative  but  to  adopt  them  as  laws  of  the 
state.* 

At  the  period  of  Calvin's  arrival  at  Geneva,  the  Reformation  had 
been  accomplished.  The  line  of  its  march  could  be  followed,  like  the 
soldiers  of  Vitellius,  by  the  traces  of  disorder  which  it  had  left  in  its 
passage.  Its  triumph  was  recorded  upon  the  ruins  of  our  churches, 
upon  the  palaces  of  our  bishops,  upon  the  tombs  of  our  canons,  upon 
our  cemeteries,  and  even  upon  the  walls  of  certain  dwellings  still  stain- 
ed with  blood.  A  poor  maiden,  a  nun  of  St.  Clara,  has  described 
these  scenes  of  mourning,  spoliation,  and  murder !  We  shall  be  thank- 
ed, without  doubt,  fo  having  preserved  some  pages  of  her  simple  but 
dramatic  narrative. 

Certain  modern  historians,  anxious  about  the  destinies  of  the  refor- 
mation, have  speculated  about  its  probable  fate,  had  not  Calvin  appear- 
ed to  seize  upon  it  as  an  instrument  of  domination.  Some  think  that  it 
w^ould  have  been  absorbed  by  Lutheranism.  Perhaps,  fatigued  by 
doubts,  Geneva  would  have  obeyed  its  natural  inclinations,  and  returned 
to  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  church.  We  must  acknowledge  that 
Calvin  was  the  most  powerful  obstacle  to  this  measure.  Still,  it  would 
have  been  difficult  to  effect  a  reconciliation.  The  victors,  would  not, 
without  many  pangs,  have  restored  to  the  vanquished  the  spoils  which  they 
had  taken.  We  will  tell  you  the  means  resorted  to  by  the  reformation 
in  Switzerland,  to  prevent  all  return  to  order ;  upon  the  walls  of  the 
city  were  affixed  notices  for  the  sale  of  the  goods  of  the  churches  and 
monasteries ;  the  purchasers  were  numerous,  for  the  magistrates  had 
orders  to  sell  at  any  price.  Thus,  the  priory  of  Divosne,  in  the  country 
of  Lausanne,  was  sold  to  the  Lord  of  the  place,  for  1,000  ecus  :  that 
of  Porroy,  was  sold  to  M.  de  Senarchans  for  1,125  francs;  and  the 
lands  of  Villars-le-Moine  and  Clavelayre,  near  Morat,  w^ere  sold  to  the 
advocate  John  James  de  Watteville,  for  1,300  francs. f 

"  The  Electors,"  said  Melancthon,  "keep  the  treasures  of  the  church- 
es and  convents,  and  every  thing  else  for  ihemselves,  and  will  not  even 

*  Revue  du  Nord,  p.  251. 
t  Ilaller.    Histoirc  de  la  refonne  protestante  dans  [la  Suisse  Occidentale,  in, 
12mo.  p.  320. 


INTEODUCTION.  9 

give  something  for  the  support  of  the  schools  !"*  They  consented  to 
break  off  the  marriages  of  the  priests,  but  they  would  not  hear  of  a  resti- 
tution of  the  spoils  of  the  clergy,  upon  which  they  had  seized,  and  which 
Luther  had  abandoned  to  them.  For  them,  the  goods  of  others  became 
a  family  patrimony. f 

Luther,  at  his  appearance,  only  found  the  germs  of  revolution.  It 
was  his  mission  to  make  them  prolific,  and,  to  the  misfortune  of  humani- 
ty, God  permitted  him  to  succeed.  But  when  Calvin  came,  the  rup- 
ture of  Geneva  with  authority  was  a  fact  accomplished.  Luther  em- 
bodies a  spiritual  idea:  he  is  the  apostle  of  reason — but  of  fallen 
reason — opposed  to  faith  and  authority.  His  life  is  that  of  a  theologian, 
who  has  marked  his  progress  with  sufficient  noise,  style,  poesy,  wrath, 
ruins  and  blood,  to  give  interest  to  the  drama  in  w^hich  he  played  the 
principal  part.  In  the  last  act,  the  curtain  falls,  and  the  actor,  still  a 
theologian,  appears  in  another  scene,  where,  in  a  miserable  bar-room, 
he  exhausts  the  last  dregs  of  a  disordered  imagination.  Let  him  die, 
and  still  Protestant  Germany  will  continue  each  day  to  lose  some  other 
rag  of  its  nationality,  some  trait  of  its  primitive  imagination,  some  tie 
which  bound  it  to  its  historical  and  intellectual  past ;  for  by  the  hand 
of  power  it  is  chained  to  the  work  of  the  reformer. 

Informed  Protestants,  refuse  to  Calvin  the  title  of  demagogue,  which 
they  bestow  upon  Christ  and  Luther.  Tzschirner  calls  Jesus,  Luther 
the  first,  and  regards  Calvin  as  a  mere  usurper,  who  used  the  people  to 
place  the  crown  upon  his  brow 4 

The  Psycological  life   of  Calvin   commences  at  the  time  when  that 
of  Luther  ends ;  that  is,  when  the  reformation  begins  to  live  and  move.   / 
For  Calvin,  like  Henry  VIII.,  adopted  the  Protestant  idea  in  order  to 
make  himself  head  of  church  and  state.     In  him,  therefore,  there  is  a 
.twofold  individuality. 

As  sectary,  his  power  is  greatly  inferior  to  that  of  Luther,  who  resus- 
citated, under  the  name  of  free  examination,  the  principle  of  fatalism, 
illumination  by  the  Bible,  justification  through  faith  without  works,  and 

*DieFursten  reiszen  die  Einktinfte  der  Kloster  und  die  Kirchenguter  an 
sich,  und  geben  kaum  was  weniges  zu  den  Bedtirfnissen  der  Kirchen  und 
Schulen. 

t  Die  Groszen  lieszeu  sich  guten  Thiels  durch  die  KirchengUter  bewegen — 
Arnold. 

ij:  Und  den  (Christus)  wir,  nacli  Hrn.  Dr.  Tzschirner's  Ansicht  eigentlich 
Luther  den  Ersten  nennon  mu:NZten. — Bermerkungen  eines  Protestanten  in 
Preuszen  tiber  die  Tzschirner'    schen  Anfeindungen  ect.     1824,  p.  52. 

See;  Honinghaus,  Das  Resultat  meiner  Wanderungen,  Aschaffenburg,  1835. 
8.  p.  349. 


10  INTRODUCTIONS. 

the  serf.will  of  man;  old  errors  indeed,  but  invested  widi  new  interest 
and  colours  by  his  picturesque  language.  Calvin  was  forced  to  receive 
the  Saxon  symbol,  in  part ;  what  belongs  to  himself  in  the  confession 
bearing  his  name,  is  his  hermaphrodite  system  on  the  Lord's  Supper- 
half  Zwinglian,  half  Lutheran ;  but  his  God,  or  rather,  his  Destiny, 
damning  at  his  own  good  pleasure,  may  be  found  in  (Ecolampadius. 

What  providential  lessons  are  given  in  the  existence  of  these  two  refor- 
mers!  Both,  if  you  believe  their  own  testimony,  raised  up  by  God,  to  estab^ 
lish  the  Kingdom  of  Christ;  the  apostles  of  fatalism,  w^hichitis  their  mis- 
?ion  to  introduce  into  Christianity ;  the  steel-gloved  knights  of  brute  force^ 
which,  under  the  name  of  reason,  they  crown  king.  And  in  order  to 
be  saved,  it  is  necessary  to  believe  blindly  in  their  word  !  The  Impa- 
nation  of  Luther,  and  the  Predestination  of  Calvin,  are  two  truths  of 
salvation  :  the  one  devotes  to  eternal  flames,  all  who  refuse  to  accept 
his  eucharistic  symbol ;  and  who  refuse  to  believe  ?  (Ecolampadius, 
Zwingle,  Bucer,  Brenz,  Bullinger,  Calvin  himself,  the  glorious  repre- 
sentatives of  religious  emancipation  :  the  other  has  not  enough  of  the 
fire  of  the  eternal  future  to  punish  those  who  resist  him.  He  expels 
Bolsec,  exiles  Gentilis,  burns  Servetus,  decapitates  Gruet,  because  they 
will  not  adore  him  as  their  God  !  If  the  dogmatic  life  of  Luther  be 
more  dramatic,  because  it  is  passed  in  the  presence  of  Popes  and  Empe- 
rors, Kings  and  Electors,  in  the  Patmos  of  the  Wartbourg,  and  in  the 
anti-chambers  of  the  legates  of  Leo  X. ;  upon  the  benches  of  the 
taverns  of  Orlamund,  and  in  the  imperial  cities  of  Worms  and  Augs- 
burg; that  of  Calvin  possesses  a  different,  but  far  more  powerful  inter- 
est. John  of  Noyon,  contending  with  all  the  deserters  of  the  Catholic 
school, — with  Gentilis,  Ochin,  Castalion,  Westphal, — who  exert  them- 
selves to  expose  how  much  of  feebleness,  deception  and  inanity  there  is 
in  his  magisterial  speech,  is  a  spectacle  which,  in  our  contest  with  the 
reformation,  we  have  a  right  to  re-produce.  Rejected  by  Westphal, 
cursed  by  Bellius,  despised  by  Leo  Judae,  anathematized  by  Luther, 
what  opinion  is  it  that  he  personifies?  His  own  only.  His  masters, 
his  disciples,  his  predecessors,  and  his  successors  in  the  way  of  revolu- 
tion;— Zwingle,  on  his  mountains  of  Albis,  Melancthon  at  the  Universi- 
ty of  Wittenberg,  (Ecolampadius  at  the  foot  of  Hauenstein,  Bucer  at 
Strasbourg,  brother  Martin  at  Marbourg, — all  teach  a  doctrine  different 
from  the  one  we  shall  hear  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter  at  Geneva. 
While  confining  ourselves  to  our  task  as  historian,  we  could  not,  in 
our  biography  of  Calvin,  prevent  ourselves  from  indicating  the  miseries 
of  human  reason,  which  remains  alone,   isolated,  and  pow^erless,  when- 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

ever  it  emancipates  itself  from  the  great  principle  of  authority ;  unity 
or  truth.  And  if  our  task  be  now  more  easy  than  in  the  life  of  Luther, 
how  much  more  striking  shall  our  words  be,  when  we  shall  bring  into 
antagonism,  not  the  Reformation  and  Catholicism,  as  in  our  former 
work,  but  two  principles,  having  the  same  mother,  and  a  common 
genesis  !  At  Verriers,  near  Pontarlier,  stands  a  habitation  whose  double 
roof  turns  the  waters  of  heaven  into  a  twofold  rivulet,  which  gently 
conducts  them  off,  part  to  the  ocean,  and  part  to  the  Mediterranean. 
This  is  the  image  of  that  reformed  word,  which  is  lost  in  two  different 
rivers,  whilst  ours  has  but  one  source,  and  but  one  reservoir. 

Calvin  endeavoured  to  be  like  Luther,  in  building  upon  ruins.  It  is 
this  work  of  reconstruction  for  which  we  were  waiting,  and  here  we 
shall  exhibit  him  in  his  sterile  attempts  to  form  a  liturgy,  where  the  soul 
suffers  as  much  as  the  body.  We  shall  call  to  our  aid  the  Calvinists 
tliemselves,  to  judge  these  forms,  whose  sterility  sensibly  afflicts  them  : 
you  shall  hear  their  lamentations  in  union  with  our  own,  and  you  shall 
judge,  whether  that  fallen  spirit  has  understood  the  poetry  of  our  worship 
better  than  the  truth  of  our  gospel. 

M.  Paul  Henry  recently  said,  that  the  laws  of  Calvin  are  written, 
not  only  with  blood,  but  with  fire ;  and,  be  it  remembered,  the  writer 
is  a  fanatical  admirer  of  the  Genevan  reformer.  We  shall  make  you 
acquainted  with  the  legislator ;  we  will  appreciate  those  institutions, 
which  one  would  say,  had  been  stolen  from  Decius  or  Valens, — a  med- 
ley  of  buffoonery  and  barbarism, — where,  to  speak  ill,  ''ofM.  Calvin," 
is  blasphemy;  where  prohibition,  under  pain  of  imprisonment,  is  made 
against  wearing  shoes  a  la  mode  Bernoise ;  where,  io  cast  a  side-glance 
at  a  French  refugee,  is  an  offence  w^orthyof  the  lash.  In  the  Calvinist 
code  we  find  every  thing  belonging  to  Pagan  legislation,  anathemas* 
scourges,  melted  lead,  pincers,  cords  for  hanging  up  by  the  arm-holes, 
props,  a  sword,  faggots,  a  crown  of  sulphur.  The  torturer  is  an  apos- 
tate jurist,  named  CoUadon,  w^ho  continues  to  tear  the  flesh  of  his  patients, 
even  after  the  avowal  of  their  real  or  supposed  crime.  Those  who  have 
cognizance  of  heresy,  are  laymen,  who  scarcely  know  how  to  read.* 
The  denunciators  are  judges,  under  the  appellation  of  Elders,  and  the 
.security  for  the  denunciator,  is  a  secretary  or  disciple  of  Calvin. 

After  having  perused  the  process  against  Servetus  or  Gruet,  one  im- 
agines himself  just  out  of  a  poetic  dream  like  those  described  by  Shake- 
speare, and  says  to  the  vision  : 

*  Quippe  illiterati  homines.— Castal.    Contra  Calvinum. 


12 


INTEODUCTIO 


"Art  thou  not,  fatal  vision,  sensible 
To  feeling,  as  to  sight?  Or  art  thou  but 
**********,  a   false  creation, 
Proceeding  from  the  heat-oppressed  brain?" 

But  it  is  not  a  dream.  The  things  that  shall  pass  before  your  startled 
gaze,  are  funeral  realities;  but  another  than  ourselves  shall  write  the 
recital  of  them ;  now  it  shall  be  the  Secretary  of  the  Archives  of  the 
State  Council  of  the  Republic,  and  again,  Calvin  himself.  Did  we 
narrate  them  ourselves,  we  should  be  accused  of  calumny. 

However,  our  great  discussion  with  Calvin,  shall  be  held  upon  the 
political  territory.  Too  long  has  the  reformation  made  boast  of  having 
emancipated  the  human  intellect.  It  is  enougli  to  have  enjoyed  for 
thirty  years  the  triumph,  which  it  one  day  obtained,  when  the  French 
Institute  crowned  it,  in  the  work  of  Charles  Villers,  for  having  saved  the 
world  from  the  darkness  of  the  Papacy.  At  that  time,  not  one  of  the 
judges  had  studied  the  condition  of  Saxon  society,  when  it  was  invaded 
by  Protestantism.  In  Germany,  they  have  lately  translated  a  writing 
of  M.  Spazier,  inserted,  by  fragments,  in  the  Revue  du  Nord,  in  which 
the  author  proves  that  the  reformation  of  Luther  was  equally  fatal  to 
the  development  of  knowledge,  to  social  progress,  to  popular  liberty, 
and  to  Germanic  unity.  And  M.  Spazier  has  taken  care,  in  a  note, 
to  intimate,  "that  he  must  be  the  more  above  all  suspicion,  as  he  is  a 
Protestant,  and  has  been  educated  amid  all  the  prejudices,  and  even 
almost  in  the  intolerance  of  Protestantism ;  moreover,  that  he  has  lived 
in  the  north  of  Germany,  and  the  opinion  that  he  sets  forth  is  the  fruit 
of  conscientious  meditation,  and  has,  in  no  wise,  been  induced  by  ex- 
terior  influences.'^"* 

We  are,  therefore,  about  to  demand  from  Calvin  an  account  of  those 
franchises  which  had  been  bestowed  upon  Geneva  by  the  Episcopacy. 
You  will  see  those  sacred  liberties,  violated,  destroyed,  stifled  amid 
blood  ;  the  heads  of  the  patriots,  Avho  imagined  they  had  escaped  from 
the  tyranny  of  a  royal  house,  too  Catholic  to  be  despotic,  will  fall,  one 
by  one.  Peter  Vandel,  Berthelier,  Ami  Perrin,  Francis  Favre,  shall 
be  obliged  to  bend  before  one  Abel  Poupin,  who,  in  the  pulpit,  will 
call  them  dogs,  and  ''scurvy  fellows;"  to  appear  before  a  consistory  of  mer- 
chant  popes,  in  order  to  render  an  account  of  their  faith ;  to  solicit  ab- 
solution from  some  apostate  monk,  chased  from  his  own  country  for 
theft  or  debauchery ;  to  offer  honorable  satisfaction  to  some  refugee,  a 
citizen  of  Geneva,  by  the  grace  of  Calvin,  at  the  same  price  as  the  ex- 

*  Revue  du  Nord,  No.  2.  premiere  annee,  Avril,  1835. 


INTEO  D  U  CT  ION.  13 

ecutioner,  that  is,  gratuitously.  The  wives  of  these  patriots  will  be 
jnsulted  in  the  temple,  driven  from  the  communion  table,  thrown  into 
prison  for  having  danced,  or  for  having  beheld  others  dance  :  this  is 
written  in  the  records  :  scaffolds,  swords,  and  faggots,  such  is  the 
spectacle,  which,  during  his  theocracy  of  twenty-four  years,  Calvin  will 
exhibit  to  the  city  that  had  received  him,  expelled,  as  he  had  been,  says 
M.  Galiffe,  from  every  country  "which  he  sought  to  subject  to  his 
dominion."* 

On  leaving  the  council,  the  temple,  the  street,  we  shall  follow  Calvin 
to  his  own  lodgings,  at  Strasbourg  and  Geneva ;  we  will  study  the 
private  man,  and  we  shall  see  if  he  merits  the  praises  of  Beza.  Farel 
and  Beza — behold  the  only  friends  wlio  will  remain  faithful ;  all  the 
rest  will  withdraw,  voluntary  exiles,  or  martyrs  of  their  opinion,  to 
escape  this  Jbillious  despot,  who  seeks  to  impose  his  yoke  upon  the 
necks  of  ail  who  approach  him,  to  crush  every  thing  that  resists  him,  to 
blast  all  that  is  opposed  to  him,  whether  men  or  doctrines.  From  this 
absolute  apostle  of  selfishness,  we  will  demand,  what  he  has  done  with 
Ochino  and  Gentilis  ? 

The  biographer  of  Calvin  has  a  beautiful  part  to  perform  !  What 
matters  it  that  the  reader  peruses  his  work  Avith  prejudices,  opposition, 
or  malevolent  instincts  ?  The  historian  is  not  under  the  necessity  to 
say  :  this  is  a  true  and  faithful  narrative.  The  clerks  of  the  courts  of 
justice  do  not  lie  ;  and  we  write  under  their  dictation.  Thus  Calvin, 
in  all  the  phases  of  his  life — Calvin,  a  young  man  at  the  schools  of 
Paris ;  Calvin  at  Geneva,  with  Farel  and  Froment,  when  the  germ  of 
reform  is  being  developed  and  ripening;  Calvin  banished,  at  Stras- 
iDOurg,  taking  part  in  the  religious  discussions  of  the  Diets  of  Worms, 
Frankfort,  and  Ratisbon  ;  Calvin,  returned  from  exile,  theocrat,  theolo- 
gian, legislator,  in  all  his  contests  with  the  representatives  of  free-will — 
with  Bolsec,  Castalion,  Gentilis,  Servetus,  Gruet ;  and  with  the  enthu- 
siastic apostles  of  national  franchises — Ameaux,  Peter  Ami,  Francis 
Favre,  Berthelier ;  Calvin,  in  fine,  contending  with  authority  repre- 
sented by  Paul  III.,  the  Sorbonne,  and  the  clergy  of  Lyons  : — This 
is  our  whole  work. 

In  the  History  of  Luther,  it  was  our  idea,  to  vindicate  the  memory 
of  those  intelligences,  who  devoted  themselves  to  the  defense  of  au- 
thority. In  the  biography  of  Calvin,  we  have  desired  to  prove  that  the 
refugee  of  Noyon  was  fatal  to  civilization,  to  the  arts,  and  to  civil  and 
religious  liberty. 

*  Lettre  a  uii  Protestant. 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

Still,  however,  we  must  avow  that  we  have  not  told  the  whole  truth: 
but  it  was  not  for  the  want  of  courage  to  do  so.  Men  of  lively  faith 
and  high  intelligence,  among  others,  M.  de  Bonald,  had  blamed  us  for 
having,  in  our  History  of  Luther,  reproduced  certain  pages,  transparent 
even  to  nudity.  We  imagined  ourselves  still  in  that  Catholic  Germany, 
the  land  of  free  speech  :  We  were  mistaken.  They  shall  not  here 
have  occasion  for  the  same  reproach;  we  have  been  forced  to  show 
ourselves  more  chaste  than  the  reformer.  When  we  find  his  language 
too  free,  we  will  make  him  speak  Latin.  We  shall  not  do  violence  to 
the  text ;   Calvin  has  been  his  own  translator. 

W^e  know  not  how  to  thank  the  critics,  for  the  good  will  they  have 
ejjhibited,  in  their  account  of  our  first  work.  This  work  is  the  sequel 
of  the  one  we  have  published  ;  may  it  be  received  with  the  same  indul- 
gence! While  composing  the  biography  of  the  Saxon  monk,  we  col- 
lected  the  materials  for  the  history  of  Calvin.  There  is  not  in  Germany 
or  France,  a  literary  depot  which  we  have  not  visited.  Gotha,  Berne, 
Geneva,  have  furnished  us  a  great  number  of  the  reformer's  letters,  in 
part  inserted  in  the  German  work  of  M.  Paul  Henry.  For  the  first 
time,  we  reprint  entire  the  epistle  of  Calvin  to  Farel,  (1545,)  regard- 
ing Servetus,  the  existence  of  which  has  been  so  long  contested,  and 
which  we  found  among  the  manuscripts  of  the  Royal  Library  of  Paris. 
Some  pieces  in  verse  and  prose,  published  in  the  sixteenth  century,  have 
been  furnished  us  by  Lyons  and  Dijon ;  some  German  pamphlets,  on 
the  dogmatic  discussions  of  the  reformation  and  of  Protestantism,  by 
Mayence  and  Cologne.  At  Bale,  Berlin  and  Darmstadt,  we  found 
many  curious  facts,  in  the  literary  and  scientific  journals  and  reviews ; 
and  in  Schroeckh,  Plank  and  Muller,  some  profound  estimates  of  men 
and  events. 

Admiration  and  affection  for  Catholicity,  the  principle  of  all  true 
liberty,  form  the  complex  sentiment  which  has  inspired  this  history.* 

*  We  can  affirm  that,  for  the  composition  of  this  work,  we  have  consulted 
more  tlian  a  thousand  volumes.  We  have  given  references  to  these  works,  in 
ilie  progress  of  ourliistory. 


LIFE   OF  CALVIN. 


CHAPTER    I. 


FIKST    YEARS    OF    CALVIN. 1509-1529. 

Birth  of  Calvin. — His  parents. — His  Father,  Gerard,  destines  him  for  the  study 
of  Theology. — The  family  of  the  Mommors. — Calvin  at  Paris,  in  the  house 
of  his  uncle  Richard. — Mathurin  Cordier. — Farel. — Return  to  Noyon. 

Ox  the  10th  of  July,  in  the  year  1509,  John  Calvin'^  was  born,  at 
i^oyon,  In  the  house  where,  at  present,  hangs  the  sign  of  the  stag,  and 
which  his  father  had  purchased  at  the  wheat-market.  He  was  baptised 
at  St.  Godbert's;  the  canon,  John  de  Vatines,  was  his  God-father. — "I 
retain  my  baptism,"  did  Calvin  frequently  say  to  Beza,  "but  I  re- 
nounce the  chrism."! 

••'His  father,  Gerard,  a  native  of  Pont-l'Eveque,  an  ardent  spirit,  and 
greatly  skilled  in  the  cunning  and  intricacies  of  the  law,  was  wanting 
neither  in  diligence  nor  invention,  but  pushed  himself  forward  in  busi- 
ness, and  was  very  meddlesome.  He  was  apostolical  notary,  fiscal 
agent,  scribe  in  the  ecclesiastical  court,  secretary  of  the  bishop,  and 
promoter  of  the  chapter." 

'•'Gerard  had  two  wives,  the  first  o[  whom  was  named  Jeanne-le- 
Franc,  a  native  of  Cambray,  and  the  daughter  of  a  tavern-keeper, 
who  lived  retired  at  Noyon.  She  had  a  fine  person,  but  was  of  suffi- 
ciently poor  reputation.  By  her,  Gerard  had  six  children,  four  sons 
and  two  daughters.  The  eldest,  was  named  Charles,  the  second,  John, 
the  third,  Anthony,  and  the  name  of  the  fourth  is  unknown,  as  he  died 
very  young.  The  two  daughters  were  married  in  the  Catholic  church, 
and  one  of  them  dwelt  at  Noyon,  and  had  a  daughter  married  to  Luke 

*  The  forefathers  of  Calvin  wrote  their  name  Cauvin. — Calvin  had  several 
pseudo-names. 

t  Beza.  Life  of  Calvin,  Geneva.  1657.   p  .  5. 


16  ,  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

de  Molle,  a  furbisher  of  armour,  who  lived  at  Compeigne.  From  this 
marriage  Avere  born  two  children ;  Anthony  and  Mary.  Anthony,  who 
pursued  the  avocation  of  his  father,  died  at  Noyon,  a  good  Catholic,  on 
the  third  Sunday  of  Advent,  in  the  year  1614.  Mary  became  the  wife 
of  a  man  named  Bruyant,  of  Compeigne,  and  had  a  son,  Adrien,  atone 
time,  the  landlord  of  the  Silver  Lion,  at  Chartres,  near  Mount  Hery. 
Anthony  de  Molle  left  tw^o  children,  Luke  and  Mary.  Luke  was  a 
surgeon  in  the  suburb  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres ;  Mary  became  the  wife 
of  John  Fauquet,  a  baker  of  the  city  of  Noyon."* 

For  these  details  we  are  indebted  to  the  abbe  James  le  Vassenr, 
canon  and  dean  of  the  church  of  Noyon,  who  extracted  them  from  the 
registers  of  the  cathedral.     He  adds  in  a  whisper  ; 

"  Damoiselle  Jeanne  de  Bure,  femme  d'honorable  homme  feumaistre 
"  Claude  Jeuffrin;  Fran^oise  Maresse,  mere  de  M.  Vincent  Wiard, 
"  president  au  grenier  a  sel,  et  Helene  Hauet,  femme  de  feu  M.  Wal- 
"  lerand  de  Neufville,  orfevre  a  Noyon,  la  plus  ancienne  de  la  ville, 
"  naguere  vivante,  ont  plusieurs  fois  declare  avoir  entendu  rapporter  a 
"  leur  meres,  qu'elles  etaient  presentes  a  I'accouchement  de  la  mere  de 
'"  Jean  Calvin,  lorsqu'elle  I'enfanta,  et  qu'avant  la  sortie  de  Fenfant, 
'■  sortit  du  ventre  de  la  mere  une  quantite  de  grosses  mouches,  presage 
"  du  bruit  que  Jean  devait  faire  dans  la  chretiente."t 

Nearly  about  this  period,  a  child,  destined  to  fill  the  world  with 
trouble,  w^as  wandering  on  the  highway  of  Magdebourg,  begging  his 
bread  from  door  to  door,  and  singing  the  song  du  hon  Dieu,%  for  each 
kind  soul  who  threw  him  a  groeshen  :  this  was  Martin  Luther,  son  of 
Hans  Luther,  a  peasant  of  the  village  of  Mserha,  in  Saxony.  John 
Calvin  was  not  fated  to  undergo  such  rude  trials. 

His  father,  who  designed  him  for  the  study  of  theology,  §  read  the  fu- 
ture, for  he  was  a  man  of  foresight  and  judgment,  jj  The  limpid  and 
prominent  eye  of  the  child,  his  large  forehead,  his  nose,  modeled  after 
the  style  which  the  ancients  delighted  to  contemplate  in  their  statues, 
his  lips  curled  with  disdain  and  sneers,  his  leaden  and  billious  com- 
plexion, were  the  signs  of  cunning,  artifice,  and  obstinacy.  When 
you  meet  with  the  portrait  of  Luther,  beside  that  of  Calvin,  in  the 
library  of  Geneva,  you  immediately  divine  the  mental  idiosyncracy  of 
the  two  reformers.  The  first,  widi  his  florid  face,  in  which  the  blood 
courses  and  boils ;  with  his  eagle-eye,  and  brilliant  tints  of  colour  quite 

*  Annalos  de  I'Eglise  de  Noyon,  par  Jacques  le  Vasseur,  in4to.  Paris,  1623. 
|).  1156. — "Jacques  Desniay  and  Jacques  le  Vasseur,  Doctors  of  the  Sorbonne, 
have  given  a  very  exact  journal  of  the  life  of  Calvin,  up  to  the  time  of  his  de- 
parture from  the  kingdom,  and  that  too,  taken  from  the  registers  of  Noyon" — 
Drelincourt. 

t  We  must  leave  this  curious  statement,  respecting  the  circumstances  of 
Calvin's  birth,  under  its  French  dress.  We  should  not  know  how  to  set  it  be- 
fore the  world  in  English. 

ij:  Mathesius:  In  seinem  vierzehnten  Jahre  Kam  er  nach  Magdeburg  in  die 
^chule.  Allda  ist  dieser  Knabc  nach  Brod  gangen,  und  hat  sein  panem  propter 
Deum  gcschrien. 

{  Theologiae  me  pater  tencllum  adhuc  puerum  destinaverat. 
II  Erat  is  Gerard  us  non  parvi  judicii  et  concilii  homo.     Beza. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


17 


Venetian,  personifies  popular  eloquence,  brutal  force,  and  lyrical  en- 
thusiasm;— his  place  is  the  tribune,  the  forum,  the  tavern.  The  other, 
with  his  anchoret  face,  emaciated  by  vigils  or  disease,  his  faded  flesh, 
his  unquiet  air,  his  cadaverous  hue,  his  prominent  bones  piercing  the 
skin,*  will  represent  obstinate  sophistry  and  dry  argument.  He  is  the 
man  of  the  school,  of  the  temple,  of  the  cabinet— the  diplomatic  theo- 
logian,— the  fox,  who  has  assumed  the  monk's  cap,  for  a  disguise. 

Gerard  Calvin  w^as  a  poor  man.  His  office  of  fiscal  agent  brought 
him  scarcely  seven  hundred  francs'  salary,  and  he  had  to  support  a  wife 
and  six  children ;  but  the  noble  family  of  the  Mommors  came  to  his 
aid,  in  the  hour  of  his  distress,  whenever  the  winter  was  too  rigorous, 
bread  too  dear,  or  when  Noyon  was  made  desolate  by  famine.  Then, 
all  the  Calvins, — father,  mother,  children, — took  refuge  under  the  wings 
of  that  subsidiary  providence,  which  gave  them  food  and  raiment.  It 
w^ere  to  be  wished,  that  John,  in  his  attempts  at  literature,  should 
call  to  remembrance  the  good  pastor  of  Noyon,  with  a  more  tender  re- 
gard. It  is  true,  that  when  on  the  threshold  of  manhood,  Calvin  dedi- 
cated his  Com-mentary  upon  Seneca,  "to  the  holy,  pious  Hangest,  abbe 
of  Saint-Eloy,"  a  member  of  the  family  of  the  Mommors,  but  this  is 
all ;  and  yet,'  in  this  family,  besides  material  bread,  he  had  found  the 
bread  of  life,  for  which  he  had  so  great  an  appetite.  The  family  of  the 
Mommors  had  taken  care  of  the  soul  and  body  of  their  protegee ;  for 
preceptor,  they  had  given  him  the  master  of  their  own  children ;  arid 
with  these,  Calvin  had  opened  his  first  Latin  grammar,  and,  as  he  said 
himself,  received  the  first  discipline  of  life  and  1  earning. f  It  is  then 
a  Catholic  roof  which  shelters  the  infancy  of  Calvin  ;  it  is  at  the  hearth 
of  the  Mommors  that  he  warms  himself,  at  their  table  that  he  is  fed, 
with  their  children  that  he  plays  and  studies;  it  is,  as  he  says  himself, 
from  their  books  that  he  sips  the  first  drops  of  "the  milk"  of  learning. 
And  one  day,  when  the  images  and  associations  of  childhood  shall  be 
blotted  from  his  mind,  when  he  shall  have  become  pow^erful,  exalted, 
and  when  a  whole  nation  shall  listen  to  his  voice,  he  will  forget  the 
manna  of  Noyon  and  the  hand  that  distributed  it ;  and,  in  his  puritan 
humour,  he  will  damn  all  who  shall  have  adored  Baal,— Baal,  that  is 
the  god  invoked  by  his  preceptor,  the  abbe  Hangest,  and  to  whom,  each 
morning,  prayers  were  addressed  by  his  fellow  disciples,  the  children  of 
the  Mommors,  in  that  house  of  charity,  which,  in  his  eyes,  will  be  no- 
thing more  than  "a  fri.shtful  nest  of  papists." 

The  teacher  in  the  Mommor  family  was  a  skillful  man,  who  gave  to 
his  pupil  all  that  he  possessed  himself;  a  phraseology,  abundant,  but 
unrelieved;  an  idiom,  made  up  of  obsolete  provincialisms,  and  colour- 
ed with  all  the  literary  glories  of  the  epoch,  Greek,  Latin  and  French; — 
an  instrument  without  edge   or  point,   w^hich  the   scholar  might  use 

♦Colore  siibpallido  et  mg^ricante,  oculis  ad  mortem  usque  limpidis,  quique 
ingenii  sagacitatem  testarentur.    Beza.  Hist.  Calv. 

t  Veram  etiam  magis,  quod  domi  vestrae  puer  educatus,  iisdem  tecum  studiis 
initiatus,  primam  vitse  et  littorarum  disciplinam,  familise  vestrae  nobilissimae 
acceptam  refero.  Calv.  prsef.  in  Senecam,  ad  sanctiss.  et  Sapientissimum 
piaesulem  Claudium  Hangestium,  abbatem  Divi  Eligii. 

2* 


18  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVm. 

against  a  college  pedant,  but  never  against  a  man  of  the  people.  Add 
to  this,  some  shreds  of  Latin  prosody  and  poesy,  and  you  have  all  the 
literary  treasures  obtained  by  Calvin,  while  in  this  family ;  yet,  for  a 
child,  this  was  a  great  deal.  As  we  have  already  seen,  he  was  intend- 
ed for  the  ecclesiastical  state  :  by  means  of  some  hundreds  of  francs, 
present(id  to  him  by  his  benefactors,  he  purchased,  on  the  15th  of  May, 
1521,  the  prepend  of  the  chapel  of  IVotre  Dame  dt  la  Gesine. 

He  was  then  twelve  years  old.  "His  body  was  dry  and  slender;  but 
he  already  exhibited  a  sharp  and  vigorous  intellect,  prompt  at  repartee, 
bold  in  attack ;  he  was  a  great  faster,  whether  he  did  so  for  the  good  of 
his  health,  or  to  arrest  the  fumes  of  that  megrim  which  continually  be- 
sieged him,  or  to  improve  his  memory,  and  keep  his  mind  more  free  for 
study  and  composition.  He  spoke  but  little ;  his  language  was  se- 
rious, and  always  to  the  point.  He  entered  seldom  into  company,  and 
sought  retirement."* 

The  task  of  the  Noyon  professor  was  accomplished,  and  Calvin  de- 
parted for  Paris,  at  that  time  the  great  rendezvous  of  the  choice  spirits 
of  the  provinces.  Its  learned  chairs  were  occupied  by  literati,  who 
enjoyed  an  European  reputation  :  Aleandro,  having  came  from  Venice, 
with  his  head  full  of  Greek,  Latin,  Syriac  and  Chaldaic — the  treasures 
which  he  had  amassed  in  the  printing-oiRce  of  Andrew  d'Asola,  where 
also,  with  the  aid  of  certain  students,  he  had  collected  the  materials  for 
his  Greek  lexicon, — was  lecturing  there  with  credit  and  eclat. 

The  Sorbonne  had  just  come  forth,  glorious,  from  a  struggle  with  the 
apostle  of  German  reform,  after  having  condemned  most  of  the  propo- 
sitions of  the  Saxon  monk  :  but  its  triumph  was  doomed  to  be  cruelly 
expiated  !  Melancthon,  whose  name  was  known  to  all  the  learned  of 
France,  delivered  the  Parisian  Sorbonnists  over  to  the  gross  ridicule  of 
the  Germans.  His  satire,  which  had  traversed  the  Rhine,  and  which 
was  exhibited  in  secret,  electrified  the  students.  Alciati,  then  professor 
at  Bourges,  wept  for  joy  while  perusing  it,  and  compared  it  with  the 
best  comedies  of  Aristophanes.  The  name  of  Luther  had  suddenly  re- 
sounded through  the  colleges  of  the  capital.  His  treatise,  the  Captivi- 
ty of  Babylon,  had  been  translated  into  French,  by  Louis  B^rquin,  the 
friend  of  Farel ;  and  one  morning,  all  the  students  'm  law  and  theolo- 
gy, had  learned  that  the  Pope  was  the  Anti-christ  announced  by  the 
prophets;  that  the  monks  were  the  acolytes  of  satan;  the  Cardinals, 
the  porters  of  hell ;  the  priests,  debauchees ;  the  doctors,  asses  !  Now,, 
imagine  the  dolorous  sensation  which  must  have  been  felt  by  a  city  like 
Paris,  quite  full  of  priests,  bishops,  cardinals,  monks  and  Sorbonnists  ! 
The  Sorbonne  went  immediately  to  the  quarter  St.  Jacques,  to  awake  an 
old  doctor,  Jose  Clitowe,  a  pupil  of  James  le-Fevre,  who  set  to  work  to 
compose  a  treatise  against  the  Saxon  monk,  which  met  with  great  suc- 
cess.    We  are  indebted  to  Beza  for  these  details. f 

*  FloritTiond  de  Raemond  oil  Remond,  Histoire  de  la  naissance,  progres  et 
decadence  de  rhcresic  de  ce  siecle.     Rouen  in  4to.  162'2.,liv.  7.  ch.  io. 

t  "Luther  having  commenced  to  write  against  the  Indulgences,  which  were 
pToached  in  the  crusade  of  1517,  went  still  farther  in  the  chase,  and  published 
his  treatise  entitled  r  The  Captivity  of  Babylon.     This  caused  the  Sorbonne  io 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


19 


Scholasticism  was  at  that  epoch  queen  of  the  world  !  To  create  a 
sensation,  she  had  assumed  every  costume  :  the  red  robe  of  the  cardi- 
nal,  the  cape  of  the  bishop,  the  priest's  soutan,  the  monk's  frock,  the 
judge's  ermine,  the  professor's  square  cap,  the  warrior's  coat  of  mail, 
and  even  the  petticoat  of  the  ladies.  Margaret,  the  sister  of  Francis 
L,  in  her  hotel,  fabricated  the  fashions,  poesy,  dogmas,  and  libertine 
stories.     She  sang  : 

La  mort  est  chose  heureuse 
Al'ame  qui  de  luy  est  amoureuse  (Dieu.) 
O  mort!  par  vous  J'espere  tant  d'honneur, 
Qu  'a  deux  genoux,  en  cry,  soupir  et  pleur, 
Je  vous  requiers,  venez  hativement 
Et  mettez  lin  a  nion  gemissement. 
O  heureuses  -ernes,  filles  tres  saintes,        4 
En  la  cite  de  Jerusalem  jointes, 
Baissez  vos  yeux  par  miseration, 
Et  regardez  ma  desolation,   etc.* 

Having  finished  the  canticle,  she  read  for  the  duchess  d'  Etampes,  the 
adulterous  or  incestuous  amours  of  certain  Parisian  citizens,  or  perhaps, 
of  some  provincial  nun,  or  else  regaled  her  director,  William  Roussel, 
with  a  satire  against  the  Sorbonne,  which,  to  the  great  scandal  of  her 
daughters  and  chambermaids,  had  been  bold  enough  to  prohibit  the 
Miroirde'Vaine  pecheresse:  "A  princess,"  says  Beza,  "of  an  excellent 

condemn  him  as  a  heretic,  in  the  year  1521,  and  finally  to  write  a  book  against 
him,  entitled:  Anti-Luther,  the  author  of  which  was  a  person  named  Jose 
Clitowe,  a  disciple  of  Jacques  Fabri,  but  not  of  the  same  opinions  with  his 
master."  Beza.  Hist.  Eccl.  des  Eglises  reformees  au  Royaume  de  France, 
depuis  1321,  jusqu'n  1563.     Anvers,  1580.  3  vols,  in  8vo.  t.  1.  p.  5. 

*  At  different  epochs,  Margaret  wrote:  1st.  Les  Nouvelles  de  la  reine  de 
Navarre;  2d.  Les  Marguerites  de  la  Marguerite  des  princesses,  avec  quatre 
mysteres  on  comedies  pieuses,  et  deux  farces;  3d.  Le  Triomphe  del'Agneau; 
4th.  Des  chansons  spirituelles;  5th.  Le  Miroir  de  Tame  pecheresse.  For  her 
device,  she  had  at  first  chosen  a  marigold,  with  this  motto:  non  mferiora  secu- 
tus:  afterwards,  a  lilly  with  a  daisy,  and:  Mirandum  natura  apns. 

Here  are  some  verses  of  a  work  censured  by  the  Sorbonne. 

Mary  says  to  Jesus: 

O  quel  repos  de  mere  et  filz  ensemble! 

Mon  doux  enfant,  mon  dieu,  honneur  et  gloire 

Soit  a  vous  seul  et  a  chacun  notoire 

De  ce  qu'il  plaist  a  votre  humilite, 

Moy,  moins  que  rien,  toute  nichilite, 

Mere  nommer:  plus  est  le  cas  estrange, 

Et  plus  en  ha  vostre  bonte  louenge.  (i) 

(I)  Marguerites  de  la  Marguerite  des  princesses,  tres  illustre  royne  de  Na- 
varre, Lyon,  1547,  in  Bvo.  p.  34,  51,  59  68. 

Mr.  Genin  has  endeavoured  to  vindicate  the  memory  of  the  queen  of  Na- 
varre, from  the  charge  of  heterodoxy,  brought  by  Beda,  agaiiist  the  mirror  of 
Vie  sinful  sovl  See  the  notice  published  at  the  head  of  Margaret's  Letters.. 
Paris,  8vo.  1841.  ie  Sew^wr,  a  Protestant  journal,  claims  this  princess,  as  a 
glorious  conquest  of  the  doctrines  of  the  reformation. 


20  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

understanding,  and  whom  God  at  that  time  raised  up,  in  order,  as  far 
as  possible  to  frustrate  the  cruel  designs  of  the  Chancellor  of  France, 
A.  Duprat,  and  the  rest,  who  were  urging  the  King  to  oppress  those 
whom  they  called  heretics."*  This  chancellor  Daprat,  an  inflexible 
magistrate,  and  a  man  of  profound  foresight  and  exquisite  logic,  had 
committed  the  grievous  wrong  of  seeing  through  the  schemes  of  two 
ladies,  the  queen  of  Navarre  and  the  duchess  d'Etampes,  who  desired,  as 
they  averred,  to  convert  Francis  I.,  t  "because  the  severity  of  the 
laws  of  the  church,  and  especially  the  restraint  of  confession,  embar- 
rassed their  consciences. "J 

The  court  of  the  king  of  France  was  the  asylum  and  rendezvous  of 
all  the  glories  of  the  epoch,  and  particularly  of  the  glories  of  literature, 
whom  this  prince  both  loved  and  patronized.  There,  was  found  Wil- 
liam Bude,  "who,  in  his  erudition,  was  so  fortunate  as  to  meet  with  a 
king  of  excellent  mind,  and  a  great  lover  of  polite  letters,  to  whom 
the  writer  dedicated  that  fine  work,  entitled  :  Commentaries  on  the 
Greek  language;  at  the  same  time  persuading  the  prince,  that  the  three 
languages  ought  to  be  allied  together,  in  the  schools  and  universities  of 
his  kingdom,  and  that  he  should  erect  for  them  a  magnificent  college."§ 

A   JESUS    SAUVEUR    ET   JUSTIFICATEUR.. 

O  mon  Sauveur  par  Foy  Je  suis  plantee, 
Et  par  amour  en  vous  jointe  et  entee. 
Quelle  union,  quelle  bienheurete, 
Puisque  par  Foy  J'ai  de  vous  seurete  I 

Done  monseigneur,  qui  me  condemnera: 
Et  quel  juge  jamais  me  damnera, 
Quand  celuy-la,  qui  m'est  donne  pour  juge 
Est  mon  espoux,  mon  pere,  mon  refuge? 

Jesus  Christ  qui  est  mon  redempteur 

Qui  par  sa  mort  nous  a  restitue 

Notre  heritage,  et  s'est  constitue 

Notre  advocat,  devant  Dieu  presentant 

Les  merites :  qui  sont  et  valent  tant. 

Que  ma  grande  depte  en  est  si  surmontee  H 

Que  pourrien  n'est  enjugement  comptee. 

Quand  vos  vertus,  mon  Sauveur,  presentez 
Certes  assez  justice  contentez, 
Et  sur  la  croix  par  votre  passion 
En  avez  fait  la  satisfaction 

Moy  donques  ver  de  terre,  moins  que  riens 
Et  chicnne  morte,  ordure  de  fiens, 
Cesser  doy  bien  parler  de  V  altitude 
De  ceste  amour. 

*Bezn.     Hist.    Eccl.     t.  1.  5. 
t  Und  sic  Sowohl  als  die  Maitresse  des  KOnigs,  die  Herzogin  von  Etampes, 
fUhrten  den  Knoig  fast  bis  zum    evangelischen   Glauben.     Das  LebenJahariR 
Calvins.     von  Paul  Henry.  Hamburg.     1835.  1. 1.  p.  18. 
\  Fiorimond  de  Remond.     liv.  viii.    chap.   iii.  p.  347. 
5  Theodore  Beza.    Hist.  eccl.  1. 1.  p.  5, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  21 

There,  too,  were  found  John  da  Bellay,  who  cherished  Horace  with  an 
affection  so  ardent,  that  he  placed  him  under  his  pillow  ;  and  Ramus, 
d-estined  to  perish  so  miserably  at  St.  Bartholomew ;  and  Scaliger, 
whose  name  is  a  sufficient  eulogy ;  and  Melchior  Wolmar,  one  of  those 
lawyers  whom  Luther,  at  the  bar-room  in  Wittenberg,  pursued  with  his 
biting  ironies ;  "Verbal  critics,"  said  he,  ''who  would  remake  the 
Lord's  Prayer."  You  beheld  there,  also,  William  Cop,  Peter  de  1'  Etoile, 
*'who  both  meddled  with  the  Greek,  and  slightly  with  the  Hebrew,  to  the 
great  annoyance  of  the  Sorbonne,"  says  Beza,  maliciously,  ''which  was 
opposed  to  all  progress,  with  so  great  fury,  that,  to  listen  to  our  masters, 
the  study  of  the  Greek  is  one  of  the  greatest  heresies  in  the  world."  A 
gratuitous  calumny,  this ;  for  most  of  the  Sorbonnists  were  at  the  same 
time  versed  in  both  the  Greek  and  Hebrew.*  Do  you  not  admire  the 
ways  of  God,  who,  as  Beza  testifies,  raises  up  a  lady  gallant  to  reform 
religion,  and  withdraws  understanding  from  men  like  the  Sorbonnists, 
who  have  grown  gray  in  meditating  on  the  Scriptures  ! 

Theologians  thronged  forward  to  ,give  further  splendour  to  this  array 
of  humanists,  poets  and  literati.  Especially,  is  to  be  remarked,  James 
le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  who  had  quite  recently  published  his  commentary 
on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and  who,  in  the  silence  of  his  retirement, 
was  then  preparing  his  French  translation  of  the  Holy  Bible,  At  that 
very  moment,  Luther  announced  that  the  bible  had  been  a  proscribed 
book  among  Catholics,  until  his  advent ;  and  master  John  Mathesius, 
a  disciple  of  the  Saxon  monk,  w^as  uttering  lamentations  over  the 
chains  by  which  the  papacy  shackled  Christendom,  in  withholding  from 
it  the  word  of  God.f  This  is  an  abominable  falsehood,  which  is  suffi- 
ciently refuted  by  Cajetan's  commentaries  on  the  Psalms,  by  fragments 
of  the  sacred  books,  translated  at  Venice,  Rome  and  Florence,  and  by 
the  version  of  the  bible,  published  at  Nuremberg.  Among  the  vota- 
ries of  science,  were  distinguished  William  Farel,  Arnold  Roussel  and 
Gerard  Roussel,  whom  a  bishop  of  Meaux,  Monseigneur  Briconnet, 
had  summoned  to  his  diocess,  that  they  might  labour  to  diffuse  a  relish 
for  polite  learning.  This  prelate,  animated  with  the  best  intentions, 
was  deceived  in  the  selection  of  his  instruments  :  the  greater  number  of 
these  theologians  had  become  infatuated  at  Strasbourg,  with  heterodox 
notions,  concerning  liberty,  grace,  justification,  works,  and  had  come 
forth  converts,  some  to  the  Lutheran  idea,  others,  to  Zwinglianism,  and 
the  rest  to  the  opinions  of  Bucer.  Not  one  of  them  possessed  an  uni- 
form symbol,  and  all  dreamed  of  a  reform  of  Catholicism,  by  an  immo- 
lation, of  authority  to  individual  sense,  of  tradition  to  private  interpre- 
tation, of  positive  dogma  to  figurative  meaning,  of  conscience,  enlight- 


*  See  Vecritde  la  Sorhonne^  on  the  subject  of  the  dispute  between  Luther 
and  Eck  at  Leipsic,  Luther,  before  his  condemnation,  appealed  to  the  Sor- 
bonne: the  mother  and  nurse  of  learning,  t.1  L  of  his  correspondence,  pub- 
lished by  de  Wette. 

t  Historien  vondes  EhrwQrdigen  in  Gott  seligen  M.  Luther  Anfang,  Lehre 
so  durch   Magister  Mathesius,l627.  p.  28.  cited  in  the  edition  of  Arnim.  1^2T. 


22  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

ened  by  the  instruction  of  pastors,    to    the    capricious  illumination  of 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

It  M^as  into  the  midst  of  these  theologians,  agitated  by  doubt,  incre- 
dulity, the  love  of  novelty,  and  pride,  that  the  young  Calvin  was  soon 
to  be  thrown  !  It  was  in  the  midst  of  religious  factions  of  every  hue 
and  colour,  that  he  was  one  day  to  search  for  truth  ! 

He  w^ent  to  the  house  of  his  uncle  Richard,  a  locksmith,  near  the 
church  of  St.  Germain  1'  Auxerrois.*  Richard  Calvin  was  an  honest 
workman,  who,  at  his  own  cost,  fed  and  lodged  his  brother's  son  for 
many  years.  The  youth  had  a  little  room  looking  out  upon  the  church, 
whose  chants  roused  him  from  slumber  each  morning.  The  two  sons 
of  the  Mommors,  who  had  accompanied  their  fellow-disciple,  left  him 
at  the  threshold  of  the  locksmith's  door,  and  went  to  lodge  in  the  street 
St.  Jacques.  They  met  daily  at  the  college  de  la  Marche,  at  the  lec- 
ture of  the  professor,  and  on  Sundays  and  festivals,  at  the  table  of  some 
noble  seignior,  allied  to  the  Mommor  family,  or  else  in  the  gardens  of 
the  g>i'nnasium,  where  they  walked  together,  and  rehearsed  from  memo- 
ry the  fine  things  which  they  had  learned  during  the  week.  Richard 
Calvin,  proud  of  the  success  of  his  nephew, — for  the  child  was  success- 
ful,— continued  to  go  every  morning  to  the  mass  of  his  parish,  to  abstain 
from  flesh  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays,  to  tell  his  beads,  to  fast  on  the 
ember  days  :  practices  at  which  the  proud  student  scoffed  and  laughed. 
For,  at  fourteen,  John  had  already  read  some  of  Luther's  books,  and 
doubt  glided  into  his  soul,  then  disquiet,  afterwards,  anguish.  He  en- 
vied the  repose  enjoyed  by  the  poor  artisan,  but  this  repose  fled  from 
him.  That  interior  peace,  however,  was  not  a  hidden  secret ;  and  his 
uncle  would  have  willingly  revealed  it  to  him  :  to  believe,  to  love,  and 
to  pray,  was  the  whole  science  of  the  locksmith. 

The  professor  of  the  college  de  la  Marche  was  Mathurin  Cordier,t 
who,  of  the  writers  of  ancient  Rome,  made  his  friends,  his  hosts,  his 
gods  : — "a  very  good  personage,"  says  Beza,  "of  great  simplicity,  and 
very  exact  in  his  profession  ;  he  since  has  passed  his  days  in  teaching 
children,  as  well  at  Paris,  as  at  Nevers,  Bordeaux,  Geneva,  Neuchatel, 
Lausanne,  and  finally  again  at  Geneva,  where,  in  this  year,  1564,  he  died, 
at  the  age  of  85,  while  instructing  the  youth  of  the  sixth  class.  "J  A  verita- 
ble revolutionist  at  heart,  who,  after  having  introduced  a  salutary  disorder 
into  the  science  of  instruction,  would  have  desired  to  treat  the  catechism  as 
a  theory.  In  the  chair,  he  was  elegant  and  flowery ;  his  style,  slightly 
familiar,  savoured  of  the  antique;  a  poet,  after  finishing  his  lecture,  he 
descended  from  the  Greek  or  Roman  Olympus,  and  began  to  extempo- 
rize hymns  to  the  Lord.  His  verses,  which,  perhaps,  Sadolet  might  not 
have  disavowed,  did  not   always   exhale   that   perfume  of  orthodoxy, 

*  Haec  causa  fuit  cur  pater  cum  quam  doctissimum  fieri  cuperet,  mitteretque 
Lutcliani,  et  Ricardo  fratri  comrnendaret,  in  vico  divi  Germani,  Altissiodoren- 
sis,  fabro  ferrario.     Pap.  Masso.  Elogia,    p.  410.  Parisiis,  in  8vo.  1638. 

t  Maturinus  Corderius  spectatae  turn  probitatis,  turn  eruditionis  vir.  Beza. 
His  colloquies  have  long  been  in  the  hands  of  pupils.  He  tried  his  skill  in 
French  poetry,  by  writing  spiritual  hymns,  of  about  the  same  value  as  the 
canticles  of  Marot.  (Lyons,  1552.) 

I  Beza.  Life  of  Calvin. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  23 

which  the  learned  Italian  has  so  well   understood  how  to  combine  with 
the  pagan  ambrosia.     Cordier  inclined   towards  the  German  novelties, 
because  they  were  doctrines  born  yesterday,  and  because  those  who  pro- 
pagated them  were  marvelously  well  acquainted  with  the  language  of 
Homer  and  Virgil.     As  yet,  he  knew  nothing  of  the  works  of  Bembo, 
of  Vida,  and  of  Sadolet :  his  eye  paused  upon  Bale,  where  (Ecolampa- 
dius,  Capito,  Erasmus,  were  resuscitating  antiquity,  but  it  never  travers- 
ed the  Alps,  to  behold,  at  Rome,  pagan   statues   issuing  from  the  earth, 
and  their  recovery  chanted  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew.     While  Ger- 
many was  essaying  some  new  gloss  upon  a  text  of  scripture ;  while,  in 
the  little  letters  of  Hutten,    she   was  persecuting  monastic  obscurity ; 
while,  at  Wittenberg,  she  listened,  in   ravishment,  to  the  commentaries 
of  Melancthon  on  Aristophanes,  or,  at  the  Augustinian  convent  of  Er- 
furth,  became  inflamed  beneath  the   fiery  words  of  Luther: — Melanc- 
thon, Luther,    Hutten,  brilliant   and   fatal  meteors   of  the  revival ! — 
Italy  produced  a  Machiaval,  an  annalist   after  the  manner  of  Tacitus ; 
an  Ariosto,  poet  like  Homer  ;  a    Guichardin,   historian,   often  as  warm 
as  Salust ;  a  Sannazar,  whom  Plato  would  not  have  had  the  strength  to 
exile  from  his  republic  ;  a  Michael   Angelo,    a  Raphael,  a  Benvenuto 
Cellini — a  beautiful   heaven   of  poets,   painters,    sculptors,   historians, 
jurists,  orators,  which  each  hour  of  the  day  unfolded  its  portals,  to  send 
forth  some  divinity,  like  that  which  lighted  at  Bourges,  under  the  name 
of  Alciati,  to  teach  there  the  science  of  the  law,  or  at  the  University  of 
Paris,  under  that  of  Aleandro,  to  diffuse  a  taste  for  Greek  literature. 

This  spectacle  was  hidden  from  Cordier,  who  was  unwilling  to  see  it, 
and  obstinately  persevered  in  predicting  a  speedy  waking  up  of  intellect, 
when  already  Italy,  thanks  to  the  papacy,  could  point  to  her  epic 
poets.* 

The  professor  of  the  college  Montaigu,  under  whom  Calvin  studied 
dialectics,  resembled  the  professor  of  La  Marche,  in  nothing  :  a  Span- 
iard by  birth,  he  made  Aristotle  his  idol,  in  spite  of  all  the  sarcasms 
showered  upon  the  stagyrite,t  by  the  learned  of  Germany.  Among 
the  humanists  of  doubtful  faith,  it  was  then  the  fashion  to  ridicule  Aris- 
totle, by  whom,  in  the  schools,  authority  was  represented,  as  in  the 
Catholic  world,  it  was  symbolized  by  the  papacy.  Besides,  Aristotle 
must  have  been  a  favourite  of  Calvin,  who  was  captious,  fond  of  retort, 
and  of  sylogisms,  which  Luther  left  behind  him,  "as  Abraham  did  his 
ass."  The  scholar  of  Noyon  could  feel  no  love  for  Plato  :  his  imagi- 
nation was  too  cold  to  be  captivated  by  the  poetic  reveries  of  this  moralist. 

It  was  about  this  period,  that  Calvin  first  met  and  became  acquainted 
with  Farel,  that  puritan  of  the  reformation,  who  would  have  desired  to 
establish  the  kingdom  of  God,  by  aid  of  fire  and  sword,  and  whose  lips 
(Ecolampadius  essayed,  in  vain,  to  tinge  with  honey;   "a  lying,  viru- 

*  Our  readers  will  allow  us  to  refer  them  to  the  chapter  of  our  Life  of  Luther, 
entitled,  Leo  the  Tenth,  where  we  have  shown  the  influence  upon  letters,  ex- 
ercised by  this  Pope. 

tHispanum  habuit  doctorem  non   indoctum.     A  quo  exculto  ipsius  ingenio,  > 
quod  ei  jam  turn  acerrimum  erat,  ita  profecit,  ut  cceteris  sodalibus  in  gramma- 
tices  curriculo  relictis,  ad  dialectices   et  aliarum  quas  vocant  artium  studium 
promoveretur.    Beza.  vit.  Calv. 


24  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

lent,  seditious  soul,"*  as  described  by  Erasmus,  who  had  a  right  to  know 
him  well.     Farel,  a  native  of  Gap,   and  the  son  of  a  notary,  called 
Fareau,  visited  Bale.     "Zwingle,   the   burning   and   shining  candle  of 
Zurich ;  Haller,  the  vessel  of  election   of  Berne,   and   QEcolampadius, 
the  lamp  of  the  house  of  God,  welcomed   him  warmly,  and  recognized 
him  as  a  brother."!     He  was  engaged  in  parading  his  vagabond  prose- 
lytism  through  Switzerland,  when  he  arrived  at  Bale,  and  demanded  a 
discussion.     Louis  Berus,  a  renowned  theologian  of  the  University,  ob- 
jected to  this,  under  pretext  that  the  principles  of  the  stranger  savoured 
of  heresy.    Farel  posted  his  propositions  at  the  college  gate  :  the  grand 
vicar,  and  the  rector  of  the   University,    forbid   any  to  assist  at  the  dis- 
pute, under  penalty  of  excommunication.     The  Senate  took  the  alarm, 
imagined  its  authority  in  danger,  and  commanded  all — theologians,  cures, 
students, — to  assist  at  the  religious  tournament;  at  the  same  time  declar- 
ing, that  all  who  should  not  be  present,    should  forfeit  their  right  to  the 
use  of  the  mills  and  ovens,  or  to  purchase  their  meat  and  vegetables  at 
the  city  markets.  J     Therefore,  on  the   fifteenth   of  February,  all  deal- 
ers in  theology,  at  least  all  who  dreaded  a  death   by  starvation,  were  at 
their  posts.     Farel  defended  his  thesis ;  reviled,  calumniated,  grew  an- 
gry, and  was  compelled  to  leave  the  city,  which  he  cursed  in  his  wrath. 
Calvin  was  then  just   entering   upon   his   nineteenth  year.     On  the 
27th  of  September,  1527,§  he  was  invested  with  the  charge  of  Marte- 
ville  :   being  only  tonsured.  ||      Some   years   later,  his  father,  who  was 
esteemed  by  the  bishop,  succeeded  in  procuring  for  his  son  an  exchange 
of  Marteville  for  Pont-1-Eveque,    "the   parish  in  which  his  grandfather 
had  his  domicile,  and  where  his  son  Gerard  had  been  baptised.  Thus  did 
they  summon  the  wolf  to  keep  watch  over  the  sheep. "IF     It  is  still  the 
good  abbe  Claude  d'Hangest  who   presents   him  to  his  charge  :   the  pu- 
pil is  now  grown  up  ;  he  is  a  man  ;  and  yet   he  dreams  not  of  blessing 
the  hand,  which  thus,  for  the   future,  secures  him   bread.     He  feels  no 
other  joy,  than  that  of  a  proud  child,  who,  by  means  of  a  single  thesis, 
has  become  cure  of  a  parish.**     Search    his  books  or  his  letters,  and 
you  will  not  discover   one   word  of  affection   or  gratitude  for  this  new 
bounty  of  the  house   of  Mommors  !     An   icy  heart,  which  has  no  me- 
mory for  anything  but  an  insult  or  an  injury.     Oh!  how  much  we  pre- 
fer the  character  of  Luther  to  that  of  Calvin  !     With  the  Saxon  monk, 
every  thing  is  a  passion,    even   gratitude    itself.     In   the  midst   of  his 
triumphs,  quite  sufficient  to  intoxicate  a  youthful  brain,  he  still  cherishes 

*  Habetis  in  propinquo  novum  Evangelistam   Pharellum  quo  nihil  vidi  un- 
quam  mendacius,  virulentius,  aut  seditiosius.     Er.  ep.  xxx.  lib.  xviii.  p.  798. 
t  Ancillon.  vie  de  Farel,  p.  197-198. 

I  Melch.  Adam  in  vitis  Theol.  exter.  Francof.  ad  Mcenum,  1705.  fol.  113 
—114. 

^Moreri,  Article    Calvin. 

II  Calvin  never  was  a  priest,  and  was  not  allied  to  the  clergy,  except  in  virtue 
of  nis  tonsure.  Bayle.  Art.  Calvin.  Quo  loco  (Font-1-Eveque)  Constat  J.  ip- 
sum  Calvinum  antequam  Gallia  excederet,  nuUis  alioqui  pontificiis  ordinibus 
unquam  initiatum,  aliquot  ad  pop ulum    conciones  habuisse.     Beza. 

*i  Desmay,  Acts  of  the  Chapter  of  Noyon,  cited  by  Drelincourt,  p.  168. 
**  Paul  Henry,  lib.  cit.  1. 1.   p.  24. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  25 

tender  memories  for  Cotta,  from  whom  he  received  his  first  alms.  This 
female  image,  which,  now  and  again,  glides  before  us,  and  takes  its 
stand  between  the  Pope  and  the  doctor,  possesses  an  ineffable  charm, 
and  seems  greatly  to  soften  down  the  outbursts  of  the  reformer.  Flori- 
mondde  Remond  was  right :  "Calvin,  after  having  lived  at  the  expense 
of  the  crucifix,  forgot  who  had  fed  and  educated  him.*" 

He  returned  to  Noyon,  and  sometimes  preached  at  Pont-l-Eveque.f 
In  his  letters,  Calvin  does  not  tell  us  of  his  parting  with  his  college 
chums,  his  preceptor,  Mathurin  Cordier,  and  his  uncle,  the  locksmith. 
Here  would  have  been  a  tender  scene  for  the  descriptive  pen  of  Luther, 
and  the  monk  of  Wittenberg  would  not  have  let  it  pass  unrecorded  ! 

About  this  time,  we  are  told,  Calvin  entered  into  communication  with 
his  relative,  Robert  Olivetan,  who  was  then  labouring  at  his  French 
translation  of  the  Bible  : — one  of  those  spirits  of  doubt  and  pride, 
whom  Dante  places  in  hell 

Ne  fur  fedeli  a  Dio,  ma  per  se  foro  • 

Misericordia  et  giustitia  gli  sdegna. 
Non  ragionain  di  lor,  ma  guarda  e  passa. 

Inferno.    Cant.  3. 

*  riorimond  de  Remond,  Histoire  de  I'heresie  de  ce  siecle.  f  Beza. 

3 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE    UNIVERSITIES, 

The  Student  at  the  University. — Renting  of  chambers. — When  he  must  pay 
the  rent. — His  right  to  eject  all  renters  who  make  a  noise, — Is  not  bound  tt> 
render  service  to  the  State. — -Costume. — His  books  not  seizable. — Civil  rights 
of  students. — They  cannot  be  excommunicated,— Student's  prayer.— Re- 
buffy's  advice. 

Calvin  is  about  to  become  the  inhabitant  of  a  new  world,  whither 
we  must  foUoAv  him-  In  the  sixteenth  century,  the  students  of  the  uni- 
versities constituted  a  distinct  society,  governed  at  once  by  the  canon  law, 
the  civil  law,  and  local  customs.  Collected  from  all  parts  of  France, 
they  brought  with  them  to  the  city,  to  which  they  resorted  for  study, 
manners,  a  language,  a  costume,  quite  peculiar,  and  the  form  cf  which 
could  be  changed  but  slowly.  The  student  of  that  epoch,  in  some  things, 
resembles  the  student  of  the  nineteenth  century  :  both,  careless,  noisy, 
quarrelsome  :  with  good  hearts,  but  bad  judgments.  Religious  and  po- 
litical opposition,  which  at  that  time  could  not  use  books  and  journals 
as  its  organs,  had  taken  refuge  in  the  schools.  The  student  was  then  a 
living  ballad,  censuring  throne  and  altar,  monarch  and  Pope.  In  Sax- 
ony, when  Luther's  voice  resounded  from  Wittenberg,  the  students 
rushed  to  the  college,  gathered  up  their  books,  and  made  a  bonfire  of 
them,  before  the  church  of  All-Saints,  imagining  themselves  forever  dis- 
inthralled  from  the  yoke  of  their  preceptors.  In  France,  they  welcom- 
ed with  infantile  joy,  the  first  Lutheran  missionaries,  who  preached  the 
abolition  of  the  law  of  abstinence  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays.  Pro- 
tected by  popes  and  kings,  our  students,  in  their  civil  and  religious 
life,  enjoyed  privileges  of  which  they  were  jealous,  and  which  could 
not  have  been  wrested  from  them  with  impunity.  The  picture  of  these 
scholastic  franchises  has  been  drawn  by  Peter  Rebuffy,*  who  was  pro- 
fessor  at  Montpellier,  at  the  time  Calvin  went  to  study  at  Paris.  The 
examination  of  these  immunities,  granted  to  the  university  students, 
during  so  many  centuries,  would,  it  seems  to  us,  be  a  curious  moral 
study.  Precious  are  these  images,  which  carry  us  back  to  an  epoch, 
when  the  human  mind  was  marching  onward  to  utter  confusion. 

We  are  at  Paris,  where  the  student  seeks  for  a  room,  nearly  always 
in  the  Latin  quarter,  convenient  to  the  college  which  he  frequents.     As 

*  Petri  Rebuff  Monspessulani  jurisconsulti,  in  privilegia  et  immunitates 
universitatum,  doctorum,  magistrorum  et  studiosorum,  commentationes  enu- 
cleatissimae.     Anturpiae,  1583,  in  4to. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


21 


saoR  as  he  has  announced  his  title,  the  proprietor  is  compelled  to  rent ; 
and  in  case  of  need,  the  student  can  force  the  proprietor  to  dislodge  an 
old  renter,  for  his  accommodation,* 

The  student,  on  giving  security,  can  likewise  compel  his  habitual 
landlord  to  hire  him  a  horse,  according  to  this  maxim  :  "The  host,  who 
has  put  up  the  sign  of  an  inn,  is  bound  to  fulfil  the  duties  thereof. "f  If 
the  horse,  beaten  with  rods,  and  not  with  the  stirrup-leather,  dies  under 
the  flagellation,  he  must  pay  its  value  :  but,  if  for  want  of  fodder,  the 
animal  has  become  lean  and  lank,  he  is  bound  for  no  damages,  accord- 
ing to  the  text  i7i  Animalia;  C.  de  curso  publico;  lib.  12.,  and  the 
opinion  of  Platea,  thus  ruled: — The  student  is  not  obliged  to  stuff  a 
hired  horse  with  fodder,  seeing  that  his  income  is  very  slight.  J  If  he 
can  give  no  security,  he  must  employ  a  guide  or  runner. 

If  the  owner  of  a  house  demanded  too  much  from  the  student  for  his 
rooms,  the  latter  appealed  to  the  rector,  who  fixed  the  rent.§  At  Mont- 
pellier,  in  virtue  of  a  privilege  accorded  to  the  city,  in  the  month  of 
January,  1322,  by  king  Charles  IV.,  it  was  the  judge  of  theparvtim 
sigillum,  who  fixed  the  price  to  be  paid  by  the  student.  At  Paris,  the 
amount  was  decided  by  two  magistrates,  selected  by  the  University,  as- 
sisted, if  there  was  need,  by  two  citizens,  in  virtue  of  the  bull  of  Grego- 
ry IX.,  given  at  St.  John  of  Lateran,  on  the  6th  of  the  Calends  of 
May,  and  deposited  in  the  archives  of  this  learned  body. 

But  when  must  the  student  pay  his  rent  ?  If  there  be  a  contract,  the 
act  obliges;  in  default  of  a  contract,  custom  makes  the  rule. 

Should  the  proprietor,  for  important  motives,  need  his  whole  house, 
he  cannot  eject  the  student  to  whom  he  has  rented  rooms,  for  the  simple 
and  apparent  reason — that  in  cities,  where  there  are  universities,  it  is 
often  very  difficult  for  students  to  procure  lodgings ;  that  they  ought  not, 
in  seeking  rooms,  to  be  made  to  lose  their  time,  destined  for  study ;  and 
because  every  good  citizen  should  consult  the  good  of  his  country,  rather 
than  his  own  private  comfort  and  convenience. 

Innocent  IV.,  by  a  bull  given  at  Lyons,  on  the  second  of  the 
nones  of  March,  in  the  second  year  of  his  pontificate,  had,  under  penal- 
ty of  excommunication,  prohibited  any  owner  of  a  house,  to  rent  a  room 
which  was  already  occupied  by  a  student  or  a  doctor. 

Was  the  student  annoyed  in  his  studies,  by  the  hammer  of  a  forger, 
the  wheel  of  a  turner,  or  the  song  of  a  w^orkman,  dwelling  under  the 
same  roof  with  him,  he  could  procure  the  dismissal  of  his  troublesome 
neighbour,  as  ive  are  informed  by  Barthole  and  Platea,  1|  and  as  was  ef- 
fected by  Peter  RebufFy,  in  the  case  of  a  weaver  (textor,)  who  lodged 
near  the  college  du  Vergier,    at    Montpellier,    and   who,    rising  each 

*  Q,ui  si  noninveniant  domos,  possunt  compellere  habitantes  ad  illis  locar- 
dum.     Gull,  de  Cugno. 

t  Nam  hospes,  pastquam  signa  hospitii  erexit,  cogitur  hospites  recipere.  Joe. 
Ruft'us  in  1.  carsura  c.  de  curso  publico,  lib.   12.   arg.  4. 

I  Nam  studentes  non  solent  equos  locates  avena  pinquefacere,  cum  modicum 
sit  eis. 

^  Panormit,  in  lib.  de  locat. 

jj  In  lib.  1.  in  line.  Et  solut,  mat.  in  lib.  2. ;  c.  qui  aetate  lib.  10. ;  lib.  1.  de 
Excusat.  artif. 


28 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


morning  with  the  cock,  sang  so  loud  as  to  deafen  all  the  professors.* 
This  privilege  of  ejection  reached  also  the  manipulator  of  offensive 
odours,  which  might  impair  the  health  of  the  student,  according  to  the 
precept :  iVo7i  licet  aliciti  immittere  in  alienum  quicquam,  quamvis 
in  suo  possit  facere  quod  libet,f  and — because,  were  it  the  devil  him- 
self, we  have  the  right  to  prevent  him  from  troubling  us,  or  from  poison- 
ing us  in  our  lodgings,  as  confirmed  by  Barba,  in  C.  1.  deprolat.^ 
provided,  always,  a  valet  could  be  found  bold  enough  to  announce  the 
prohibition  to  the  archfiend; J  and  no  forger,  no  turner,  no  exciter  of 
unclean  odours,  shall  be  able  to  stay  the  sentence,  which  shall  be  car- 
ried into  execution  in  spite  of  opposition  or  appeal. 

The  student's  father  is  obliged,  in  the  beginning  of  the  scholastic 
year,  to  pay  at  least  one  month's  board  for  his  son,  who,  at  his  father's 
death,  cannot  be  held  to  account  for  the  sums  he  has  received,  nor  to 
charge  the  amount  upon  his  portion  of  the  succession,  because  the  father 
is  presumed  to  have  given  this  gratuitously.  If,  during  the  progress  of 
his  studies,  the  student  have  contracted  debts  for  the  interest  of  science, 
he  is  not  obliged,  after  the  death  of  the  head  of  the  family,  to  pay  them 
out  of  his  own  share,  but  only  to  satisfy  his  creditor  at  the  expense  of 
the  common  inheritance. 

The  student  should  listen  to  his  master  in  silence,  and  not  disturb 
the  lecture,  by  making  noises  with  his  feet,  hands,  and  voice,  as,  unfor- 
tunately, says  professor  Rebuffy,  too  frequently  happened  at  Toulouse 
and  Orleans,  where  the  students  are  so  turbulent,  that,  when  two  of 
them  have  resolved  to  disturb  the  class,  the  professor  is  compelled  to 
leave  his  chair.  § 

Though  a  father  may  whip  his  son,  place  him  under  arrest,  or  put 
him  in  prison  for  more  than  twenty  hours,  even  till  he  solicits  pardon  ; 
doctors,  the  fathers  of  students,  cannot,  however,  buffet  them,  because, 
for  one  blow,  the  students  would  return  four  |I;  and  moreover,  for  the 
correction  of  youth,  mild  treatment  is  the  most  efficacious. 

Under  no  pretext,  shall  the  student  be  distracted  from  his  studies  for 
the  service  of  the  state.  On  the  23d  of  February,  in  the  year  1345, 
Philip  VI.  enacted  the  following  ordinance  : 

"  That,  of  the  said  masters  and  students,  no  goods  whatever  be  taken 
for  our  garrisons  of  war,  our  hotel,  or  that  of  our  loved  companion,  the 
queen,  or  for  our  children,  or  for  any  others  whatever  of  our  lineage, 
our  lieutenants,  captains,  constables,  or  others  desiring  or  pretending 
to  have  care  of  our  kingdom,  under  what  authority  soever,  but  that 
the  said  masters  and  students  be  left  in  peaceable  possession  of  their 
goods." 

The  student  had  a  right  to  refuse  for  examiner  any  doctor  whom  he 
suspected  :   the  chancellor  and  deans  were  bound  to  see  that  no  precep- 

*  Petri  Rebuffi  in  privilen;ia  et  immunitates  univorsitatum,  etc.   p.  1 1. 

+  L.  Sicut  ^  aristo.  ff.  servit.,  vendic, 
^  Etiam  si  esset  cUabolus  qui  potest  prohiberi  ne  strepitnm  faciat  in  domo  sua 
si  tamen  invenirctur  serviens  qui  banc  illi  inbibitionem  facere  auderct. 
^Rebuffus.  p.  124. 
JIQuia  forte  ipsi,  cum  sint  jam  magni,  roJderent  suis  doctoribus  quadniplura. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  29 

for,  resting  under  the  weight  of  legitimate  suspicion,  should  enter  the 
hall  of  examination.  The  examination  must  be  conscientious,  and 
mild,  rather  than  severe  :   "quinimis  emungit,  elicit sangidnem." 

Professors,  beadles,  and  college  messengers,  were  prohibited  to  re- 
ceive dinners  from  students  who  were  commencing  their-  course,  even  in 
those  universities  where  a  contrary  custom  prevailed,  as  at  Montpellier. 

In  the  universities,  and  particularly  at  Toulouse,  Poictiers,  and  at 
Cahors,  it  was  the  custom  for  masters  to  receive  no  salary  from  students 
that  were  poor,  and  they  should  even  remit  the  whole  sum  which  such 
students  were  required  to  pay.  At  Bourges,  when  a  poor  person  had  a 
suit  against  the  crown,  the  king  was  obliged  to  employ  two  advocates , 
one  for  himself  and  the  other  for  his  adversary,*  that  the  case  might  be 
no  fiction. 

The  student  was  at  that  epoch  compared  with  the  poor,  parurn  ha- 
hens,  who  returned  to  his  home  with  an  empty  purse. 

Non  unquam  gravis  aere  domum  milii  dextra  redibat. 

In  the  year  1295,  on  the  Tuesday  after  Trinity,  Philip  the  Fair  ex- 
empted  the  masters  and  students  of  the  University  of  Paris  from  all  state 
imposts,  even  for  the  expenses  of  war.f 

Students  had  the  right  to  wear  short  garments,  vestes  hreves,  and  of 
any  colour  which  suited  their  fancy.  In  traveling,  they  could  carry 
arms  at  their  side.  At  Avignon  and  Montpellier,  even  the  clergy  wore 
red  shoes,  caligas  ruhras. 

"We  professors,"  said  Rebuffy,  ''judge  the  intellect  of  our  pupils  from 
their  costume. 

A  feather  in  the  hat,  the  sign  of  levity. 

Grave  dress,  mark  of  se7ni  wisdom. 

Brilliant  robes,  sign  of  heedlessness. 

Dirty  garments,  sign  of  gluttony." 

"Do  you  desire  now  to  know  the  fashion  proper  for  a  student  ?  Ask 
Simachus,  the  philosopher,  and  he  will  tell  you  that  his  robe  should  not 
sweep  the  dust,  and  if  it  trails  upon  the  ground,  the  mud  should  not  be 
seen  on  it ;  he  ought  therefore  to  choose  a  gray  colour ;  gray  denotes 
hope." 

In  case  of  grave  offence  towards  a  student,  the  judge  could  investigate 
it  officially.  For  the  protection  of  students,  St.  Louis,  in  the  month  of 
August,  in  the  year  1229,  passed  an  ordinance  running  thus: 

"Let  not  our  overseer,  or  officer  of  justice,  lay  his  hand  upon  a  stu- 
dent, or  send  him  to  prison,  unless  the  offence  be  one  requiring  a  prompt 
repression:  then  the  officer  shall  arrest  him  without  a  blow,  if  the  guilty 
person  do  not  defend  himself:  he  shall  be  placed  under  the  authority  of 
the  ecclesiastical  tribunal,  which  shall  confine  him  until  satisfaction  be 
made  us. "J 

*  Quod  si  pauper  habet  litem  cum  rege  et  non  habeat  unde  facial  expensas, 
rex  administrat  advocatum  ut  Veritas  causae  servetur. 
t  Rebuffus,  148. 
:j:  Et  tunc  justitia  nostra  arrestabit  eum  in  eodem  loco  sine  percussione,  nisi 
se  defenderit,  et  reddet  eum   ecclesiasticae  justitiae   quae    eustodire  debet  pro 
satisfaciendo  nobis. 
3* 


30  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

The  books  of  a  student,  like  the  arms  of  a  soldier,  could  not  be  seized. 
The  creditor  could  not  take  them  as  a  pledge,  but  must  wait  until  the 
student  had  completed  his  course.  "For,"  this  privilege  said,  "  it  is 
important  for  the  student  to  have  books  to  improve  and  strengthen  his 
intellectual  faculties.  Society  is  interested  in  his  studies,  and,  conse- 
quently, so  is  the  creditor,  as  a  member  of  the  community.  He  ought 
then  to  have  patience,  for  the  sake  of  the  public  good,  and  wait  till  the 
student  shall  have  finished  his  course:"  &:c.  VVhat  is  deferred  is  not 
lost.* 

The  Jews,  who,  in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom,  had  the  right  to  keep 
stolen  goods,  which  had  been  sold  to  them,  or  placed  in  pawn,  until 
claimed  by  the  lawful  owner,  who  had  to  pay  what  had  been  advanced, 
did  not  enjoy  the  same  privilege  where  students  were  concerned,  who 
iiad  been  robbed  of  their  books  by  some  domestic.  The  book  being 
recognised,  the  student  took  it  away  without  any  compensation  to  the 
one  who  had  bought  it,  or  who  held  it  in  pawn.  Severe  prohibitions 
were  made  to  all  boarding-house  keepers,  against  taking  books  as  the 
price  for  dinners  or  repasts. 

As  wives,  in  right  of  dower,  had  preference  over  every  creditor,  widi 
regard  to  the  property  of  their  husbands,  so  in  every  distribution  of  a 
debtor's  e fleets,  the  student  had  the  same  advantage,  and  that  in  behalf 
of  the  professors  and  rectors  of  colleges,  whose  pay  must  be  assured  to 
them. 

The  student  enjoyed  all  the  civil  rights  of  the  city  in  which  he  was 
studying,  whether  he  had  a  domicile  there  or  not;  by  this  privilege  it 
was  intended  to  rescue  him  from  the  acdon  of  the  common  law,  which 
allowed  a  citizen,  even  for  the  claim  of  one  cent,  to  imprison  a  stranger, 
and  detain  him  until  he  had  given  bail.f 

The  student  was  dispensed,  from  standing  sentinel  at  the  city  gates, 
even  in  time  of  war  or  pestilence,  from  mounting  guard,  or  from  other 
duties  imposed  on  citizens,  in  virtue  of  an  immunity  conceded  by  Charles 
VI.,  at  Pontoise,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1419,  and  this,  notwithstanding 
any  charter  of  Norniandy  to  the  contrary.}: 

During  the  whole  time  of  their  studies,  students  w^ere  not  required  to 
pay  any  of  those  taxes  known  under  the  name  of  excise,  {gahelles.) 
In  the  month  of  June,  1340,  Philippe  de  Valois  had  enacted  the  follow- 
ing ordinance:  "In  virtue  of  our  plenary  power,  it  is  our  will  that  no 
layman,  whatever  his  office  or  dignity,  whether  bailifFor  overseer,  should, 
under  any  pretext,  disturb  or  molest  the  students  in  passing  to  or  from 
college,  or  require  them  to  pay  any  impost,  under  the  title  of  toll,  tax, 
customs,  etc."  ,,  This  privilege  was  confirmed  by  Charles  V.,  who  ,  on 
the  26th  of  September,  1369,  ordered  that  the  student  should  be  dis- 
pensed from  all  tax,  tani  in  aqua  quam  in  terra Tax- 

gatherers,  who  exacted  from  a  student  any  impost  which  he  did  not  owe, 

*  Q,u(xl  difTorotur  non  auferetur. 
t  Quo  cavetur  quod  civis,  cum  Uteris  clamoris  unius  solidi,  possit  debitorem 
forensem  etiam  ad  corpus  non  oblig  ituin  capi  facere  et  in  carcerea  detruderc, 
(ioncc  dederit  tidei-jussores.     RebutTus,  p.  305. 

:j:Bar.  per.  Mum.  tex.  in.  1.  1.  c.  qui  eetate,  lib.  10. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVI».  51 

were  condemned  to  compensate  to  the  party  in  damages,  according  to  a 
jjrivilege  granted  to  the  University  o(  Paris,  by  Charles  VII.,  on  the  25th 
of  Novea"iber,  in  the  year  1460. 

At  Montpellier  there  is  preserved  a  charter  of  Charles  VIII.,  wherein 
the  monarch, — taking  into  consideration  the  services  rendered  to  France 
by  the  Universiiy  of  that  city,  and  tlie  labours  and  pains  undergone  by 
those  devoted  to  letters,  who,  in  their  studies,  search  for  the  pearl  of 
wisdom*  at  so  great  a  cost, — frees  the  masters  and  students  from  all 
duties  of  the  excise. 

The  rector  of  the  University  of  Paris,  and  the  managers,  were  accus- 
tomed to  assemble  together  three  times  each  week, — at  two  o'clock  on 
Mondays,  Wednesdays,  and  Fridays, — to  exercise  what  they  termed 
jurisdiciionem  in  suos ;  that  is,  to  examine  everything  regarding  the 
charges  of  professors  and  beadles,  the  respective  rights  of  the  students 
and  landlords,  and  to  regulate  whatever  concerned  literature,  as  manu- 
scripts, bookbinding,  and  the  art  of  iJlumination  or  colouring. f 

Neither  the  masters  nor  the  students  of  the  University  of  Paris  could 
be  excommunicated.  Innocent  IV.  had  thus  decreed:  Let  no  one  dare 
pass  or  publish  a  sentence  of  excommunication  against  any  rector,  mas- 
ter,  manager,  or  student  of  the  University  of  Paris,  even  for  the  crime  of 
murder,  without  an  express  permission  of  the  Apostolical  See.J 

By  the  canon  la-.v,  the  student  was  allowed  to  occupy  himself  in  his 
studies  on  festival  days;  because,  if,  for  the  good  of  the  State,  it  be  law- 
ful  on  the  Lord's  day  to  repair  or  construct  bridges,  there  is  greater  reason 
for  allowing  studies  by  which  the  kingdom  of  God  may  be  benefited. 
The  civil,  came  to  the  aid  of  the  canon  law,  and  decided  that  if  it  be 
allowable  to.  engage  in  occupations,  but  for  which  men  could  not  subsist, 
there  is  stronger  reason  for  allowing  the  study  of  sciences,  without  which 
the  world  would  cease  to  exist. 

Here  is  a  beautiful  prayer,  taken  from  St.  Thomas,  which  the  pious 
student  was  wont,  each  morning,  to  recite  on  rising  from  his  slumbers. 

" Oh  ineffable  Creator,  who,  from  the  treasures  of  thy  wisdom, 

hast  formed  nine  choirs  of  angels,  which,  in  marvelous  order,  thou  hast 
established  above  the  firmament :  thou,  who  hast  with  such  order  distri- 
buted the  spheres  of  the  universe!  fountain  of  light,  sovereign  principle 
of  all  things,  deign  to  illumine  the  darkness  of  my  understanding  with 
the  rays  of  thy  splendour,  and  to  correct  that  twofold  misery  which  I 
inherit  at  my  birth — ignorance  and  sin.  Oh  thou  who  makest  eloquent 
the  infant's  tongue,  instruct  my  tongue  and  spread  upon  my  lips  the 
treasures  of  thy  grace:  Grant  perspicacity  to  my  understanding,  facility 
to  my  memory,  subtilty  to  my  intellect,  and  grace  and  abundance  to  my 
elocution  :  sustain  my  efforts,  direct  my  progress,  and  complete  my 
instruction." 

Rebuffy,  the  Montpellier  professor,  who  never  let  a  morning  pass 


*  Margarita  Sapientiae. 

t  Robert  Goulet  in  compendio — Rebuffus,  p.  233. 

t  Rebuffus,  pp.  240,-241. 


32  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

■without  saying  this  prayer  of  tho  angel  of  the  schools,  certifies  that  those 
who  will  recite  it  devoutly,  will  be  saccessful  in  their  studies.* 

His  '' Manuel  for  Students,''  (scholasticis  necessarium,)  is  a  moral 
code,  where,  in  his  advices  to  his  pupils,  one  may  study  the  life  of  a 
student  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  appears  that  it  was  an  agitated, 
tumultuous,  idle  life.  RebufFy  complains  of  young  men,  who,  at  college, 
give  very  little  heed  to  the  lectures  of  the  professor,  amuse  themselves 
in  counting  the  tiles  on  the  neighbouring  houses,  and  whose  minds  are 
ever  in  the  dishes. f  He  would  wish  them  to  stay  in  their  rooms  instead  of 
going  forth  to  study  in  the  open  air,  on  the  public  promenades,  where 
they  are  disturbed  by  the  noise  of  persons  passing,  and  are  tempted  by 
the  ogling  of  ladies,  who  peep  at  them  from  the  windows.  He  wishes 
them  to  be  laborious  the  first  year,  more  laborious  the  second,  very 
laborious  the  third,  and  most  laborious  the  fourth.  Gather,  during 
your  young  days,  does  he  say  to  them,  collect,  and  keep  in  mind  the 
beautiful  verses  of  the  poet: 

Ut  ver  dat  florem,  flos  fructum,  fructus  honorem, 
Sic  studium  morem,  mos  sensum,  sensus  honorem. 

He  would  desire  that,  at  each  university,  the  student  should  be  made 
do  what  he  had  seen  practised  at  Toulouse,  where  the  student,  before 
taking  a  drink,  had  to  expound  a  text  of  the  Roman  law,  or  recite  it 
from  memory.  He  recommends  to  his  pupils  not  to  chatter  at  table 
like  women,  to  have  only  one  or  two  dishes,  and,  if  possible,  not  to  eat 
oftener  than  three  times  every  two  days.:}:  "Oh  shame!"  he  exclaims, 
"in  our  times  we  not  only  eat  oftener  than  thrice  in  every  two  days,  but 
ten  times,  and  frequently  even  three  times  in  every  hour !  Oh !  how  much 
preferable  is  the  rain  which  falls  slowly  and  gently,  to  those  showers 
which  inundate  and  tear  the  soil!" 

*Et  qui  hoc  fecerint,  venient  ad  studiorum  suorum  frucrem,  multamque 
scientiam  accipieiit,  et  omnia  eis  prospera  succedent — scholasticis  necessarium, 
p.  270. 

t  Sed  sunt  in  studio  tegulas  domus  numerantes  et  animum  in  patinishaben- 
tes,  p.  276. 

:{:  Ter  in  duobus  diebus  comedere. 


CHAPTER    III. 


CALVIN    AT    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    BOURGES. 1529-1532. 

Death  of  Gerard  Calvin. — Letter  of  John  Calvin  to  Daniel. — Bourges,  Andrew 
Alciati. — Melchoir  Wolmar. — Calvin  resumes  the  study  of  theology. — Theo- 
dore Beza. — System  of  Predestination. — Calvin's  return  to  Paris. — The 
Civil  Power  deals  severely  with  the  Reformers. 

The  views  of  Gerard  Calvin  underwent  a  change.  Whether  he  had 
divined  the  religious  tendencies  of  his  son,  or  had  foreseen  those  con- 
tests to  which  Catholicism  was  destined  to  be  subjected,  and  amid  which 
the  faith  of  the  neophyte  might  yield ;  or,  perhaps,  because,  in  his  view, 
theology  presented  but  a  rude  career,  overspread  with  perils,  and  offer- 
ing but  little  prospect  of  profit  or  glory,  he  determined  to  give  a  differ- 
ent direction  to  the  studies  of  his  child.  The  paternal  bosom  was 
agitated  by  worldly  thoughts,  as  Calvin  himself  remarks.*  At  that 
epoch,  the  law  was  the  path  to  honours,  to  dignities,  to  the  councils  of 
the  prince,  and  to  fortune.  Andrew  Alciati  had  just  been  summoned 
from  Italy,  by  Francis  I.,  to  teach  at  Bourges,  for  an  annual  salary  of 
twelve  hundred  crowns  (ecus)  of  gold.f  -'The  king  has  made  an  ex- 
cellent disposition  of  the  twelve  hundred  crowns  of  gold,  which  he  has 
granted  to  master  Alciati,"  said  the  aldermen  of  Bourges,  "for  never 
before  was  the  city  so  illustrious  or  happy;  never  had  its  magistrates  so 
much  business. "J  Gerard  resolved  that  his  son  should  study  law. 
The  student  submitted,  without  a  murmur,  and  at  first  went  to  Orleans, 
where  the  lectarer  was  Peter  de  I'Estoile,  an  able  man,  who  afterwards 
became  president  of  the  parliament  of  Paris,  and,  in  his  day,  enjoyed 
the  reputation  of  being  the  most  acute  jurist  in  France.  Peter  de  I'- 
Estoile instructed  his  pupil  to  give  more  closeness  and  solidity  to  his 
logic,  to  prune  his  rather  exuberant  phraseology,  to  be  more  sober  in 
his  use  of  figures  and  ornaments,  and  to  render  his  style  more  free  and 
unembarrassed  in  its  march.  John  Calvin  constituted  the  delight  of 
his  master ;  he  was  assiduous,  docile,  and  full  of  zeal  for  study  :   already 

*  Cum  videret  pater,  legum  scientiam  passim  augere  suo3  eultores  opibus, 
spes  ilia  repente  euni  impulit  ad  mutandum  consilium.  Ita  factum  est  ut  revo- 
catus  a  philosophiae  studio  ad  leges  discendas  traherer,  quibus  tametsi  ut  patris 
voluntati  obsequerer,  fidelem  operam  impendcre  conatus  sum.  Calv.  preef. 
ad  Psalm. 

t  Paul  Freherus,  Theatrum  virorum  eruditione  singulari  clarorum  Norim- 
bergae,  1588.  p.  826. 

X  Letter  to  Chancellor  Duprat. 


34  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

he  was  ranked  "as  teacher,  rather  than  pupil,"  says  one  of  his  biog- 
raphers;* Master  Francis  Baudoin,  (Balduinus,)  relates  that  Calvin 
pursued  no  other  occupation  at  college,  except  that  of  calumniating  his 
comrades  :  hence,  they  gave  him  the  surname  of  accusativus.  They 
were  wont  to  say  of  him  : — John  knows  how  to  decline  even  to  the 
accusative,  t 

From  Orleans  he  went  to  the  University  of  Bourges,  where  his  studies 
were  suddenly  interrupted.  He  was  hurried  away  to  take  care  of  his 
sick  father,  whom  God  was  soon  to  remove  from  him  altogether.  Gerard 
Calvin  slept  in  the  faith  of  his  ancestors,  reconciled  with  the  church 
which  he  had  afflicted,  and  praying  silently  for  the  salvation  of  a  son, 
who  was  about  to  be  exposed  to  the  temptations  of  the  world.  Calvin, 
was  not  willing  to  leave  a  description  of  the  last  moments  of  his  father; 
most  probably,  because  he  would  have  been  obliged  to  paint  the  hopes 
of  a  soul,  which  burst  its  earthly  ties  and  soared  away,  at  this  exhorta- 
tion of  the  priest :  "Depart,  christian  soul,  from  this  body  of  clay,  and 
go  to  meet  thy  God."  Plere  are  the  first  lines  traced  by  the  student  of 
Paris  and  of  Orleans.     The  letter  is  addressed  to  Nicholas  Duchemin. 

"  When  we  parted,  I  promised  to  rejoin  you  soon  again,  and  I  ex- 
pected to  do  so  ;  but  the  sickness  of  my  father  has  delayed  my  departure. 
The  physicians  induced  me  to  look  for  his  restoration  to  health,  and 
then  I  thought  only  of  you.  Days  have  passed  away;  at  last  nothing 
remains  butdispair,  death  is  at  hand.  Whatever  happens,  I  shall  see 
you  again  ;  embrace  Francis  Daniel,  Philip,  and  all  the  family.  Have 
you  enrolled  your  name  among  the  professors  of  literature?^" 

This  letter  is  written  by  the  bedside  of  a  dying  father,  at  the  moment 
the  physician  has  declared  that  all  hope  is  gone,  and  when  the  priest, 
at  the  sound  of  die  parish  bell,  is  bringing  the  last  consolations  of  re- 
ligion  to  the  dying  man.  .  .  .  And  Calvin  has  no  tear  to  shed  while 
announcing  this  sad  news  to  his  friend  !  See  whether  he  breathes  a 
prayer,  or  solicits  one  from  Duchemin!  He  narrates  the  scene  as  we 
would  describe  an  ordinary  drama.  "There  is  no  more  hope  of  recove- 
ry; deatii  is  certain."  The  physician,  who  issues  from  the  chamber 
of  the  sick  man  in  his  agony,  would  not  have  spoken  otherwise  ;  and 
yet  the  kiss,  which  John  has,  no  doubt,  impressed  on  the  lips  of  his 
father,  is  the  last  :  he  will  see  him  no  more;  the  father  and  child  will 
never  meet  again.  "Gerard,  an  impenitent  papist,"  according  to  Beza, 
"is  now  in  a  dwelling  of  flames;  John,  the  Evangelist,  the  elect  of 
God,  will  see  the  Lord  face  to  face."     Thus  has  the  reformation  already 


♦Theodore  Bcza. 
t  Franc.  Balduiuus,  Apol,  sccunda  contra  Calv. 
t  Manssc.  ex  Bibl.  Gen.  Quod  tibi  proniiseram  discedens  me  brevi  adfutu- 
nun,  ea  mo  expcctatio  diutius  suspensum  habuit,  nam  dum  reditum  ad  vos 
meditor,  patris morbus  attulit  causam  remoiee.  Scd  cum  medici  spem  facercnt 
posse  redire  in  prosperam  valctudinem,  nihil  aliud  visum  est  quam  tui  desideri- 
um,  quod  me  antea  graviter  affecorat,  aliquot  dierum  intervallo  acui.  Interim 
dies  de  die  trahitur,  donee  eo  ventum  est  ut  nulla  spes  vitee  sit  reliqua,  certum 
mortis  periculum.  Utcumque  res  ceciderit  ad  vos  revisam.  Saluta  Francis- 
cum  Danielem,  Philippuni,  et  totum  domus  tuai  contubernium.  Jam  dedisti 
nomen  inter  rei  literaree  professore.s  ^ 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK.  35 

Stifled  in  this  young  heart,  every  throb  of  filial  sensibility.  Luther  did 
not  have  the  sad  consolation  to  be  present  at  the  death  of  old  Hans, 
He  was  far  from  his  father,  when  he  learned  the  news  that  the  last  hour 
of  the  miner  of  Moehra  had  struck,  and  then  he  also  wrote  to  a  friend,  but 
with  what  bitter  sadness,  with  what  poignant  sorrow  ! 

Calvin  departed  from  Noyon,  in  order  to  continue  the  study  of  law. 
A  professor  was  then  figuring  at  Bourges,  whose  reputation  was  wide- 
ly spread  as  jurist,  theologian,  historian,  and  poet :  this  was  Alciati  of 
Milan,  the  man  of  all  sciences,*  of  whom  we  have  spoken  already, 
and  whose  great  fame  induced  Francis  I.  to  invite  him  to  France.  He 
had  received  honours  almost  divine,  from  the  several  university  cities 
through  which  he  passed.  Calvin  heard  him,  and  was  filled  with  won- 
der. Alciati  was  as  well  acquainted  with  the  Rome  of  the  age  of  Jus- 
tinian, as  if  he  had  then  inhabited  it :  he  might  be  taken  for  a  pleader 
of  the  Via  Sacra,  coming  to  explain  the  customs.,  laws,  and  usages  of 
Latium.  When  some  thought  vividly  engrossed  him,  he  transferred  it 
to  verse,  that  his  auditory  might  preserve  the  memory  of  it  eternally. 
One  day,  when  speaking  of  Horace,  he  commenced  chanting  the 
poet's  arms : 

Gentiles  clypeos  sunt  qui  Jovis  alite  gestant; 
Sunt  quibus  aut  serpens  aut  leo  signa  ferunt. 
Dira  sed  hsec  vatum  fugiant  animalia  ceras, 
Doctaque  sustineat  stemmata  pulcher  olor. 
Hie  Phoebo  sacer  et  nostrae  regionis  alumnus 
Rex  olim  veteres  servat  adhuc  titulos. 

Beautiful  verses,  which  one  of  the  pupils  of  Alciati  translated  on  the 
instant,  but  less  poetically; 

ARMOIRIES    DES    POETES, 

D'aucuns  ont  en  leurs  armes  aigles; 
D'aiitres  lions,  serpents  ou  foines  (fouines.) 
Mais  nous  ne  tenons  point  ces  regies: 
Ains  (mais)  avons  trop  plus  nobles  signes. 
Nous,  poetes,  portons  le  cygne 
De  Phebus,  oiseau  bien  chantant. 
8a  naissance  nous  est  voisine : 
Roy  fut  dont  est  le  nom  portant. 

Calvin,  among  the  first  to  come  to  the  lecture  of  the  doctor,  took  his 
place  near  the  chair,  and  with  eye  fixed  and  mouth  wide  open,  listened 
to  Alciati,  in  a  sort  of  ecstacy.  On  his  return  to  his  lodgings.,  and  in 
his  little  study  chamber,  he  hastened  to  fill  his  note-books  with  all  the 
fine  things  he  had  just  heard.  "He  wrote  and  studied  till  night,  and 
to  be  able  to  do  this,  he  ate  very  sparingly  at  supper :  then,  on  awaken- 
ing in  the  morning,  he  was  wont  to  remain  awhile  in  his  bed,  recalling 
to  mind  and  ruminating  upon  all  he  had  learned  the  evening  before."! 

*  Qui  omnium  doctrinarum  orbem  absolvit.  Epitaph  of  Alciati,  engraved 
on  the  tomb  of  this  jurist,  in  the  church  of  St.  Epiphanius,  at  Paris, 

t  Beza. 


36  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIlf. 

His  memory  was  thus  fertilized;  and  without  suspecting  it,  upon  those 
benche-s,  filled  with  students  of  all  countries,  he  learned  the  very  thing 
which  was  then  taught  in  the  convents;  the  mechanical  process  of 
argumentation.  There  was  this  difference,  that  at  Bourges,  Alciati's 
sylogism  was  coloured  with  profane  poesy,  that  it  might  produce  a  more 
vivid  impression.  Calvin  would  have  left  the  convent  with  but  one 
God,  Aristotle ;  but  from  the  benches  of  the  university  he  brought  away 
a  thousand,  which  Alciati  had  presented  to  him  for  his  adoration.  These 
were  the  several  founders  of  Roman  jurisprudence,  whom  in  his  lyrical 
enthusiasm,  the  Milanese  compared  with  Romulus. 

The  student  soon  exchanged  the  emperors,  consuls,  ediles,  and  magis- 
tracy of  Rome,  for  the  gods  and  poets  of  Greece,  to  propagate  whose 
worship  in  France,  the  king  had  given  the  mission  to  a  German  Luthe- 
rari,  by  name  Melchior  Wolmar.  Melchior  cherished  as  the  sons  of 
his  own  flesh,  the  pupils  which  he  engendered,  rather  for  Luther  than  for 
Sophocles  or  Demosthenes  :  he  took  especial  care  of  them,  caressed 
them,  and,  in  case  of  need,  even  paid  their  debts.  It  appears  that  he 
manifested  a  marked  predilection  for  John  Calvin,  whose  nature  seem- 
ed  a  compound  of  two;  for  he  was  Teutonic,  in  his  laborious  persever- 
ance at  «tudy,  and  Gallic,  "in  his  great,  promptness  to  apprehend  his 
master''^  lessons  and  the  sallies  of  oral   disputation."* 

Melchior  Wolmar  made  great  calculations  upon  his  pupil,  to  aid  the 
•work  of  the  reformation.  It  appears  that  particularly  did  he  found  his 
hopes  of  the  future  upon  the  capricious  humours  of  Calvin  :  he  wrote 
to  Farel :  ''As  to  John,  I  do  not  fear  so  much  as  I  hope  from  his  whim- 
sical disposition  :  for  this  vice  is  well  suited  to  advance  our  cause,  and 
make  him  an  able  defender  of  our  opinions ;  because  he  will  not  so 
easily  be  taken  himself,  as  he  will  be  able  to  entrap  his  adversaries  in 
still  greater  snares. "f  Calvin  did  not  forget  this  college  friendship,  and 
let  him  be  praised  for  it !  Very  long  after  his  departure  from  the  uni- 
versity, he  called  to  mind  his  good  Wolmar,  and  said  to  him  : 

"  During  my  whole  life  I  shall  cherish  the  memory  of  your  zeal  for 
my  advancement,  of  your  love  for  your  disciple,  of  your  delight  in 
ornamenting  my  mind  with  all  the  gifts  of  science.  It  was  under  you, 
that  I  studied  Greek  letters ;  and  you  were  not  content  to  watch  over 
my  progress  in  literature,  but  also  were  kind  enough  to  open  for  me 
your  purse. "J 

Wolmar  often,  on  finishing  his  lecture,  would  take  Calvin's  arm, 
and,  walking  in  the  college  court,  discourse  with  him  on  the  Greek 
mythology,  of  which  he  was  passionately  fond.  But  this  passion  did 
not  blind  him.  He  had  divined  that  Calvin  was  not  born  to  be  a  com- 
mentator of  Aristophanes,  like  a  college  pedant,  or  to  attach  himself, 
like  Aleandro,  to  some  famous  printer,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating, 
with  notes  and  variations,  some  recently  discovered  manuscript. 

*  Beza. 
t  De  Calvino  non  tarn  metuo  ingenii  sui  ten  Strebloten,  quam  bene  spero,  id 
enim  vitii  aptum  est  rebus  noslris,  ut  in  magnum  assertorem  nostrorum  dogma- 
tum  evadat;  non  enim  facile   capi   poterit   quin   majoribus  tricis  adversaries 
involvdt. 

:t:PraBf.  Comment,  in  Ep.  ad  Cor. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN.  37 

One  day,  the  two  were  taking  their  usual  evening  walk  : — "Bo  you 
know,"  said  Wolmar  to  his  pupil,  "that  your  father  has  mistaken  your 
vocation?     You  have  not  been  called  like  Alciati  to  preach  law,  nor 
like  myself  to  spout  Greek ;  give  yourself  up  to  theology,  for  theology 
is  the  mistress  of  all  sciences."* 

These  words  decided  the  future  destiny  of  John  Calvin,  who  closed 
his  Homer,  and  from  that  day  set  himself  to  the  study  of  the  word  of 
God.  Now,  the  word  which  he  found  in  the  Bible,  -vvas  not  that  of  the 
Latin  Vulgate, — still  today  read  in  the  school  and  the  church, — but  the 
French  of  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  or  perhaps,  of  John  Olivetan,  which, 
with  the  zeal  of  a  neophyte,  he  endeavoured  to  expound,  as  he  would 
have  done  one  of  those  ancient  comedies,  upon  which  Melchior  was 
then  commenting,  A  Catholic  preceptor  would  not  have  neglected  to 
inform  him  that  there  existed  a  beautiful  exegesis  of  the  holy  books, 
transmitted  from  age  to  age — from  Jesus  to  Leo  X. — and  against  which 
no  human  voice,  were  it  that  of  Berengarius,  of  Arius,  or  of  Luther, 
could  ever  prevail — the  exegesis  of  authority.  Such  preceptor  would 
have  shown  him  the  Bible,  at  that  very  moment  a  prey  to  the  disputes 
of  men  fond  of  novelties; — of  Zwingk,  Luther,  Melancthon,  (Ecolam- 
padius,  Capito,  Hedio,  Bucer, — who  could  not  come  to  an  understanding 
among  themselves,  and  were  engaged  in  erecting  a  tower  of  Babel, 
which  still  stands  a  monument  of  confusion. 

Among  the  students  who  crowded  round  the  chair  of  Melchior  Wol- 
mar, to  catch,  drop  by  drop,  the  dew  of  magisterial  instruction,  was 
Theodore  Beza,  less  harshly  judged  by  Catholicism  than  by  Protestant- 
ism, which  calls  him  "the  opprobrium  of  France,  a  simoniac,  and  an 
infamous  libertine. "f  An  elegant  young  man,  quite  perfumed  w^ith 
amber  and  poesy,  who,  at  the  same  time,  made  court  to  women,  to  the 
muses,  and  to  his  professor  Wolmar.  The  professor  spoiled  him,  the 
muses  inspired  him  with  chants  that  Catullus  would  not  have  disavowed, 
and  the  women  deceived  him.  It  appears  that  the  student  of  Vezelay 
had  reason  to  complain  of  the  last,  and  that  he  was  compelled  to  seek 
in  a  suburb  of  Paris,  for  the  health  which  he  had  compromised  in  their 
service.  J  He  is  the  only  artist  belonging  to  the  Genevan  reformation. 
At  that  epoch,  he  thought  little  about  the  word  of  God  :  his  whole  con- 
cern was  to  study  Anacreon  and  Horace,  and  to  set  forth  his  conquests 
in  trochees  or  iambics,  which,  with  a  voice  still  sweeter  than  his  lyrics, 
he  read  to  his  comrades.  At  times,  he  was  too  antique  in  his  fancies, 
and  essayed  to  imitate  the  poet  of  Teos,  even  in  his  shameful  amours. 
He  sang  a  youth,  named  Audebert,  whose  beauty  he  eulogised  in  verses, 
which  formerly  Rome  would  have  applauded,  but  which,  in  France, 
should  have  been  consigned  to  the  flames.  In  his  later  years,  many  a 
bitter  regret  was  caused  by  these  libertine  pages,  which  Beza,  the  minis- 
ter, would  willingly  have   torn   from  his  book  of  epigrams !     But  the 

*  Florimond  de  Remond.  p.  882. 
tGalliae  probrum,  simoniacus  ,  sodomita,   omnibus  vitiis  coopertus. 
4:  He  led  a  dissolute  life  at  Paris,    and,   in  one  of  the  suburbs  of  that  city, 
was  subjected  to  a  course  of  medicine.  Bolsec.  Histoire  de  laviede  Theodore 
de  MezQ,  Paris,  in  12mo.  1582, 

4 


38  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIS, 

scandal  was  without  remedy,  as  the  pages  had  been  made  impeTishable;r 
by  Robert  Etienne,  who  had  lent  the  aid  of  his  presses.  We  must 
quote  Catullus,  as  witness  of  Beza's  virtue,  in  default  of  cbsistian  poets, 
ancient  or  modern,  whom  we  should  in  vain  exhume  to  certify  the  in- 
nocence  of  his  verses  to  Candida  and  Audebert.* 

In  our  history  of  Luther,  we  have  exhibited  the  Saxon  monk  amus- 
ing himself  at  the  tavern  of  the  Black-Eagle,  in  Wittenberg,  and  with 
his  lips  steeped  in  the  beer  of  Thorgau,  treating  of  woman  more  like 
an  anatomist  than  an  apostle  of  the  gospel :  but  in  his  Table-talk,  there 
is  no  Corydon  chanting  his  Alexis.  We  had  a  right,  at  least  to  expect^ 
from  Beza  a  little  more  modesty,  and  that  he  would  not  put  himself 
forward,  as  he  has  done,  to  tell  us  of  the  sad  state  of  morals  at  Orleans 
and  Bourges,  previously  to  Calvin's  arrival.  It  was  not  becoming,, 
?n  this  poet  of  equivocal  amours,  to  affirm,  that  the  spark  of  faith  at  that 
time  was  only  kept  alive  in  two  or  three  hearts  ;t — in  those  of  Daniel^ 

*  THEODORUS  BEZA,  DE  SUA  IN    CANDIDAM    ET   AUDEBERTU2VI  BENEVOLENTIA- 

Abest  Candida;  Beza,  quid  morarisi 
Audebertus  abest:  quid  hie  moraris'? 
Tenent  Parisii  tuos  amores, 
llabent  Aurelii  tuos  lepores; 
Et  tu  Vezeliis  manere  pergis, 
Procul  Candidulaque,  amoribusque, 
Et  leporibus,  Audebertuloque? 

Immo  Vezelii  procul  valete; 
Et  vale,  pater,  et  valete,  fratres! 
Namque  Vezeliis  carcre  possum, 
Et  carere  parente,  et  his,  et  illis  : 
At  non  Candidula,  Audebertuloque. 

Sed  utrum  rogo  praeferam  duorum'? 
Utrum  invisere  mo  decet  priorem  ? 
An  queniquam  tibi,  Candida,  anteponani  ? 
An  queuiquam  antefcram  tibi,  Audebertel 
(4,uid  si  me  in  geminas  ipse  partes, 
Haruni  ut  altera  Candidam  revisat, 
Currat  altera  versus  Audebertum? 

At  est  Candida  sic  avara,  novi, 
Ut  totum  cupiat  tenere  Bezam. 
Sic  Bezae  est  cupidus  sui  Audebertus, 
Beza  ut  gestiat  integro  potiri. 
Amplector  quoque  sic  et  hunc,  et  illani, 
Ut  totus  cupiam  vidcre  utrumque; 
Integrisque  frui  integer  duobus. 
Praet'erre  attamen  alterum  necesse  est; 
O  duram  nimium  necessitateml 

Sed  postquam  tamen  alterum  necesse  est 
Priores  tibi  defero,  Audeberte. 
Quod  si  Candida  forte  conqueratur 
Quid  turn?  basiolo  tacebit  uno, 

tHist.  Eccl.  lib.  1.  p.  9,  and  the  following. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  39 

(the  lawyer,  and  of  Nicholas  Duchemin  : — that  then  hope  in  Christ,  our 
Kedeemer,  was  extinct ;  that  the-  merits  of  his  blood  were  no  longer  in- 
voked by  sinners ;  calumnies  spread  upon  their  path,  by  Luther,  when 
he  appeared  at  Wittenberg ;  by  (Ecolampadius,  on  his  entry  into  Bale; 
by  Zwingle,  om  his  mountains  of  Schwytz  ;  and  by  Bucer,  at  Stras- 
bourg.* This  accusation  must  fill  us  with  astonishment,  issuing  from 
the  lips  of  a  young  student,  who  must  sometimes  have  entered  the  cathe- 
dral of  Bourges,  were  it  only  to  listen  to  those  magnificent  hymns  of 
our  venerable  old  church,  in  which  they  sang  that  "a  drop  of  the  divine 
blood  was  suffici-ent  to  save  the  world."  Where  then  did  Beza  pass 
his  time  ?  What !  did  this  poetic  spirit,  in  visiting  Strasbourg,  never 
cast  his  eye  upon  the  portal  of  Munster,  on  which  the  architect  Ervin 
de  Steinbach,  has  sculptured  this  beautiful  alegory  ? — On  the  right,  a 
female  (the  church)  holding  in  one  hand  a  chalice  full  of  hosts;  in  the 
other,  a  cross ;  while  above  her  head,  in  the  form  of  a  crown  of  glory, 
is  this  motto  : 

Mit  Christi  Blut  uberwind'  icli  Dich. 

The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  makes  me  triumph  over  thee. 

On  the  left,  a  female  with  her  eyes  closed,  (the  synagogue,)  one  hand 
grasping  a  broken  arrow,  and  the  other  resting  on  the  shattered  tables 
of  Moses,  and  her  head  surmounted  by  these  words  : 

Dasselbig  Blut  verblindet  mich. 
This  blood  blinds  me. 

And  was  he  never  inside  the  temple  ?  For  he  would  have  beheld  upon 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  priests  vested  in  surplices,  kneeling  before 
the  blessed  Sacrament,  and  murmuring  :  0  Jesic  qui  passus  es  pro 
nolis  niiseri»,  misero  pecatori  miserere.  Oh  Jesus,  who  suffered  for  ixs 
miserable,  have  mercy  on  a  loretched  sinner. "f 

A  comparison  has  been  instituted  between  Beza  and  Melancthon, 
two  natures  entirely  different.  In  Beza  it  was  matter  poetically 
organized :  his  musical  ear  would  have  been  tortured  by  a  limping 
verse,  a  doubtful  epithet,  or  a  word  which  did  not  savour  of  antiquity ; 
his  brain  opened,  on  the  least  excitement,  to  pour  forth  metrical  trea- 
sures of  every  sort,  but  his  soul  had  little  share  in  this  mechanical  la- 
bour. Thus,  when  the  reformers  carried  their  devastation  into  the  abbey 
of  Cluny,  you  beheld  him  moved,  and  that  but  feebly,  at  the  sight  of 
mutilated  statues,  of  arabesques  shivered  by  some  soldier's  lance,  and 
of  all  the  wonders  of  art  effaced  by  fanaticism,  in  its  ruinous  march. 
But  on  seeing  the  priests,  who  had  erected  those  monuments,  blessed 
them  and  consecrated  them  to  the  Lord,  driven  forth  without  a  shelter 
and  without  bread,  he  will  remain  cold  as  marble.  Melancthon  is  not 
thus  constituted.  With  him,  it  is  the  soul  that  lives  and  feels.  Hence, 
when  Luther,  at  Cobourg,   shall   essay  ^to   break  to  pieces  the  clerical 

*Christum  a  nobis  primum  vulgatum  audemus  gloriari.     John  Pappus,  in  der 
Wid£xlegung  des  Zweybrttckisch-Berichts,  p.  427. 

t  Osias  Schadaus,  Beschreibung  des  Mtlnsters,  56,   57. 


40  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

hierarchy,  then  observe  the  countenance  of  Melancthon,  and  you  will 
surprise  the  tears  stealing  from  his  eyelids.  He  weeps  over  the  ruins  of 
the  episcopacy,  but  from  human  respect,  and  a  too  carnal  affection  for 
his  father,  he  conceals  his  tears.  Should  he,  like  Beza,  ever  visit  Stras- 
bourg, be  assured  he  will  listen  to  the  concert  which  the  very  stones  of 
its  cathedral  will  sing  for  him,  and  not  insult  the  faith  of  the  bishops 
sleeping  in  the  vaults  of  the  church.  He  will  not,  like  Beza,  the 
scholar  of  Vezclay,  damn  the  prelates.  The  reason  is,  because  his 
mother,  like  that  of  Beza  and  of  Calvin,  is  a  Catholic,  and  he  cannot 
comprehend  that  God  has  not  had  mercy  on  the  woman,  who  nourished 
him  with  her  milk.  Calvin,  in  his  puritanism,  sent  to  the  flames  of 
hell,  all  who  did  not  walk  in  the  light  of  the  reformation.  You  are 
mistaken,  if  you  imagine  that  God  placed  Beza  near  Calvin,  in  order 
to  moderate  his  ferocious  zeal.  Beza  has  indeed  his  lyre,  but  he  will 
not  use  it  :  and,  besides,  would  Calvin,  who  compares  himself  to  a 
prophet,*  listen  to  its  soothing  tones  ?  Music  or  poetry  can  never  ex- 
ercise sway  upon  a  soul  as  cold  as  his.f 

Thus,  the  friendship  which,  on  the  benches  of  the  school  of  Bourges, 
brings  them  together,  will  be  one  entirely  worldly  in  its  character,  with- 
out a  single  holy  ingredient.  Both,  workmen  of  evil,  will  labour  for 
the  ruin  of  the  papacy,  or,  to  borroAV  their  language,  of  the  papolatry, 
without  commiseration  for  the  white  heads  of  the  priests,  whom  they 
will  rob  of  their  daily  bread,  and  of  their  ancient  charge  of  souls.  If 
they  enter  the  temple  of  St.  Peter,  at  Geneva,  and  stumble  over  some 
statue  of  a  saint,  reversed  by  popular  fury  .  .  .  ,  neither  of  them 
will  stoop  to  gather  up  the  fragments,  because,  in  their  opinion,  this 
image  will  recall  the  memory  of  a  religion  which  they  desire  to  abolish. 
If  a  pyre  be  raised  on  Champel,  and  a  man  be  seen  ascending  it,  chant- 
ing hymns  to  God,  be  assured  that  Calvin  will  not  even,  wink  in  con- 
templating the  scene ;  and  should  a  tear  come  to  moisten  the  eye  of 
Beza,  he  will  know  how,  with  the  hem  of  his  ministerial  robe,  to  wipe 
it  away  so  completely,  that  his  master  shall  not  detect  the  slightest  trace 
of  its  presence.  Perhaps,  in  the  case  of  Beza  at  least,  you  will  ex- 
plain this  entire  want  of  human  sensibility,  by  the  creed  which  Calvin 
has  taught  him  :  they  both  believed  in  predestination.  Luther  under- 
stood this  degrading  system,  which,  delivering  man  over  to  despair, 
would  make  him  doubt  of  God  ;  he  expressed  his  opinion  of  it  to  Me- 
lancthon, and  cursed  him  who  first  introduced  it  into  the  world.  Sin- 
gular destiny  !  the  reformation  dries  up  the  noblest  sentiments  of  the 
soul ;  in  the  serf-will  of  Luther,  it  degrades  it  to  a  level  with  the  brute; 
in  the  work  of  the  illumined  Carlstadt,  it  deprives  ii  of  those  places  of 
expiation,  beyond  the  present  life,  where  it  can  still,  by  its  tears  and 
sufferings,  make  satisfaction  to  divine  justice  ;  and  in  Calvin's  Institutes, 
it  nails  it  to  fatalism,  like  a  criminal  upon  his  gibbet.  Behold,  then, 
the  three  grand  truths  which  the  reformation  comes  to  present  to  man  : 
the  servitude  of  the  interior  self,  the  inutility  of  prayer,  and  the  mark 
of  damnation  upon  the  forehead  of  the  new-born  babe. 

^Preface  to  the  Psalms.  tSee  the  chapter  entitled :  Theodore  Beza, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  41 

It  seems  that  Calvin  had  elevated  his  ideas  about  predestination  into 
a  system,  and  was  frightened  at  his  own  doctrines  :  for,  at  this  period, 
we  behold  him  agitated  by  remorses,  which  disturb  the  tranquility  of  his 
soul.  Fear  is  apparent  in  his  letters.*  He  writes  to  one  of  his  friends, 
Francis  Daniel :  "I  behold  around  me  no  secure  asylum,  although  my 
friends  offer  me  one  on  every  side.  De  Coiffart,  the  elder,  has  his 
house  ready  to  receive  me."  It  is  in  virtue  of  the  mission  of  his  bishop, 
that  he  preaches  his  desolating  dogmas  to  his  Catholic  flock.  Though 
he  has  renounced  the  '-'papism,"  he  still  discharges  the  ofRce  of  a 
*"'papist."  ''Yes,"  he  relates,  "I  was  then  at  all  times  very  far  from  an 
assured  tranquility  of  conscience.  For,  Avhenever,  and  as  often  as  I 
descended  into  myself,  or  lifted  my  heart  to  thee  (God!)  such  ex- 
treme horror  seized  me,  that  no  purifications,  no  satisfactions,  could,  in 
any  manner,  cure  me.  Ah  !  the  more  closely  I  looked  into  myself, 
the  sharper  stings  pierced  my  conscience,  in  such  sort,  that  no  solace  or 
comfort  remained  for  me,  except  to  forget,  and  thus  to  deceive  my- 
self."! 

Afterwards,  on  a  sudden,  this  interior  struggle  ceased  :  the  ''solace 
and  comfort"  came,  and  usurped  dominion  over  his  soul  :  and  the  reason 
was,  that  he  no  longer  belonged  to  Catholicism.  "God,"  if  we  shall 
credit  his  own  assertion,  "by  a  sudden  conversion,  subdued  his  heart, 
and  made  it  docile;  for,  age  considered,  it  had  hitherto  been  somew^hat 
too  hardened  in  such  things. "J  Calvin  has  neglected  to  inform  us 
what  stroke  of  Providence  this  was,  which  rescued  him  so  suddenly 
from  the  darkness  of  "papism."'  Nor  is  there  any  explanation  how  it 
happened,  that  God,  who  illumined  him,  did  not  impel  him  to  send  to 
his  bishop  his  clerical  letters,  renounce  his  benefices,  and  cease  to  live 
on  bread  prepared  by  heretical  hands;  for  he  still  continues  to  eat,  and 
live  upon,  the  bread  of  Pont-1-Eveque.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  bread 
of  episcopal  charity,  he  would  not  now  be  at  Paris,  or  preaching  his 
doctrines  in  the  neighbouring  villages ;  but  for  this  bread,  he  might, 
perhaps,  be  labouring  at  the  trade  of  his  uncle,  the  locksmith ;  or  at 
Noyon,  engaged  in  continuing  the  occupation  of  his  father.  For  his 
mother  is  no  more ;  and,  for  support,  he  is  dependent  upon  the  liberali- 
ty of  the  Mommors,  who  would,  no  doubt,  Avithhold  their  contributions 
did  they  know  the  use  that  he  makes  of  their  bounty;  or  upon  the 
revenues  of  his  modest  benefice,  w^hich  his  bishop  might  still  let  him 
enjoy,  as  an  alms,  to  save  him  from  despair  and  starvation,  even  though 
aware  of  the  new  path  which  he  is  treading.  His  panegyrists  are  quite 
proud  because  they  can  say  to  us :  Observe  now^ !  Calvin  never  re- 
ceived orders,  he  never  belonged  to  the  Catholic  priesthood,  and  did  not 
imitate  the  conduct   of  Luther.     We  answer   them  .  that   Luther,    in 

*Quoties  enim  vel  in  me  descendebam,  vel  animum  ad  te  attollebam,  extre- 
mus  horror  me  incessebat,  cui  nulla  piacula,  nulles  satisfactiones  mederi  pos- 
sent.  praef.  ad.  Psalm. 

tOpusfr.  p.  194.     Geneva.     1611. 

\  Deus  tamen  arcano  Providentiae  suae  freno  cursum  meum  alio  tandem  re- 
flexit:  ac  primo,  cum  superstitionibus  Papatus  magis  pertinaciter  addictus 
essem  quam  ut  facile  esset  e  tarn  profundo  luto  me  extrahi,  animum  meuna* 
subita  conversione,  ad  docilitatem  subegit,    Preef.  ad  Psalm. 

4* 


42  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

affixing  his  theses  publicly  on  the  front  of  the  church  of  Wittenberg, 
displayed  a  courage,  of  which  the  student  of  Noyon  was  destitute. 
Galvin  hides  himself;  he  denies  his  faith,  but  he  does  so  in  silence,  and 
wrapped  up  in  secresy  and  darkness.  He  imitates  those  electors  of 
Saxony,  who,  while  declaiming  against  monkish  intemperance,  become 
intoxicated  out  of  the  goblets  which  they  had  stolen  from  the  convents. 
If  it  be  by  a  stroke  from  heaven,  that  he  has  been  smitten  while  on  the 
route  to  Damascus,  let  him  then  cease  to  think  of  the  morrow  :  God  will 
provide  for  him.  When,  about  this  time,  Ignatius  of  Loyola  knocks 
at  a  convent  gate,  demanding  a  mission  to  preach  to  the  infidel,  he  does 
not  say  :  Give  me  bread;  but  he  asks  for  the  staff  of  a  pilgrim,  and 
sets  forth  upon  his  journey,  supported  on  his  way  by  the  God  who  feeds 
the  birds  of  heaven.  We  connot  comprehend  this  distrust  of  Provi- 
dence in  a  man  who,  like  Calvin,  calls  himself  another  David,  "seen, 
as  it  were,  in  a  mirror,"*  and  who,  upon  his  epistles,  impresses  a  beau- 
tiful seal,  representing  the  hand  of  a  youth,  offering  to  God  his  heart, 
around  which  are  the  letters  J.  C.  f  It  was  a  want  of  confidence  in 
God; — a  timid  nature ;  a  soft,  pusillanimous  spirit,:]:  (and  it  is  Calvin 
that  gives  this  testimony  of  himself,)  who  is  driven  on  by  circumstances^ 
but  who  never  could  have  been  able  to  command  circumstances. 

Calvin  had  left  the  University  of  Bourges,  in  the  year  1532,  and  re- 
turned to  Paris,  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  cause  of  the  reforma- 
tion; searching  for  souls  like  his  own,  easily  seduced,  amorous  of 
change,  whom  he  soon  intoxicated  with  that  wine  of  novelties,  so  sweet 
to  the  taste,  but  so  fatal  to  the  brain.  These  allowed  themselves,  one  by 
one,  to  be  taken  in  his  net,  seduced  by  his  siren  voice,  the  spell  of  which 
could  lull  those,  whose  reason  it  did  not  disturb.  To  youth,  he  preach- 
ed contempt  of  confession,  the  inutility  of  works,  the  danger  of  pilgrim- 
ages. He  poured  out  his  ridicule  upon  monks,  convents,  and  Catholic 
priests.  He  declaimed  against  the  luxury  of'  bishops,  the  wealth  of 
churches,  and  the  ignorance  of  the  priesthood.  He  preached  against 
the  pomp  and  state  of  the  successors  of  Leo  X.,  the  lavishment  of  in- 
dulgences, and  the  revenue  paid  to  the  papacy  by  the  court  of  France. 
He  announced  a  word,  destined,  as  he  boasted,  to  change  the  world, 
moralize  society,  destroy  superstition,  and  diffuse  light.  H©  pointed  to 
a  new  star,  which  first  appeared  at  Wittenberg,  and  was  then  gleaming 
in  the  horizon  of  France.  They  listened  to  him,  and  his  success  was 
fir  greater  than  he  could  have  anticipated.  He  wrote  :  "I  was  quite 
astonished,  that,  in  less  than  a  year,  all  those  who  manifested  a  desire 
for  pure  doctrine,  thronged  around  me  to  learn,  although  I  had  myself 
but  just  commenced.  For  my  part,  inasmuch  as  I  am  naturally  a  little 
unpolished  and  bashful,  I  have  always  loved  repose  and  tranquility,  and 
I  began  to  seek  for  some  lurking-place,  and  pretence  to  withdraw  from 
men ;  but  so  far  from  attaining  the  object  of  my  desire,  on  the  contrary, 

*Preface  to  the  Ps;\lms. 

t  See  pag'^  24th  de  rAvertissemcnt  des  lettres  a  Bourgogne,  with  regard  to 
Calvin's  seal. 

^  Ego  qui  natura  timido,  molli  et  pusillo  animo  me  esse  fateor.  Praef.  ad. 
Psalm. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  43 

every  retreat  and  private  place  became  for  me  like  a  public  school.  In 
short,  however  much  it  has  been  my  wish  to  live  retired  and  unknown^ 
God  has  so  made  me  travel,  and  subjected  me  to  such  different  changes, 
that  he  has  never  allowed  me  repose  any  where ;  but  in  spite  of  my 
natural  disposition,,  he  has,  as  it  is  termed,  brought  me  to  light,,  and 
made  me  take  a  prominent  part."* 

Calvin  formed  acq.uaintance  at  Paris,  with  a  merchant^  named  Etienne 
de  la  Forge,t  an  ardent  Lutheran,  whose  shop  served,  every  evening, 
as  a  rendezvous  for  his  sect,  and  where  John  commonly  preached. 
His  discourses,  replete  with  outbursts  against  Catholicism,  were  always 
terminated  by  the  same  formula  :  If  God  is  with  us,  who  shall  be  against 
us  ?  By  Luther  it  was  said  :  If  our  work  be  from  men,  it  will  fail ;. 
if  from  God,  it  cannot  perish.  It  is  the  same  thought,  expressed  in 
different  terms,  and  its  truth  has  been  disputed  by  Adolphus  Menzel ; 
as  if,  he  says,  in  his  preface  to  his  history  of  the  reformation  in  Ger- 
many, fact,  in  its  extreme  power,  can  ever  constitute  right ! 

What  had  occurred  in  Germany,,  now  was  witnessed  in  France  :  from 
these  nocturnal  and  clandestine  predications,  there  issued  forth — a  host 
of  neophytes,  quite  inflamed  with  a  fire  which  they  called  divine  ;  im- 
promptu prophets,  who  imagined  themselves  called  to  regenerate  the 
work  of  fifteen  centuries ;  doctors  without  learning  or  study,  who  pre- 
tended to  convict  our  sacred  interpreters  of  falsehood ;  Levites  without 
soutans,  transformed  into  apostles  by  the  breath  of  Calvin ;  Sorbon- 
nists  v.^ithout  diplomas,  who  asked  to-  dispute  with  master  and  maid-ser- 
vant. Artizans  in  the  morning,  disciples  at  noon,  and  preachers  in  the 
evening,  they  were  like  the  buffoon  described  by  Walter  Scott :  with 
an  archer's  head,  the  waist  of  a  major-domo,  and  the  feet  of  a  runner. 
These  new  men  were  then  called  Lutherans,  for  the  name  Huguenot  had 
not  yet  been  discovered.  These  Lutherans  existed  in  many  of  the  cities 
of  France,  and  especially  at  Meaux,  where  they  excited  great  disturb' 
ance  :  the  civil  authority  w^as  more  than  once  compelled  to  repress 
their  fanatical  zeal  and  insolent  language.  Before  the  magistrates,  they 
were  proud  and  bold ;  in  prison,  radiant  with  serenity  :  they  thought 
them.selves  called  by  God,  and  inspired  Avith  his  word.  At  Paris,  Cal- 
vin had  founded  a  little  church,  where  he  preached  at  night,  with  closed 
doors,  and  attacked  tradition,  in  its  Catholic  organs,  faith,  in  its  myste- 
ries, the  magistracy,  in  its  representatives,  the  church,  in  the  papacy, 
and  society,  in  its  religious  forms  ;  thus,  at  once,  revolting  against  the 
constitution  of  tlie  country,  its  creed,  and  its  laws.  Pasquier  presents 
him  to  us,  "in  the  midst  of  his  books  and  study,  with  a  nature  exerting 
its  ,gi'eatest  energies  for  the  progress  of  his  sect.  We  sometimes  beheld, 
says  he,  our  prisons  crowded  with  poor,  abused  people,  whom,  without 
ceasing,  he  exhorted,  consoled,    encouraged  by   his  letters ;  nor  did  he 

*  Pra?f.  ad  Psal.  Ego  qui  natura  subrust'oas  umbram  etotium  amavi,  tunc 
latebras  captare  coepi,  quee  adeo  concessae  non  sunt,  ut  mihi  secessus  omnes 
instar  publicee  scholce  essent. 

t  Etienne  de  la  Forge,  deceased,  whose  memory  (according  to  Calvin,), 
should  be  hallowed  among  tke  faithful,  as  a  holy  martyr  o£  Christ, 

€ontre  les  Libertins.  cb.  4. 


44  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIBf, 

want  messengers,  to  whom,  in  spite  of  all  the  precautions  taken  by  the 
gaolers,  the  prison  doors  were  opened.  It  was  by  this  process,  in  the 
commencement,  that  he  succeeded  to  secure  by  degrees  a  portion  of  our 
France,  in  such  sort,  that  after  considerable  time,  beholding  the  hearts 
of  many  predisposed  for  his  designs,  be  resolved  on  a  further  step,  and 
sent  to  us  ministers, — by  us  termed  preachers, — to  exercise  his  religion 
privately,  especially  in  our  city  of  Paris,  where  fires  were  enkindled 
against  them."* 

At  first,  the  civil  power  had  recourse  to  menaces  :  but  menaces 
proved  useless ;  it  employed  the  prison  :  but  the  prison  convert- 
ed nobody.  The  Lutherans,  in  their  pamphlets,  circulated  by  night, 
devoted  the  magistrates  to  the  indignation  of  the  populace,  their  judges 
to  the  execration  of  posterity,  the  prince  to  the  anger  of  the  Lord,  and 
papists  to  eternal  flames.  Were  they  banished,  they  soon  again  re- 
entered to  France,  with  a  zeal  for  proselytism  increased  by  all  the  suf- 
ferings they  had  endured  in  exile.  Was  a  passage  read  to  them  from 
the  Bible,  in  which  the  apostle  recommends  obedience  to  the  powers  of 
earth?  they  pointed  to  their  father  in  Christ,  at  the  Diet  of  Worms, 
hurling  his  defiance  in  the  teeth  of  the  emperor  and  orders,  and  choos- 
ing rather  to  obey  God  than  men.  In  their  eyes,  Luther  was  a  new 
Paul,  whose  word  would  rescue  the  earth  from  the  darkness  of  super- 
stition. Were  they  told  that  Luther  had  been  condemned  by  the  Holy 
See,  they  responded,   by  quoting  some   Latin   verses  which  had  found 

their  way  across  the  Rhine  ; If  Luther  be  guilty  of  heresy,  Christ 

himself  must  be  brought  to  judgment. f  The  magistrates,  for  the  most 
part,  were  ignorant  of  the  circumstances  which  had  transpired  in  the 
country,  which  heresy  had  ravaged,  else  they  could  have,  at  that  very 
hour,  pointed  to  poor  Carlstadt  flying  from  the  wrath  of  Luther,  and 
forced  to  abandon  Saxony,  and  beg  his  bread,  because  he  had  credited 
the  monk's  word,  and  essayed  to  introduce  a  new  doctrine  into  the  re- 
formed world. 

Violence  was  resorted  to  :  pyres  were  erected,  and  various  fanatics 
perished,  whose  death  was  transformed  into  a  martyrdom  !  Credulous 
souls,  and  meriting  commiseration  rather  than  anger,  who  expected  to 
gain  heaven  by  apostacy,  and  died  joyously  for  the  glory  of  a  word 
which  they  did  not  comprehend,  and  for  which  not  one  of  Calvin's  suc- 
cessors would  at  this  day  shed  so  much  as  a  drop  of  ink  !  for  the  Christ 
made  after  the  image  of  Calvin,  no  longer  resembles  the  Christ  of  cer- 
tain  ministers  of  Geneva  in  our  day.  The  Christ  of  John  of  Noyon 
possessed  a  double  nature ;  he  was  God  and  man  ;  and  the  Christ  of  the 
reformer's  successors  is  no  more  than  a  son  of  Adam,  formed  out  of  the 
slime  of  the  earth,  and  only  a  little  greater  than  Mahomet  or  Alexander^ 

*  Pasquicr,  Rechcrches  sur  la  France,     liv.  8.  p.  769. 

t  Hosrosibus  si  dignus  erit  Luthcrus  in  ullis, 
Et  Christus  dignus  criminis  hujus  erit. 

Sagtman,  dasz  Lutherus  sey  schuldig  einiger  Ketzereven; 
Ey  so  musz  dann  Christus  selbst  dieses  La&ters  schuldig  seyn. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  TREATISE  ON  CLEMENCY. 1532. 

Examination  of  the  work. — Trouble  and   torments  of  the    author. — Various 
letters. — Calvin  sells  his   benefice,  and  his  part  of  the  family  inheritance. 

When  the  sword  of  the  law  fell  upon  one  of  his  followers,  the  voice 
of  Luther  was  magnificent;  it  exclaimed,  in  the  ears  of  emperors, 
kings,  and  dukes  :  You  have  shed  the  blood  of  the  just.  And  then  the 
Saxon,  in  honor  of  the  martyr,  extemporized  a  hymn  w^hich  was  chanted 
in  the  very  face  of  the  civil  power : 

"In  the  low  countries  at  Brussels, 
The  Lord  his  greatness  hath  displayed, 
In  the  death  of  two  of  his  loved  children, 
On  whom  grand  gifts  he  had  bestowed."* 

Calvin  had  not  the  courage  to  imitate  Luther.  He  has  told  us  that 
he  wanted  courage ;  he  again  repeats  it :  he  says — that  he,  a  plebian, 
trifling  as  a  man,  and  having  but  little  learning,  has  nothing  in  him 
which  could  deserve  celebrity. f  And  yet  he  essayed  a  timid  protest  in 
favour  of  certain  Huguenots  who  had  been  burned  on  the  public  square  : 
'*The  work,"  says  Papire  Masson,  "of  a  double-faced  writer,  a  Catho- 
lic in  his  writings,  and  a  Lutheran  in  his  bed-chamber. "J 

Tliis  is  his  first  book.  It  is  entitled  :  De  dementia,  or,  Treatise  on 
Clemency,  and  is  a  paraphrase  of  some  Latin  writer  of  the  decline. § 
Moreover,  this  is  the  first  time  that  a  commentator  is  ignorant  of  the 
life  of  him  whose twork  he  publishes.  Calvin  has  confounded  the  two 
Senecas,  the  father  and  the  son,  the  rhetorician  and  the  philosopher,  of 

*Zu  BrUssel  in  dem  Niederland 
Wohl  durch  zween  junge  Knaben 
HatGott  sein  Wunder  macht  bekannt. 
Die  er  mit  seinen  Gaben 
So  reichlich  hat   gezieret. 

tUnus  de  plebe  homuncio,  mediocri,  seu  potius  modica  eruditione  prceJitus, 
nihil  in  me  habebam,  quod  spem  aliquam  celebritatis  excitare  possit. 

:};Ediderat  Calvinus  Commentarios  illos  de  Clementia,  aliud  agens,  aliud 
simulans. 

^Lutetia  transiens  quum  annum  ageret  vigesimum  quartum,  egregium  ilium 
commentarium  scripsit  in  Senecse  libellum  de  Clementia:  quo  scriptore  gra- 
vissimo,  et  ipsius  Calvini  moribus  plane  conveniente  valde  delectatum  fuisse 
constat.  Beza,  vita  Calvini,  at  the  head  of  the  reformer's  epistles.  Geneva, 
1576,  in  folio,  p.  3. 


46 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


both  of  whom  he  makes  but  one  literary  personage,  living  the  ver)'' 
patriarchal  life  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifteen  years. 

We  must  pardon  Varillas,*  for  having,  with  sufficient  acrimony,, 
brought  into  relief  this  mistake  of  the  biographer  of  Seneca,  the  phi- 
losopher, and  not,  like  the  historians  of  the  reformation,  become  vexed 
at  the  proud  tone  of  the  French  historian.  Had  the  fault  been  com- 
mitted by  a  Catholic,  where  is  the  Protestant  who  would  not  have  done 
the  same  thing  as  Varillas  ? 

The  literary  work,  which  Calvin,  in  the  shape  of  a  commen- 
tary, has  interwoven  with  the  treatise  of  Seneca,  is  a  production 
not  unworthy  a  literato  of  the  revival ;  it  is  an  amplification, 
which  one  would  suppose  to  have  been  written  in  the  cell  of  a 
Benedictine  monk,  so  numerous  are  the  citations,  so  great  is  the  display 
of  erudition,  so  replete  is  it  with  the  names,  Greek  and  Latin,  of  poets, 
historians,  moralists,  rhetoricians,  philosophers,  and  philologists.  Cal- 
vin is  a  coquetish  student,  who  loves  to  parade  his  reading^and  his 
memory.  His  workf  is  a  gallery,  open  to  all  the  ancient  and  modern 
glories  of  literature,  whom  the  commentator  calls  to  his  aid,  often  for 
the  elucidation  of  a  doubtful  passage.  The  young  rhetorician  glorifies 
his  country,  and  when  upon  his  march  he  encounters  some  historic 
name,  by  which  his  idea  can  be  illustrated,  he  hastens  to  proclaim  it^ 
with  all  its  titles  to  admiration.  He  there  salutes  Bude  in  magnificent 
terms  :  "Bude,  the  pillar  and  glory  of  human  learning,  thanks  to 
whom,  at  this  day,  France  can  claim  the  palm  of  erudition. "J  The^ 
portrait  which  he  draws  of  Seneca  is  the  production  of  a  practiced  pen: 
"Seneca,  whose  pure  and  polished  phrase  savours,  in  some  sort,  of  his 
age ;  his  diction  florid  and  elegant ;  his  style,  without  labour  or  re- 
straint, moves  on,  free  and  unembarrassed. "§  It  may  be  seen  that  the 
student  had  the  honour  to  study  under  Mathurin  Cordier,  and  to  attend 
the  lectures  of  Alciati ;  but,  after  all,  his  book  is  but  a  defective  allego- 
ry ;  for  what  reader  could  have  divined  that  the  writer  designed  to  repre- 
sent Francis  1.,  under  the  name  of  Nero,  as  addressed  by  the  Cordovan? 
The  treatise  could  produce  no  sensation,  and,  like  the  work  of  Seneca, 
must  be  shipwrecked  in  that  sea  of  the  passions,  which,  at  the  two 
epochs,  raged  around  both  writers.  || 

Calvin  experienced  much  trouble  in  having  his  Latin  commentary 
printed  :  he  was  in  need  of  funds,  and  the  revenues  of  his  benefice  of 
Pont-1-Eveque,    were   insufficient   to   defray  the  expense  of  printing. 

*Varrillas,   Histoire  de  I'Heresie,  etc.    liv.  x.     Bayle,   Art.    Calvin. 

t  Joannis  Calvini  in  L.  Annaei  Senecae,  Romani  senatoris  ac  philosophi  cla- 
rissiini,  libros  duos  de  dementia  ad  Ncronem  Caesareni,  commentarii,  Genevse, 
ex  typographia  Jacobi  Steer,  1611. 

The  first  edition  published  at  Paris  bears  the  title:  L.  Annei  Senecae,  Ro» 
mani  senatoris,  ac  philosophi  clarissimi,  libri  duo  de  Clementia  ad  Neronem 
Ceesareni:  Joannis  Calvini  Novioduneei  commentariis  illustrati.  Parisiis  apud 
Ludovicum  Cyaneum  sub  duobus  gallis,  in  via  Jacobsea,    1532.  in  4to. 

:j:Rei  literariae  decusac  columen,  cujus  beneficio  palmam  eruditionis  hodie 
sibi  vindicat  nostra  Gallia. 

i  Sermo  purus  ac  nitidus,  suum  scilicet  saeculum  redolens;  genus  dicendi 
clegans  ac  floridum,  stylus  illaboratus  ac  sine  anxietate  fluens. 

II  Und  wurden  in  diesem  tobenden  Meere  von  Leidenshaften  tiberhSrt  und 
nicht  beachtet.     Paul  Henry,  p.  55. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  4^ 

How  could  he  apply  to  the  Mommor  family  ?  Moreover,  he  was  in 
dread  that  his  book  should  prove  a  failure,  and  thereby  injure  his  bud- 
-ding  reputation.  All  these  alarms  of  a  maiden  author  are  set  forth  in 
various  letters,  which  he  addressed  on  this  subject  to  the  dear  friends  of 
.his  bosom. 

*' Behold  my  books  of  Seneca,  concerning  Clemency,  printed  at  my 
own  expense  and  labour  !*  They  must  now  be  sold,  in  order  that  I 
may  again  obtain  the  money  which  I  have  expended.  I  must  also 
watch  that  my  reputation  does  not  suffer.  You  will  oblige  me,  then, 
by  informing  me  how  the  work  has  been  received,  whether  with  favour 
or  indifference  ?"  The  whole  anxiety  of  the  poor  author  is  to  lose  no- 
thing by  the  enterprise ;  his  purse  is  empty ;  it  needs  replenishing  :  and 
he  urges  the  professors  to  give  circulation  to  the  treatise  ;  he  solicits  one 
of  his  friends  at  Bourges,  a  member  of  the  University,  to  bring  it  for- 
ward in  his  lectures ;  and  appeals  to  the  aid  of  Daniel,  to  whom  he 
sent  a  hundred  copies. f  Papire  Masson  was  mistaken  :  the  com- 
mentary on  Clemency  did  not  first  appear,  as  he  supposes,  under  the 
title  o(  Lucius  Calvinus,  civrs  Romanus,X  but  under  that  of  Calvinus, 
a  name  ever  after  retained  by  the  reformer.  § 

This  treatise  introduced  Calvin  to  the  notice  of  the  learned  world  : 
Bucer,  Capito,  (Ecolampadius,  sent  congratulations  to  the  writer  ;  Cal- 
vin, in  September  15.32,  had  sent  a  copy  of  his  work  to  Bucer,  who 
was  then  at  Strasbourg.  The  person  commissioned  to  present  it,  was  a 
poor  young  man,  suspected  of  Anabaptism,  and  a  refugee  from  France. 
Calvin's  letter  of  recommendation  is  replete  with  tender  compassion 
for  the  miseries  of  the  sinner.  '^My  dear  Bucer,"  he  writes,  "you  will 
not  be  deaf  to  my  entreaties,  you  will  not  disregard  my  tears ;  I  implore 
you,  come  to  the  aid  of  the  proscribed,  be  a  father  to  the  orphan.." || 

This  was  sending  the  sick  man  to  a  sad  physician  :  Bucer,  by  turns, 
Catholic,  Lutheran,  Anabaptist,  Zwinglian  !  Besides,  why  this  prose- 
lytism  of  a  moral  cure  ?  The  exile  was  Anabaptist  by  the  same  title 
that  Calvin  was  predestinarian,  in  virtue  of  a  text  of  scripture  :  "Go, 
whoever  shall  believe  and  be  baptised,  will  be  saved."  The  Anabap- 
tist believed  in  the  ineflicacy  of  baptism,  without  faith  manifested  by 
an  external  act ;  but  is  not  Calvin,  at  this  very  hour,  as  much  to  be 
pitied  as  the  Anabaptist  ?  He  also  doubted,  searched,  and  interrogated 
his  bible,  and  imagined  that  he   had  caught   the   meaning  of  a  letter, 

*LibriSenec8e  de  dementia  tandem  excusi  sunt  meis  sumptibus  et  mea 
opera;  nunc  curandum  ut  undique  colligatur  pecunia  quee  in  sumtus  impensa 
est;  deinde  ut  salva  sit  mea  existimatio,  primum  velim  mihi  ut  rescribas  quo 
favore  vel  frigore  excepti  fuerint.  Mss.  Arch.  Eccl.  Bernensis. — The  first 
book  of  this  treatise  on  Clemency  contains  twenty-six  chapters,  the  second, 
seven. 

t  Tandem  jacta  est  alea.  Exierunt  commentarii  mei  in  libros  Senecae  de 
dementia,  sed  meis  sumptibus,  qui  plus  pecuniae  exhauserunt  quam  tibi  per- 
suaderi  possit,  etc.     Mss.  Arch.  Eccl.  Bern. 

XCalvin,  a  Roman  citizen.,  Papirius  Masso,  Vita  Cavini.  p.  412,  t.  lb 
elogiorum. 

jMaimbourg.     Histoire  du  Calvinisme,    p.  57. 
II  Paul  Henry,  p.  55.  t.  1. 

/ 


48  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

which  no  intelligence  before  him  had  been  able  to  seize.  And  what 
was  this  truth,  the  conquest  of  which  infused  such  fear  into  his  soul^ 
that,  before  he  could  announce  it  to  the  Avorld,  he  sold  his  charge  of 
Pont-1-Eveque,  and  even  his  paternal  inheritance  ? 

In  the  year  1531,  John  Calvin  presented  himself  before  Simon  Le- 
gendre  and  Peter  Le  Roy,  royal  notaries  at  Paris,  to  invest  his  brothers 
with  powers  of  attorney,  to  sell  what  had  been  left  him  by  his  father 
and  mother. 

"  To  all  to  whom  these  present  letters  shall  come ;  John  de  la  Barre, 
Chevalier  Count  d'Estampes,  Governor  of  Paris,  and  Chief  of  the  ju- 
dicial tribunal  of  said  city,  greeting ;  We  make  known  that  before 
Simon  Legendre,  and  Peter  Le  Roy,  notaries  of  our  Lord  the  King,  at 
Paris,  came  in  person,  master  John  Cauvin,  licentiate  at  law,  and  An- 
thony Cauvin,  his  brother,  clerk,  living  at  Paris,  and  sons  of  Gerard 
Cauvin, — while  yet  alive,  secretary  of  M.  the  Bishop  of  Noyon, — and  of 
Jeanne  le  Franc,  his  wife ;  who  jointly  and  severally,  make,  name, 
ordain,  appoint  and  establish  as  their  general  agent  and  special  attor- 
ney, master  Charles  Cauvin,  their  brother,  to  whom  bearing  these  pre- 
sent letters  they  grant,  and,  by  these  presents,  do  give  full  power  and 
right  to  sell,  concede  and  alienate,  to  whatever  person  or  persons,  the 
two  undivided  thirds  belonging  to  the  aforesaid  constituents,  coming  to 
them  in  proper  right  of  succession  by  the  demise  of  the  aforesaid  de- 
ceased Jeanne  le  Franc,  their  mother,  also  the  fourth  undivided  part  of  a 
piece  of  meadow,  containing  fourteen  acres,  or  thereabouts,  sit- 
uated  in  the  territory  of  Noyon,  and  pertaining  on  one  part  to  the 
wood  of  Chastelain ;  on  another  to  the  nuns  and  abbess  of  the  French 
Convent,  the  Abbey  aux  Bois;  on  another,  to  the  monks  and  sisters  of 
the  Hotel-Dieu  of  St.  John,  at  Noyon,  and  to  the  chapter  of  the  church 
of  Notre  Dame,  of  the  said  city,  and  running  up  to  the  highway  passing 
from  Noyon  to  Genury;  to  make  sale  and  alienation  of  the  same,  for 
such  price,  and  at  such  costs,  as  the  aforesaid  master  Charles  Cauvin, 
their  brother,  shall  judge  for  the  better ;  to  collect  the  money  and  give  se- 
curity, with  lean  upon  all  their  future  possessions.  Done,  and  passed,  on 
Wednesday,  the  fifteenth  day  of  February,  in  the  year  1531." 

Some  short  time  after  this,  Calvin  resigned  his  charge  of  the  chapel 
de  la  Gesiue  to  Anthony  de  la  Marliere,  mediante  pretio  converdionis, 
for  the  sum  agreed  on,  says  the  act  of  transfer,  and  also  to  Ca'im  his 
benefice  of  Pont-1-Eveque,  for  a  similar  consideration.* 

*  All  the  above  details  are  grounded  on  the  information  of  the  late  M. 
Antoine  de  Mesle,  Doctor  of  Law,  Treasurer  and  Canon  of  the  church  of 
Noyon,  ordinary  judge  of  the  Episcopal  court  of  the  place;  and  further,  on  tlie 
testimony  of  Papire  Masson:  Duo  ilia  beneficia  vendidit,  Antonio  Marliero 
unum,  alterum  Guilielmo  Bosio  presbytero  Noviomensis  ecclesiae.  Papirius 
Masson  has  taken  Bosius  (du  Bois)  for  Caim. — le  Vasseur. 


CHAPTER    V. 


€ALVIN    AT     THE     COURT     OF     MARGARET. THE      PSYCHOPANNYCHIA 

1534-1535. 

Cop  and  Calvin  fly  from  Paris. — The  Court  of  Nerac. — Calvin  at  Claix. — Du 
Tillet, — Calvin  at  Orleans. — The  Reformation  in  France. — Servetus — Exile, 
of  Calvin. — Strasbourg. — Bale. — The  Psychopannychia. — Examination  of 
the  work. — Judgment  of  Calvin. 

The  storm  was  gathering  :  Calvin  wished  to  expose  to  its  fury 
some  other  head  than  his  own,  and  chose  that  of  Nicholas  Cop,  rector 
of  the  Sorbonne,  at  Paris.  Cop  was  a  German  of  Bale,  who  was 
captivated  with  the  student,  because  of  his  ready  speech,  his  airs  of  vir- 
tue, his  scriptural  knowledge,  his  raileries  against  the  monks,  and  his 
ridicule  of  the  University.  As  to  the  rest,  he  was  a  man  of  a  dull, 
heavy  mind,  understood  nothing  of  theological  subjects,  and  would  have 
been  much  better  placed  in  a  refectory,  than  in  a  learned  body ;  at 
table,  than  in  the  professor's  chair.  Cop  had  to  pronounce  his  usual 
discourse  on  All-Saints'  day,  in  presence  of  the  Sorbonne  and  the  Uni 
versity.  He  had  recourse  to  Calvin,  who  set  to  work,  and  "built  him 
up  a  discourse,"  says  Beza, — ^'an  oration  quite  different  from  those  which 
were  customary."*  The  Sorbonne  and  tjniversity  did  not  assist  at  the 
discourse,  but  only  some  Franciscans,  who  appeared  to  be  scandalized 
at  certain  propositions  of  the  orator,  and  among  others,  at  one  concern- 
ing justification  by  faith  alone  in  Christ : — an  old  error,  which,  for  many 
ages,  has  been  trailed  along  in  all  the  writings  of  heretics ;  often  dead 
and  resuscitated — and  which  Calvin,  in  Cop's  discourse,  dressed  out  in 
tinsel,  in  order  to  give  it  some  appearance  of  novelty.  Bat  our  Fran- 
ciscans had  sight  and  hearing  equally  good ;  they  detected  the  heresy 
easily,  and  denounced  to  the  parliament  the  evil  sounding  propositions, 
which  they  had  taken  pains  to  note  down  in  writing.  Cop  was  greatly 
embarrassed  by  his  new  glory ;  he  had  not  expected  so  much  fame. 
He,  however,  held  up  well,  and  convoked  the  University  at  the  Mathu- 
rins.  The  University  assembled  in  a  body  in  order  to  judge  the  cause. 
The  rector  there  commenced  a  discourse,  drawn  up  by  Calvin,  in 
which  he  formally  denied  having  preached  the  propositions  denounced, 
with  the  exception  of  one  only,  precisely  the  worst,  that  concerning 
justification.  Imagine  the  tumult  which  the  orator  excited  !  Scarce- 
ly could  he  make  himself  heard,  and  ask  mercy.     The  old  Sorbonnists 

*  Beza.  Hist.  Eccl.  t.  1.  p.  14. 


60  l.iri    OF    JOHN    CALYIN. 

shuddered  on  their  benches.     The   unfortunate   Cop  would  have  been 
seized,  had  he  not  made  his  escape  to  return  no  more.* 

The  student  kept  himself  concealed  at  the  college  du  Fortet,  which 
was  already  surrounded  by  a  body  of  archers,  headed  by  John  Morin. 
Calvin  was  warned  of  their  approach.  "He  escaped  through  a  window, 
concealed  himself  in  the  suburb  St,  Victor,  at  the  house  of  a  vine- 
dresser, changed  his  clothes,  assumed  the  long  gown  of  the  vine- 
dresser,  and  placing  a  wallet  of  white  linen  and  a  rake  on  his  shoulders, 
he  took  the  road  to  Noyon."t  "A  canon  of  that  city,  who  was  on  his 
way  to  Paris,  met  the  cure  of  Pont-1-Eveque,  and  recognized  him. — 
"Where  are  you  going,  master  John,"  he  demanded,  "in  this  fine  dis- 
gui.se  ?"  "Where  God  shall  please,"  answered  Calvin,  who  then  began 
10  explain  the  motive  and  reasons  of  his  disguise,  "And  would  you 
not  do  belter  to  return  to  Noyon,  and  to  God  ?"  asked  the  canon,  look- 
ing at  him  sadly.  Calvin  was  a  moment  silent ;  then  taking  the  priest's 
hand  : — "Thank  you,"  said  he,  "but  it  is  too  late." 

J3uring  this  colloquy,  the  lieutenant  was  searching  Calvin's  papers, 
and  secured  those  which  might  have  compromised  the  friends  of  the 
fugitive. 

Calvin  found  a  refuge  with  the  queen  of  Navarre,  who  was  fortunate 
enough  to  reconcile  her  protegee  with  the  court  and  the  University.  The 
person,  whom  she  employed  to  effect  this,  was  an  adroit  man,  who  had 
succeeded  in  deceiving  the  government.  Francis  I.  based  his  glory 
upon  the  patronage  and  encouragement  which  he  accorded  to  learning, 
and  Calvin,  as  a  man  of  letters,  merited  consideration.  The  King 
needed  some  forgiveness  for  serious  political  faults,  and,  with  reason,  he 
believed  that  the  humanists  would  redeem  his  character  before  the  peo- 
ple.    He  was  at  once  the  protector  and  the  slave  of  the  literati. 

At  that  period,  the  little  court  of  Nerac  was  the  asylum  of  writers, 
who,  like  Desperriers,  there  prepared  their  Cymhalvm  Mundi ;  of 
gallant  ladies,  who  composed  love-tales,  of  which  they  were  often  the 
heroines  themselves;  of  poets,  Avho  extemporized  odes  after  Beza's 
model ;  of  clerics,  and  other  gentry  of  the  church,  who  entertained 
packs  of  hunting  dogs,  and  courtezans ;  of  Italian  play-actors,  who,  in 
the  queen's  theatre,  presented  comedies  taken  from  the  New  Testament, 
in  which  Jesus  was  made  to  utter  horrible  things  against  monks  and 
nuns ;  or  of  princes,  who,  like  the  queen's  husband,  scarcely  knew 
how  to  read,  and  yet  discoursed,  like  doctors,  about  doctrine  and  dis- 
cipline.J 

It  was  against  Roussel,  (he  confessor  of  Margaret,  that  Calvin,  at  a 
later  date,  com.poscd  his  "Admrsiis  JSkodcirrUas."     At  Nerac,  he  found 

*  Revcra  Copus  si:spcctse  ca-pit  esse  fidci,  ct  quia  pater  ejus  iGuiliolmus,  regis 
mcdicus,  pp.ruui  .sfinc  snpcrc  crcdcbatur,  ct  quia  .cuin  hfEVcticis  fumiliariter 
convcrsari  compc  rtusost.  Undo  post(juam  rcticitum  est  cum  fiigissc,  Jolianiics 
Morinus  balivus  Calvinum  qui  tunc  in  collcgio  Fort(^tico  moraI)ctur,  nli(^sque 
ejus  fajniliarcs  inquisivit  ad  prchf  ndcudum,  scd  illi  similiter  liiga  sibi  codpu- 
luerunt.  Hist.  Univ.  Paiisicn.  nuctoro  Bulaeo  t.  vi.  p.  239.  in  lol.  Paris.  1673. 

t  Dcsmay. — Drelincourt,  p.  157.  Papiiius  Mcsso.  B(za  .  .  .  .  quo  do  mi 
non  roporto.  cited  by  Paul  Henry,  p.  56.  t.  I. 

±  Florimond  de  Rerr.ond,  p.  889. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN     CALVIN.  51 

ie  Fevre  d'Etaples,  who  had  fled  from  the  wrath  of  the  Sorbonne,  and 
w-ho  '"regarded  the  young  man  with  a  benignant  eye,  predicting  that  he 
was  to  become  the  author  of  the  restoration  o[  the  church  in  France."* 
Le  Fevre  recalls  to  our  mind  that  priest,  about  whom  Mathesius  tells 
us,  who  said  to  Luther,  when  sick, — My  child,  you  will  not  die ;  God 
has  great  designs  in  your  regard. f  As  to  the  rest,  James  le  Fevre  d'- 
Etaples was  a  sufficiently  charitable  and  honest  man,  who  often  repeat- 
ed these  two  verses,  which  have  been  engraved  on  his  tomb,  at  Nerac  ; 

Corpus  humo,  mentemque  Deo,  bona  cuncta  relinquo, 
Pauperibus:  Faber  heec  dum  moreretur  ait. 

He  died  a  Catholic,  and  very  probably  without  ever  having  prophesied 
in  the  terms  mentioned  by  Beza. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Margaret  enjoined  the  law  of  silence  upon 
her  guest  of  Noyon,  for  we  find  him  disseminating  his  errors  in  Sain- 
tonge,  where  many  labourers  flocked  to  hear  him,  and  abandoned  Ca- 
tholicism to  embrace  the  reformation.  It  was  while  on  one  of  his 
excursions,  that  the  missionary  encountered  Louis  du  Tillet,  clerk  of 
the  parliament  of  Paris,  and  secretary  of  du  Tillet,  bishop  of  Meaux. 
Louis  possessed  a  beautiful  dwelling,  at  Claix,  a  sort  of  Thebais,  retired 
and  pleasant,  where  Calvin  commenced  his  most  serious  work,  The 
Christian  Institutes. J  The  time  he  could  spare  from  this  literary 
occupation,  he  devoted  to  preaching  in  the  neighbouring  cities,  and 
especially  at  Angouleme.  A  vine,  beneath  which  he  loved  to  recline 
and  muse,  may  still  be  seen  ;  it  was  for  a  long  time  called  CaMn's 
vine.§  He  was  still  living  on  the  last  bounties  of  a  church  which  he 
had  renounced,  and  which  he  called,  '-'a  step-mother,  and  a  prostitute;" 
and  on  the  presents  of  a  queen  gallant,  whose  morals  and  piety  he 
lauded,  continuing  to  assist  at  the  Catholic  service,  and  composing 
Latin  orations,  which  were  delivered  out  of  the  assembly  of  the  synod, 
at  the  temple  of  St.  Peter.  j| 

He  left  the  court  of  Margaret,  and  reappeared  at  Orleans. 

The  reformation  in  France,  as  in  Germany,  wherever  it  showed  itself, 
produced  on  all  sides,  disorder  and  trouble.  In  place  of  a  uniform 
symbol,  it  brought  contradictory  confessions,  which  gave  rise  to  inter- 
minable disputes.  In  Germany,  the  Lutheran  word  caused  a  thousand 
sects  to  spring  up,  each  of  which  wished  to  establish  a  christian  repub- 
lic en  the  ruins  of  Catholicism.  Carlstadt,  Schwenkfield,  (Ecolampa- 
dius,  Zwingle,  Munzer,  Bockold,  begotten  by  Luther,  had  denied  their 
father,  and  taught  heterogeneous  dogmas,  of  which  every  one  passed  for 
the  production  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Luther,  who  no  longer  concealed 
himself  beneath  a  monk's  robe,   but   borrowed  the  ducal  sword,  drove 


*Beza,  Vie  de  Calvin, 
t  Als  er  krank  lag,  weissagte  ihm  ein  alter  Priester,  er  werde  nicht  sterben, 
sondern  noeh  ein  groszer  Mannwerden.     Mathesius,  p.  2. 
X  Bayle's  Dictionary,  article,  Calvin. 
\  Das  Leben  Johann  Calvin's  von  P.  Henry,  t.  1.  p.  50. 
I  Florimond  de  Eeraond. 


52  I-IFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

before  him  all  these  rebel  angels,  and,  at  the  gate  of  Wittenberg,  sta- 
tioned an  executioner  to  prohibit  their  entrance  :  driven  back  into  the 
provinces,  the  dissenters  appealed  to  open  force.  Germany  was,  then, 
inundated  with  the  blood  of  her  noble  intelligences,  who  had  been  born  for 
her  glory  :  Munzer  died  on  the  scaffold,  and  the  Anabaptists  marched 
to  punishment,  denying  and  cursing  the  Saxon,  who  did  violence  to 
their  faith.  Every  thing  was  perishing :  painting,  sculpture,  poesy, 
letters.  The  reformation  imitated  Nero,  and  sang  its  triumphs  amid 
ruins  and  blood. 

In  France  it  was  destined  soon  to   excite  similar  tempests.     It  had 
already  troubled  the  church.     It   no   longer,    as  before,  sheltered  itself 
beneath  the  shades  of  night,   to   propagate  its  doctrines.     It  erected  by 
the  side  of  the  Catholic  pulpit,  another   pulpit,   from  which  its  dogmas 
were  defended  by  its  disciples ;  it  had  its  partizans  at  court,  among  the 
clergy,  in  the  universities  and   in   the   parliaments.     Calvin's  book  de 
Clemenlia,  gained  him  a  large  number  of  proselytes  :   his  disciples  had 
an  austere  air,  downcast  eyes,  pale    faces,  emaciated  cheeks, — all  the 
signs  of  labour   and   sufferings.     They  mingled   little  Avith  the  world, 
avoided  female  conversation,  the  court,  and  shows ;  the  Bible  was  their 
book  of  predilection ;  they   spoke,    like   the    Saviour,    in  apologues. 
They  were  termed  christians   of  the    primitive    church.     To  resemble 
these,  they  only  needed  that  which  constitutes  the  very  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity, viz  :   faith,  hope  and  charity.     To  be  convinced  that  their  sym- 
bol was  as  diversified  as  their  faces,  it  was  only  necessary  to  hear  them 
speak ;  some  taught  the  sleep  of  the  soul,   after  this  life,  till  the  day  of 
the  last  judgment ;  others,  the  necessity  of  a  second  baptism.     Among 
them,  there  were  Lutherans,  who  believed   in   the  real  presence,   and 
Zwinglians  who  rejected  it;  apostles   of  free  will,  and  defenders  of  fa- 
talism ;    Melancthonians,  who    admitted    an   ecclesiastical  hierarchy ; 
Carlostadians,  who  maintained  that  every  christian  is  a  priest ;   realists, 
chained  to  the  letter ;  idealists,    who   bent   the    letter    to  the  thought; 
rationalists,  who  rejected  every  mystery ;  mystics,  who  lost  themselves 
in  the  clouds ;   and  anti-trinitarians,    who,    like    Servetus,  admitted  but 
two  persons  in  God.     These  doctors   all   carried   with  them  the  same 
book, — the  Bible. 

Servetus,  or  Servedus,  a  Spanish  physician,  had  left  his  own  country^ 
and  established  himself,  in  15.31,  at  Hagenau,  Avhere  he  had  published 
different  treatises  against  the  Trinity.  He  had  disputed  at  Bale  with 
(Ecolampadius,  sometime  before  this  renegade  from  the  Lutheran  faith 
''was  strangled  by  the  devil,"  if  we  are  to  believe  the  account  given  by 
Doctor  Martin  Luther.  Servetus  boasted  that  he  triumphed  over  the 
theologian.  Having  left  Bale,  in  1532,  and  crossed  the  Rhine,  he 
came  to  hurl  a  solemn  defiance  at  Calvin ;  the  gauntlet  Avas  taken  up 
by  the  cure  of  Pont-1-Eveque,  the  place  of  combat  indicated,  the  day 
for  the  tournament  named,  but  at  the  appointed  hour,  "the  heart  of  this 
unhappy  wretch  failed,"  says  Beza,  "who  having  agreed  to  dispute,  did 
not  dare  appear."  Calvin,  on  his  part, — in  his  refutation  of  the  errors 
of  Servetus,  published,  in  1554, — boasts  of  having  in  vain  offered  the 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVI>'.  63 

-Spanish  physician  remedies  suitable  to  cure  his  malady.*  Servetua 
pretends  that  his  adversary  was  laying  snares  for  him,  which  he  had  the 
good  fortune  to  avoid.  At  a  later  period  he  forgot  his  part,  and  came 
10  throw  himself  into  the  ambuscade  of  his  enemy. f 

The  parliaments  redoubled  their  severity  :  Calvin  was  narrowly 
watched,  his  liberty  might  be  compromised,  and  even  his  life  put  in 
peril.  He  resolved  to  abandon  France,  either  from  fear  or  spite, — if 
we  are  to  credit  an  ecclesiastical  historian, — not  being  able  to  forgive 
Francis  I.  for  the  preference  manifested  by  tliis  prince  towards  a  rela- 
tion of  the  constable,  "of  moderate  circumstances,"  who  was  promoted 
to  a  benefice,  for  which  the  author  of  the  Commentaries  on  Seneca  had 
condescended  to  make  solicitation.  The  testimony  of  the  historian  is 
weighty.  Soulier  knows  neither  hatred,  passion,  nor  anger  ;  he  seeks 
after  the  truth,  and  he  believes  that  he  has  found  it  in  the  recital  which 
we  are  about  to  peruse  :  X 

"We,  the  undersigned,  Louis  Charreton,  counsellor  of  the  king, 
dean  of  the  presidents  of  the  parliaments  of  Paris,  son  of  the  late 
messire  Andrew  Charreton,  who  was  first  Baron  of  Champagne,  and 
counsellor  to  the  high  chamber  of  the  parliament  of  Paris;  Madam 
Antoinette  Charreton,  widow  of  Noel  Renouard,  former  master  in  the 
chamber  of  the  courts  of  Paris,  and  daughter  of  the  late  Hugh  Charre- 
ton, Lord  of  Montauzon ;  and  John  Charreton,  sieur  of  la  Terriere  ; 
all  three  cousins,  and  the  grandchildren  of  Hugh  Charreton ;  certify 
that  we  have  frequently  heard  from  our  fathers,  that  the  aforesaid  sieur 
Hugh  Charreton,  had  several  times  told  them,  that,  under  the  reign  of 
Francis  L,  while  the  court  w^as  at  Fontaine-bleau,  Calvin,  who  had 
a  benefice  at  Noyon,  came  there  and  took  lodgings  in  the  hotel  where 
the  aforesaid  sieur  de  Charreton  was  lodging,  who,  understanding  that 
Calvin  was  a  man  of  letters  and  of  great  erudition,  and  being  very  fond 
of  the  society  of  learned  men,  informed  him  that  he  would  be  delighted 
to  have  some  interviews  with  him  ;  to  this  Calvin  the  more  willingly 
consented,  under  the  belief  that  the  aforesaid  sieur  de  Charreton  might 
be  able  to  assist  him  in  the  affair  which  had  brought  him  to  Fontaine^ 
bleau ;  that  after  several  interview's,  the  aforesaid  sieur  de  Charreton 
demanded  from  Calvin  the  object  of  his  journey;  to  which  Calvin  an- 
swered, that  he  had  come  to  solicit  a  priory  from  the  king,  for  which 
there  was  but  one  rival,  who  was  a  relative  of  the  constable.  The  sieur 
de  Charreton  asked  him,  if  he  thought  this  nothing  ?  He  replied,  that 
he  was  aware  of  the  high  consideration  enjoyed  by  the  constable,  but 
he  also  knew  that  the  king,  in  disposing  of  benefices,  was  wont  ta 
choose  tke  most  proper  persons,   and   that  the  relative  of  the  constable- 

*  Admonui  Servetum  me  jam  ante  unnos  soxdccim  non  sine  preesenti  vit» 
(liscrimine,  obtulisse  meam  operam  ad  eum  sanandum-,  nee  per  me  stetisso 
quominus  resipiscenti  manum  pii  omnes  porrigerent.-r-^Joh.  Calvini  refutatio 
errorum  Serveti.  Amst.  Oper.  Calv.  t.  viii.  p.  51K  This  refutation  bears 
the  date  of  1554.  It  was  in  1538  that  Calvin  had  defied  Servetus  to  a  discus- 
sion. The  scene  here  transpires  in  1533:  therefore  the  date  indicated  by- 
Calvin  is  false. 

t  See  the  chapter  entitled,  Michael  Servetus. 
:{:  Soulier,  Histoire  du  Calyinisme,  Paris,^  1686.  in  4to.  p,  6-8.. 
6* 


54 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


was  of  very  poor  capacity ;  to  which  the  aforesaid  sieur  de  Charret©T» 
rejoined,  that  this  was  no  obstacle,  since  no  great  capacity  was  needed 
to  hold  a  simple  benefice  ;  whereupon,  Calvin  exclaimed,  and  cried 
out,  that  if  such  wrong  was  done  him,  he  would  find  means  to  make 
them  speak  of  him  for  five  hundred  years ;  and  the  aforesaid  sieur  do 
Charreton  having  urged  him  strongly  to  tell  him  how  he  wo'iid  do  this, 
Calvin  conducted  him  to  his  room,  and  showed  him  the  commencement 
of  his  Institutes;  and  after  having  read  a  portion  of  them,  Calvin 
demanded  his  opinion  ;  he  answered,  that  it  was  poison  well  put  up  in 
sugar,  and  advised  him  not  to  continue  a  work  which  was  only  a-  false 
interpretation  of  the  scriptures,  and  of  every  thing  which  the  holy  fa- 
thers had  written  ;  and  as  he  perceived  that  Calvin  remained  firm  in 
his  wicked  purpose,  he  gave  notice  thereof  to  the  constable,  who  de- 
clared that  Calvin  was  a  fool,  and  should  soon 'be  brought  to  his  senses. 
But  two  days  after,  the  benefice  having  been  bestowed  on  the  relative- 
of  the  constable,  Calvin  departed,  and  began  to  propagate  his  secl,^ 
which,  being  very  convenient,  was  embraced  by  many  persons,  some 
through  libertinism,  others  from  weakness  of  mind.  That  some  time' 
after,  the  constable  was  going  to  his  government  of  Languedoc, 
and  passed  through  Lyons,  where  the  aforesaid  sieur  de  Charreton  paid 
him  a  visit,  and  was  asked  if  he  did  not  belong  to  the  sect  of  Calvin, 
with  whom  he  had  lodged  :  he  answered,  that  he  would  be  very  sorry  to 
embrace  a  religion,  the  father  and  founder  of  which  he  had  seen  born. 
In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  given  our  signatures,  at  Paris,  this  20th 
of  September,  1682.  Signed;  Charreton,  President;  A.  Charreton, 
Widow  Renouard;   and  Charreton  de  la  Terriere. " 

After  having  published  "his  Psychopannychia,"  in  1534,  at  Orleans, 
Calvin  left  that  city.  He  felt  a  desire  to  visit  Bale,  at  that  time  the 
Athens  of  Switzerland,  a  city  of  renown,  so  long  the  abode  of  Erasmus; 
famous  for  its  literati,  its  celebrated  printers,  and  its  theologians  amorous 
of  novelties  ;  where  Fjroben  had  published  his  fine  edition  of  the  works 
of  St.  Jerome,  where  Holbein  had  painted  his  picture  of  Christ  ready 
for  the  sepulchre,  where  Capito  taught  Hebrew,  and  (Ecolampadius 
commented  on  the  Psalms. 

He  set  out  from  Orleans  in  company  with  his  friend,  du  Tillet.  Near 
Metz,  their  domestic  robbed  them,  and  fled  with  their  sacks  and  valises, 
and  they  were  forced  to  seek  Strasbourg  on  foot,  nearly  destitute  of 
clothing,  and  with  but  ten  crowns  in  their  pockets.  Calvin  spent  some 
time  in  Strasbourg,  studying  the  different  transformations  which  the  re- 
formed gospel  had  undergone,  during  the  brief  space  of  fifteen  years. 
He  entered  into  intimate  relations  with  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
representatives  of  Protestantism.  Any  one  else,  who  had  arrived  there 
free  from  prejudices  against  Catholicism,  would  have  found  salutary  in- 
struction  in  the  ceaseless  agitations  of  that  city,  which  knew  not  where 
to  poise  itself  in  order  to  find  repose,  and  which,  since  1521,  had  be- 
come Lutheran,  Anabaptist,  Zwinglian,  and,  at  that  very  moment,  was 
dreaming  of  a  new  transfiguration,  to  be  accomplished  by  the  aid  of 
Bucer,  one  of  its  new  guests. 

At  Bale,  Calvin  found  Simon  Grynaeus  and  Erasmus.  Calvin  could 
not  neglect  this  opportunity  of  visiting  the  Batavian  philologist,  whoser 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


55 


fame  was  European  :  after  a  short  interview,  they  separated.  Bucer, 
who  had  assisted  at  the  meeting,  was  solicitous  to  know  the  opinion  of 
the  caustic  old  man  : — "JVlaster,"  said  he,  "what  think  you  of  the  new 
comer  ?"  Erasmus  smiled,  without  answering.  Bucer  insisted  :  "I 
behold,"  said  the  author  of  the  Colloquies,  "a  great  pest,  which  is 
springing  up  in  the  church,  against  the  church."* 

On  the  next  day,  du  Tillet,  clerk  of  the  parliament  of  Paris,  arrived 
at  Bale,  and  by  dint  of  tears  and  entreaties,  brought  with  him  his  bro- 
ther Louis,  who  repented,  made  his  abjuration,  and  was  shortly  after 
elected  archdeacon  :  a  dignity,  disputed  with  him  by  Renaudie,  who 
was  to  be  used  by  the  reformation  for  the  execution  of  the  plot  of  Am- 
boise.f 

The  Psychopannychia,J  the  first  controversial  work  of  Calvin,  is  a 
pamphlet  directed  against  the  sect  of  Anabaptists,  whom  the  bloody 
day  of  Frankenliausen  had  conquered,  but  not  subdued.  The  spirit  of 
Munzer  lived  again  in  his  disciples,  who  were  parading  their  mystic 
reveries  through  Holland,  Flanders,  and  France.  Luther  had  essayed 
his  powers  against  Munzer,  imagining  that  by  his  fiery  language,  his 
pindaric  wrath,  his  flames  and  thunders,  he  would  soon  overwhelm  the 
chief  of  the  miners,  as  he  had  defeated,  it  is  said,  those  theological  dwarfs, 
who  were  unable  to  stand  before  him.  From  the  summit  of  the  moun- 
tain,  he  had  appeared  to  Munzer  in  the  midst  of  lightnings,  but  those  light- 
nings  did  not  alarm  his  adversary,  who  Avas  bold  enough  to  face  him 
with  unquailing  eye.  Munzer  also  possessed  a  fiery  tongue,  which  he 
used  with  admirable  skill,  to  inflame  and  arouse  the  peasants  :  this 
time,  victory  remained  with  the  man  of  the  sledge-hammer.  And  Lu- 
ther, who  wished  to  terminate  the  affair  at  any  cost,  was  reduced,  as  is 
well  known,  to  avail  himself  of  the  sword  of  one  of  his  electors.  The 
wrecks,  which  escaped  from  the  funeral  obsequies  of  Thuringia,  took 
refuge  in  a  new  land.  France  received,  and  listened  to  the  prophets 
of  Anabaptism. 

These  Anabaptists  maintained  seducing  doctrines.  They  dreamed 
of  a  sort  of  Jerusalem,  very  different  from  the  Jewish  Jerusalem  :  a 
Jerusalem  quite  spiritual,  without  swords,  soldiers,  or  civil  magistracy  : 
the  true  city  of  the  elect.  Their  speech  was  infected  with  Pelagian- 
ism  and  Arianism  ;  on  several  points  of  dogma  they  agreed  with  Catho- 
lics :  on  predestination,  for  example,  and  on  the  merit  of  works. 
Some  of  them  taught   the   sleep   of  the   soul  till  the  day  of  judgment. 

*  Video  matjnam  ppstem  oriri  in  ecclesia  contra  ecclesiann. 

Con.  Heim.  Barkhusen,  in  liis  historical  notice  of  Calvin,  (Historischc  Nach- 
ncht  von  Joh.  Calvino.  Berlin,  1721,  in  4to.  p.  24,)  raises  doubts  concerning" 
the  saying  of  Erasmus,  and  other  circumstances  of  the  interview,  narrated  by 
Florimond  de  Remond. 

fFlorimond  deRemond,  p.  889. 

I  This  work  is  entitled:  A  treatise,  in  which  it  is  proved  that  souls  live  and 
•watch  after  leaving  their  bodies :  against  the  error  oi'  certain  ignorant  persons, 
who  imagine  that  they  sleep  till  tlie  day  of  judgment. — Preface  of  John  Cal- 
•vin,  addressed  to  one  of  his  friends  of  Orleans,  1343,  in  Latin.— Psychopanny- 
chia  quo  refellitur  eorum  error  qui  animas  post  mortem  ad  ultimum  judicium 
dormire  putant.    Paris.  1334. 


66  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK. 

It  was  against  these  "sleepers"  that  Calvin  determined  to  measure 
himself. 

The  commentary  on  Seneca,  is  a  philological  work,  a  book  of  the 
revival,  a  rhetorical  decJamation,  in  which  Calvin  is  evidently  aspir- 
ing to  a  place  among  the  humanists,  and  making  his  couri,  in  sufficient- 
ly fine  Latin,  lo  all  the  Ciceronians  of  the  age:  this  was  bringing  himself 
forward  with  skill  and  tact.  The  Latin  language  was  the  idiom  of  the 
church,  of  the  convents,  colleges,  universities,  and  parliaments.  The 
Psychopannychia  is  a  religious  pamphlet,  and  now  Calvin  must  expect  a 
rival  in  the  first  pamphleteer  of  Germany,  Luther  hinjself  It  is  certain 
that  Calvin  was  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  the  Saxon  monk,  against 
Eck,  Tetzel,  Prierias,  Latomus  and  the  Sorbonnists.  He  must  be  prais- 
ed for  not  having  dreamed  of  entering  the  lists  against  a  spirit  of  such  a 
temper  as  his  rival.  Had  he  desired,  after  Luther's  manner,  lo  deal  in 
caricature,  he  would  certainly  have  failed.  Sallies,  play  upon  words, 
and  conceits,  did  not  suit  a  mind  like  his,  whose  fort  was  finesse.  By 
nature  sober,  he  could  not,  like  the  Saxon  monk,  fertilize  his  brain  in 
enormous  pots  of  beer;  moreover,  beer  was  not  as  yet  in  use  beyond  the 
Rhine.  Nor  had  he  at  his  service  those  German  smoking  houses,  where, 
of  an  evening,  among  the  companions  of  gay  science,  his  wearied  mind 
might  have  levived  its  energies.  In  France,  the  monks  did  not  resort  to 
taverns.  Calvin  was,  therefore,  every  thing  he  was  destined  to  become  :. 
an  adroit,  biting  disputant,  ready  at  retort,  but  without  warmth  or  enthu- 
siasm. He  loves  to  bear  testimony  in  his  own  behalf,  that  *'  he  did  not 
indulge  his  wrath,  except  modestly;  that  he  always  made  it  a  rule  to  set 
aside  outrageous  or  biting  expressions;  that  he  almost  always  mod- 
erated his  style,  which  was  better  adapted  to  instruct,  than  to  drive 
forcibly,  in  such  sort,  however,  that  it  may  ever  attract  those  who  would 
not  be  led."*  One  must  see  that,  with  such  humor  and  style,  Calvin 
might  have  died  forgotten,  in  some  little  benefice  of  Suabia,  and  that 
he  was  never  formed  for  raisins;  storms,  but  only  for  using  them. 

At  this  epoch  the  grand  agitator  of  society,  was  first,  society  itself, 
and  then,  Luther,  that  great  pamphleteer,  "  whose  books  are  quite  full 
of  demons,"!  who  drove  humanity  into  the  paths  of  a  revolution,  for 
which  all  the  elements  had  been  prepared  years  before.  Luther  had 
sown  the  wind,  Calvin  came  to  reap  the  whirlwind.  Not  that  the 
latter  does  not  sometimes  rise  even  to  wrath,  but  it  is  a  wrath  which 
savours  of  labour,  and  which  he  pursues  as  a  rhymster  would  a  rebel- 
lious epithet.  Besides  he  is  good  enough  to  repent  for  it,  as  if  this  wrath 
burned  the  face  over  which  it  glowed.  "I  have  presented  some  things," 
he  murmurs,  "a  little  sharpl}^  even  roughly  said,  which,  peradventure, 
may  offend  the  delicate  ears  of  some.  But,  as  I  am  aware  there  are 
some  good  persons  who  have  conceived  such  affection  for  this  dream  of 
the  sleep  of  souls,  I  would  not  have  them  olTended  with  me."  Where 
Calvin  is  concerned,  we  must  not  allow  our  admiration  to  be  too  easily 
awaked ;  we  must  note,  that  he  is  speaking  of  an  Anabaptist,  that  i?, 

*  Epistle  of  John  Calvin  to  his  readers,  of  Bale,  1536. 
tLutheri  scripta  plena  sunt  dasmouii?,— Theol.  Tigurihi  in  Confess.   Germ.-, 
Tiguriui,  1544. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  67 

of  a  soul  which  has  thrown  off  the  ''papism."  But  let  a  Catholic  ap- 
pear,— a  prie.st  unknown  to  fame,  who,  as  editor,  shall  have  reprinted  a 
new  edition  of  the  work  of  Henry  VIII.,  "Assertio  Septem  Sacramen- 
toruni," — for  instance,  Gabriel  de  Sacconay,  precentor  of  Lyons;  and 
you  shall  then  behold  Calvin,  under  the  form  of  a  diihyrambic,  or  con- 
gratulatory epistle,  without  the  least  regard  for  delicate  ears,  throw  into 
the  face  of  the  Catholic  filthy  expressions,  which  one  would  say  were 
gathered  in  some  Genevan  brothel.* 

Calvin  has  himself  given  a  correct  estimate  of  the  value  of  his 
Psychopannychia,  and  of  his  treatise  against  the  Anabaptists,  which  one 
of  his  historians  desires  to  have  reprinted  in  our  time,  purged  of  all  its 
bitterness  of  style. f  He  was  right  in  saying  :  "I  have  reproved  the 
foolish  curiosity  of  those  who  were  debatirig  these  questions,  which,  in 
fact,  are  but  vexations  of  mind," 

One  day,  this  question,  about  the  sleep  of  souls. — one  that  in  the  an- 
cient church  had  long  since  been  examined,  by  Melito — was  presented 
to  Luther,  who  disposed  of  it  in  a  few  words  : — "These,"  said  he,  "are 
picked  nutshells. "t 

In  an  epistle  to  his  readers,  serving  for  preface  to  a  new  edition  of 
the  Psychopannychia,  published  at  BrIc,  in  1-536,  Calvin  resumes 
courage.  He  no  longer  dreads  lieutenant  Morin,  and  insuhs  the  papa- 
cy. If  we  believe  him,  France  is  marching  in  two  fold  darkness  :  he 
calumniates  the  intelligence  and  the  faith  of  his  country.  Let  us  exa- 
mine if  it  be  true,  that  God  has  withdrawn  his  Spirit  and  his  Christ  from 
the  fellow-countrymen  of  Calvin. 

*  Congratulation  6  venerable  prestre  etc.  op.  de  Calvin.     1566. 

See  the  chapter  entitled :  Clergy  of  Lyons. 

t  Es  konnte  dies  klcine  Werk  im  Aoszuge  m  einerUebersetzungf  heut  wohl 
seinen  Nutzen  habeii,  wenn  man  einige  Harten,  manch  polemishes  Wort 
Wegliesze  ....  Paul  Henry. 

^  Some  of  these  reveries  about  the  sleep  of  souls  hnve  been  reproduced  in  a 
work  entitled  :  Two  hundred  queries,  moderately  propounded,  ^;c.  London,  1684, 
in  12mo. 

See,Nouvelles  de  la  Republique  des  Lettres,  Mai,  1684.  p.  289,  in  18,  Am- 
sterdam, 1686. 


CHAPTER  TI. 


FRANCIS      I  . 


When  Calvin  appeared  the  Reformation  had  already  been  commenced  in 
France. — Influence  of  Francis  I.  on  Letters. — The  Bishops, — Poncher, — 
Pelissier, — Du  Bellay. — The  Literati, — Bude, — Vatable, — Danes, — Postel. — 
The  College  of  the  three  Languages. — Marot. — The  Sorbonne. — The  Poet 
protected  by  the  Prince. — Literary  movement. 

In  the  year  1802,  the  Institute  of  France  proposed  the  following 
question  for  discussion  :  What  was  the  influence  of  Luther's  reforma- 
tion upon  the  political  condition  of  the  different  European  States,  and 
upon  the  progress  of  knowledge  ?  Charles  Villers,  a  writer  whose 
talents  we  do  not  question,  obtained  the  prize.*  He  sang  the  reforma- 
tion much  better  than  he  judged  it,  for  he  made  of  it  another  muse,  dif- 
fusing life  and  colour  over  every  thing  she  touched.  This  work  was 
printed.  The  philosophical  world  admired  the  essay  of  Mr.  Villers, 
out  of  hatred  for  the  ancient  faith,  which  the  government  was  then  at- 
tempting to  re-establish.  It  was,  at  that  period,  decided,  that  the  refor- 
mation was  an  idea  of  progress  for  which  Providence  should  be  blessed, 
and  that,  had  it  not  been  for  Luther,  Europe  would  have  continued  to 
grope  her  way  in  darkness.  Some  few  courageous  souls  protested 
against  the  book  of  the  laureate,  but  they  were  not  heard  :  the  moment 
had  not  yet  arrived,  when  impartial,  enlightened  reason  would  do  justice 
to  this  manifesto  against  our  national  faith. 

Still,  at  this  day,  there  are  weighty  names,  who,  not  impregnated 
with  the  prejudices  of  the  Protestant  school,  continue  to  give  honor  to 
Germany  for  the  intellectual  impulse,  which  began  to  manifest  itself 
in  Saxony  on  Luther's  appearance.  They  are  unwilling  to  under- 
stand that  this  impulse,  proceeding  from  Italy,  and  particularly  from  the 
Rome  of  Julius  IL,  traversed  the  Alps,  and,  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains, separated  into  two  streams,  of  which  one  flowed  into  Germany, 
and  the  other  into  France.     Had  it  not  been   for  Luther,  a  social,  reli- 


*  Essai  sur  I'influence  dela  reformation  de  Luther,  par  Charles  Villers,  1  vol. 
8vo.  M.  de  Laverne  has  disputed  the  conclusions  of  this  work  crowned  by  the 
Institute,  in  "liis  letter  to  Mr.  Charles  Villers,"  in  8vo.  Paris,  1804.— There  is 
an  admirable  refutation  of  the  book  of  Villers,  by  Robelot,  ancient  canon  of 
the  cathedral  of  Dijon,  under  this  title — De  I'influence  de  la  reformation  de 
Luther  sur  la  croyance  religiouse  et  politique,  et  sur  le  progres  des  Lumieres; 
in  8vo.  Lyons,  1832.  The  German  question  is  treated  in  the  book  of  Mr. 
Jacob  Marx:  Die  Ursachen  der  schnellen  Verbreitung  der  Reformation  zu- 
nachst  in  Deutschland.  in  12mo.  Mayence,  1834. 


Ltre    OP   JOHN    CALVIK.  ^ 

gious,  and  intellectual  reformation  would  have  been  accomplished, 
without  injury  to  faith.  It  had  already  been  commenced  in  Germany, 
when  he  arose  to  preach  against  indulgences ;  and  in  France,  when 
Calvin's  voice  began  first  to  be  heard.  We  think,  that  without  closing 
the  eyes  against  truth,  no  one  can  deny  that  the  papacy  was  the  instru- 
ment which  God  used  for  the  revival  of  letters;  from  Italy  came  the 
spark  destined  for  the  illumination  of  the  world.  Luther,  Melancthon, 
Erasmus,  Reuchlin,  all  marched  by  this  light,  and  often  profited  by  its 
rays,  and  so  far  from  having  been  created,  it  was  often  obscured  or  per- 
verted by  them. 

Calvin,  just  like  Luther,  has  said  : — that  he  was  sent  by  God  to  free 
the  world  from  the  meshes  of  "Papism,"  to  make  reason  shine,  and  to 
moralize  society.  At  this  day,  the  eye  of  the  stranger  entering  Geneva, 
is  arrested  by  this  magnificent  motto  :  Post  Tenebras  Lux^  enclosed  in 
the  talons  of  an  eagle  : — the  vain  boast  of  a  lapidary,  which  provokes 
a  smile  from  the  Catholic  traveler. 

It  is  said  that  Cagliostro  possessed  the  faculty  of  summoning  the  dead 
from  their  graves  :  the  historian  must  have  this  power  also.  We  shall 
therefore  call  before  us  some  of  those  shades  who  gave  glory  to  the  age 
of  Francis  I.:  we  shall  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  human  mind, 
when  Calvin  appeared.  Before  the  tribunal  of  the  reader,  these  glories 
of  the  past  shall  be  summoned,  by  a  man  who  sleeps  with  them  in  the 
tomb;  for  already  has  this  been  done,  in  his  funeral  oration  for  Fran- 
cis 1.,  by  Galland,  one  of  the  professors  of  the  Royal  College,  who 
"never  opens  his  mouth  without  dropping  honey  from  his  lips." 

Qui  quotles  avi.das  reflcit  sermonibus  aurcs, 
Motis  blanda  putes  spargere  mella  labris. 

Francis  I.  was  a  pupil  of  the  college  of  Navarre,  beloved  by  his  fel- 
low-disciples,  esteemed  by  his  rivals,  and  who,  at  the  early  age  of  four- 
teen, received  from  one  of  them,  as  the  pledge  of  scholastic  fraternity, 
the  dedication  of  a  Hebrew  grammar,  the  first  rudimental  work  in  that 
language  known  in  France.  The  author,  Francis  Tissot,  was  a  profes- 
sor of  the  University.  Thus,  before  he  had  yet  attained  the  age  of 
majority,  before  his  head  was  circled  by  any  crown,  but  such  as  were 
placed  there  by  his  masters,  the  muses  pay  their  court  to  him.  Castig- 
lione,  the  author  of  that  golden  book,  *'Il  Cor/egiano,"  must  have  it 
read  to  the  Duke  de  Valois;  he  departs  from  the  capital,  carrying  with 
him  the  corrections  indicated  by  the  prince  :  admirable  annotations, 
which  he  exhibits  to  all  his  friends,  and  regards  as  one  of  his  titles  to 
glory. 

The  Duke  de  Valois  becomes  king  :  but  fear  not  that  he  will  forget 
the  lessons  of  his  masters.  You  shall  see  upon  whom  the  favours  of 
the  monarch  descend. 

Poncher,  bishop  of  Paris,  resisted  the  accumulated  wrath  of  Louis 
XII.,  and  alone  had  the  courage  to  oppose  the  league  of  Cambray. 
Erasmus  considers  him  an  angel  descended  from  heaven,  to  revive  the 
cultivation  of  letters. 

To  Poncher,  he  gives  an  archbishopric,  with  a  mission  to  allure 


60  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

to  France  the  most  renowned  of  the  humanists.  The  king  is  not  made 
to  wait :  behold  Justiniani,  bishop  of  Nebio,  comes  to  teach  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  Arabic,  at  Paris. 

Petit,  the  confessor  of  Louis  XII.,  is  a  priest,  who  does  not  know 
his  own  parents,  and  has  all  the  poor  of  Paris  for  his  children.*  Petit 
is  promoted  to  tiie  bishoprics  of  Troyes  and  Senlis. 

William  Pelissier,  bishop  of  .Maguelonne,  whose  erudition  is  pro- 
verbial, was  devoted  to  antiquity,  with  an  ardour  which  allows  the  soul, 
possessed  by  it,  neither  sleep  nor  repose. 

He  sent  Pelissier  on  an  embassy  to  Venice,  a  city  then  the  re- 
sort of  Greek  fugitives,  and  whence  he  returned  loaded  with  all  kinds 
of  manuscripts,  in  Greek,  Hebrew  and  Syriac,  the  future  ornaments  of 
the  royal  library. 

The  names  of  the  prelates  are  not  yet  exhausted. 

To  James  Colin  he  gave  the  post  of  Royal  Almoner  and  reader. 
This  is  the  same  Colin  who  extemporises  in  Latin  and  French,  and 
whose  praise  has  been  chanted  by  Marot ; 

*'Aussi  I'abbe  de  St.  Ambroys,  Colin, 
Qui  a  tant  beu  au  ruisseau  cristallin 
Que  Ton  ne  salt  s'il  est  poete  ne 
Plus  qu'orateur  a  bien  dire  ordonne. 

Colin  appreciated  Amyot,  whose  fortune  he  was  solicitous  to  secure. 

The  king  also  rewarded  by  brilliant  embassies  John  du  Bellay 

Langeai;  at  Rome  the  confidential  friends  of  du  Bellay  were  Bembo, 
Vida,  Sadolet,  A.scolti,  and  the  other  glories  of  the  court  of  Leo  X., 
who  listened  to  him  in  ravishment. 

The  bishoric  of  Meaux,  with   a  pension  to  be  paid  out  of  the 

private  coffers  of  the  prince,  was  the  reward  of  Rene  du  Bellay,  who 
liberally  devotes  his  revenues  to  the  relief  of  the  poor,  and  to  the  pur- 
chase of  a  cabinet  of  physics,  the  first  possessed  by  the  province. 

Now,  let  Calvin  declaim  against  the  ignorance  of  the  higher  clergy 
of  France  !  We  know  some  of  the  prelates  who  occupied  the  princi- 
pal sees  of  the  episcopacy.  Can  any  one  believe  that  these  priests 
were  obscure  individuals,  as  he  calls  them  ?  Could  they  not,  as  well 
as  John  of  Noyon,  boast  of  celestial  endowments? 

And  in  contemplating  these  violet  and  purple  robes,  we  are  not  to 
imagine  that  Francis  I.  sought  for  light  only  in  the  sanctuary  :  we 
should  be  mistaken.  At  this  epoch,  the  French  episcopacy  felt  the  ne- 
cessity of  placing  itself  at  the  head  of  the  movement,  which  propelled 
the  minds  of  men  into  new  paths.  The  court  of  Leo  X.  gives  the  ex- 
ample of  a  passion  for  letters  :  the  Pope  is  poet,  musician,  linguist ; 
and  our  bishops,  if  they  cannot  sing  under  the  inspiration  of  the  muses, 
with  laudable  ambition,  will  study  the  human  sciences,  learn  the  an- 
cient idioms, — Greek,  Hebrew,  Syriac, — languages  no  longer  spoken. 
They  will  erect  colleges,  as  did  Cardinal  de  Tournon  ;  instruct  youth, 
as  did  Rene  du  Bellay  ;  surround  themselves  with  men  of  letters,  as  did 
Briconnet  of  Meaux ;  resuscitate   from   the  tomb  the  antique  Roman 

*  Eustathe  de  Knobelsdorf. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  6l 

Stones,  as  did  the  archbishop  of  Vienna ;  and  they  will  know  how  to 
counsel  and  enlighten  the  prince,  who  has  invested  them  with  the 
purple. 

But  there  is  a  modest  votary  of  learning,  called  by  Lascaris,*  "the 
Athenian  of  France,"  who,  far  from  court,  conceals  himself  in  an  ob- 
scure retreat,  to  pay  hi^  suit  to  the  muses.  Erasmus  knows  his  name, 
but  will  breathe  it  to  no  one,  not  from  jealousy,  but  because  he  regards 
liim  as  a  prodigy  of  erudition,  philology,  and  skill  in  the  languages  and 
sciences,  and  he  wislies  alone  to  profit  by  the  hidden  treasure.  Unfor- 
tunately for  the  Batavian  philosopher,  one  day,  at  one  of  those  repasts, 
where  Francis  L  gathered  around  him  all  the  glories  of  his  age,  and  at 
times  disputed  with  them  on  various  topics, f  the  name  of  this  poor 
provincial, — lost  among  his  books,  and  ignorant  of  any  thing  of  the  ex- 
ternal world,  except  the  road  to  the  chapel  where  he  so  devoutly  pray- 
ed,— was  suddenly  mentioned  ; 

It  was  William  Bude,  or  Budeeus. 

The  young  student,  summoned  to  Paris  by  the  king,  is  forced  to 
abandon  his  retreat,  but  not  his  books,  for  these  he  brings  with  him, 
upon  a  large  car,  in  which,  to  be  always  near  them,  he  sleeps  at  night, 
and  takes  his  meals  by  day.  Behold  him  at  length  at  court,  after  a 
long  journey,  during  which,  Horace,  Homer^  Virgil,  and  Demosthenes, 
were  his  companions  and  fellow-travelers.  On  the  very  day  of  his 
arrival,  he  was  named  master  of  petitions,  chief  judge  of  mercantile 
causes,  and  guardian  of  the  royal  library. f 

Now,  while  making  his  way  to  the  capital,  Bude  indulged  in  delight- 
ful reveries.  If  he  knew  by  heart  his  subterranean  Rome,  he  was  also, 
from  the  writings  of  travelers,  well  acquainted  with  the  modern  Rome 
of  Leo  X.,  inhabited,  in  default  of  deities,  by  Michael  Angelo,  Raphael, 
Bembo,  and  Sannazar.  He  had  been  informed  that  the  Medici  had 
erected  a  splendid  building,  or  rather  palace,  for  the  college  of  the 
young  Greeks,  and  he  said  to  himself: — "If  I  see  the  king,  I  will  say 
to  him  :  Sire,  it  is  by  the  study  of  the  ancient  languages  that  we  shall 
revive  letters ;  build  a  college, — as  Leo  X.  has  done,  as  also  has  been 
done  at  Louvain,  by  Jerome  Busleidein,  a  simple  canon, — where  the  He- 
brew, Greek  and  Latin  shall  be  taught.  Then,  when  the  building 
shall  be  completed,  invite  thither  Erasmus,  for  whom  all  nations  are 
contending;  to  whom  Ingolstadt  offers  the  general  direction  of  studies  ; 
Louvain,  its  principal  professorship;  Spain,  a  bishopric;  Rome,  the 
purple ;  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  his  University.  You  must,  by  all 
means,  secure  Erasmus  ;  I  solicit  this  in  the  name  of  the  three  Wil- 
liams,— of  William  Petit,  your  bishop ;  of  William  Cop,  your  chief 
physician  ;  and  of  William  Bude,  your  scholar."  Erasmus  was,  for  a 
moment,  tempted  to  yield  to  the  entreaties  of  the  king,  not  in  order  to 

*  Atticorum  facundiam  adaequavit. 

t  Galliard,  Hist,  de  Fraacois  ler,  t.  vii.,  p.  250. 

t  Nulla  illi  unquam  ccsna,  nullum  prandium,  nulla  static  aut  arabulatio  sine 

colloquiis  et  disputationibus  literariis  peracta  est,  ut  quicunque  mensam  ejus 

frequentarent  ....  doctissimi  et  diligentissimi  philosophi,  scholani  frequen- 

tare  arbitrarentur.     Pet.  Gal.  orat.  funeb. 

6 


62  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

enjoy  the  dignities  which  were  profTered  him,  but  that  he  might  at  Paris 
refresh  himself  with  Burgundy  wine,  which,  it  was  thought,  might  pro- 
bably aid  to  re-establish  his  enfeebled  health.* 

Unfortunately,  Francis  I.  had  a  rival: — Charles  V.,  who  defeated  him 
on  the  listed  field  of  the  literati,  as  he  had  done  at  Padua.  Erasmus 
was  lost  to  us. 

But  nevertheless,  the  college  of  the  three  languages  is  resolved  on. 
it  shall  be  a  royal  edifice,  rising  from  the  grounds  of  the  Hotel  de  Nesle. 
There  shall  be  beautiful  rooms  for  the  professors,  and  vast  halls  for  the 
students.  The  sum  of  fifty  thousand  crowns  is  assigned  for  the  support 
of  the  institution. t  A  chapel  shall  be  founded,  after  the  designs  of  an 
architect,  to  be  obtained  from  Leo  X.,  and  which  shall  be  served  by 
four  canons  and  four  chaplains.  The  accounts  shall  be  kept,  and  pay- 
ments made,  by  Audebert  Catin  ;  Nicholas  de  Neuville-Villeroy,  sec- 
retary of  finance,  and  John  Grollier,  treasurer  of  France,  shall  deter- 
mine the  cost;  Peter  des  Hotels  will  supervise  the  expenses.:]: 

Death  surprised  Francis  I.,  at  the  moment  the  college  was  about  to 
be  erected. 

But  the  professors  were  already  nominated  and  endowed  : — two  for. 
HebreAV,  two  for  Greek;— whose  lessons  were  to  be  gratuitous.  This 
college  is  called  the  Royal  College ;  the  professors  received  annually  four 
hundred  and  fifty  francs  each,  and  a  good  abbey,  which  afterwards  was 
withdrawn  from  their  successors,  "I  know  not,'"'  says  Remus,  in  a  bpok 
dedicated  to  Catherine  de  Medicis,  "by  what  spunger."§ 

But,  can  any  one  divine  who  it  is  that  shall  nominate  to  the  new  pro- 
fessorships ?  Not  the  king,  who,  however,  is  a  good  judge,  but  public 
opinion  ;  which,  as  is  justly  said  by  the  historian  of  this  monarch,  has 
made  its  choice  beforehand. 

For  Hebrev/  professor,  they  had  to  direct  their  eyes  to  an  Italian ;  a 
Venetian,  and  convert  to  Catholicism,  Paul  Paradis,  ||  an  Israelite,  who 
knew  the  Talmud  by  heart.  'Paul  Paradis  died  in  1555,  lamented  by 
Paris,  and  ushered  into  the  other  world  amid  the  hymns  of  Olympus  : 

Splendor 
Musarum   charituraque,    qui    perisll 
Tota  flentc  Lutetia,  ast  olyinpo 
Applaudente.? 


*  De  Burigni,  vie  d'Erasmo,   p.  405,  etc.  t.  1.     Epist.   Erasmi,  epist.  646". 

That  prodigy  of  erudition,  Bude,  was  a  zealous  Catholic.  As  Calvin,  ob- 
serves David  Clement,  had  published  his  Institutes  of  tlie  Christian  religion,  in 
1535,  and  dedicntcd  the  work  to  Francis  I.,  so  Bude  dedicated  to  the  same  king 
his  treatise,  de  Transitu  Helhnismi  ad  Christiani&mum^  to  induce  liim  to  sup- 
port the  rights  of  the  religion  established  in  France,  and  oppose  the  novelties 
which  threatened  its  destruction.  Cibliotheque  curicuse.  t.  v.  p.  382,  note  in 
4to.  Hanovre,  1754. 

t  Belleforct,  Hist.  liv.  vi.  ch.  GS. — Louis  Vrevin,  code  des  privilegies,  p.  630. 

%  Hist,  de  la  ville  de  Paris,  1. 11,  p.  140.    Preuves,  t.  11.  p.  578. — Galland. 

♦  Galliard,  Hist,  de  Francois  ler. 

II  Galliard,  Hist,  de  Francois  ler.  IT  Leger  du  Chesne. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  6B 

The  bishop  of  Apt,  John  Nicholai,  presents  us  another  professor  of 
Hebrew,  Guidacerio,  who  was  loaded  with  favours  by  Leo  X.,  and  who, 
at  Paris,  as  he  relates  himself,  found  a  brighter  destiny  than  the  Medici 
and  all  the  popes  could  have  procured  him  at  Rome.  . 

But  let  us  bow  our  heads  in  reverence  !  here  is  a  name  which 
eclipses  all  the  rest :  Vatable,  a  poor  village  cure  of  Brametz,  in  Va- 
lois,  who,  at  the  period  of  the  emigration  of  the  Greeks,  arrested  upon 
the  highway  a  fugitive  Hellenist,  divided  with  him  his  bread  and  his 
parishioners,  and  in  exchange  obtained  an  initiation  into  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  languages.  To  his  lectures  he  attracted  even  the  Israelites, 
who  returned  marveling  at  his  science,  and  regretting  that  God  had  not 
given  the  young  professor  the  grace  to  be  born  a  Jew. 

Vatable,  upon  whose  religious  opinions  there  was  an  attempt  to  cast 
suspicion,  was  a  good  Catholic,  who,  from  predilection,  became  attach- 
ed to  Ignatius  of  Loyola.  Ignatius,  then  a  pupil,  was  wont  sometimes 
to  prevent  his  companions  from  assisting  at  the  recitations,  by  taking 
them  to  the  church  to  pray.  Govea  wanted  an  example.  There  wa^ 
question  of  subjecting  the  too  pious  student  to  the  aula:  now,  the  aula  was 
some  strokes  of  a  rope  upon  the  back  of  the  criminal,  administered  by 
the  principal  and  the  master.  Vatable  pleaded  the  cause  of  Ignatius, 
and  Govea  allowed  himself  to  relent.* 

Vatable  found  a  rival  in  Peter  Danes,  professor  of  Greek ;t  and  a  fortu- 
nate rival,  for  the  poet  says,  "If  Bude  was  acquainted  with  the  Greeks, 
Danes  also  knew  all  others." 


Magnus  Budseus,  major  Danesius;  ilk 
Argivos  norat,  isle  etiam  reliquos. 


''A  great  orator,  according  to  his  disciple  Genebrard,  a  great  philoso- 
pher, a  great  mathematician,  skilled  in  medicine  and  theology,''  and  so 
disdainful  of  human  glory,  that  he  published,  under  his  servant's  name,, 
an  edition  of  Pliny,  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  learned.  Never  was  a 
literary  life  more  completely  occupied.  His  biographer  says,  "that  he 
laboured  only  four  hours  on  the  day  of  his  marriage. "{  You  will  find 
him  at  the  royal  college,  commenting  a  Greek  historian  or  poet ;  at 
Venice,  decyphering  manuscripts;  in  the  shop  of  Trincavel,  revising 
the  proof-sheets  of  the  questions  d'Aphrodisie,  which  this  printer  has 
dedicated  to  him  ;  at  Paris,  reading  to  Francis  I.,  the  commencement 
of  his  learned  treatise,  i/ie  Ambassador;  at   the  Council  of  Trent;  at 

*  Mos  estParisiis  in  scholasticos  improbos  ac  seditiosos  ad  sanciendum  aca- 
demiis  disciplinam  ad  hunc  fere  modum  animadvertere :  Dissimulato  consilio 
ud  condictam  diem  in  aulam  collegii  primarius,  maglstrique  nudatum  certo 
plagarum  numero  singuli  afficiunt:  id  supplicium  de  ipsius  nomine  aulavulgo 
uppellatur.     Bulaeus,  Hist.  Univer.  Paris,  t.  vi.  p.  945. 

Ignatius,  on  another  occasion,  was  reprimanded  as  a  lieretic,  because  the 
manuscript  of  his  <S/>ir/iwaZ  Exercises  had  been  discovered  in  his  lodging; 
such  fervour  in  a  pupil  astonished  his  professors,  who  imagined  to  discover  in 
it  a  tendency  to  Lutheranism. 

t  Ravisius  Textor, 


j^  Die  nuptiarum  quatuor  tantum  horas  studiis  impendit. 


64 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


the  court  of  France,  where  Henry  II.  names  him  preceptor  of  the 
Dauphin ;  afterwards  at  Lavaur,  where,  forgetful  at  once  of  literature,, 
of  manuscripts,  of  his  cherished  annotations,  and  of  the  ancient  writers, 
he  thinks  only  of,  the  poor  of  his  diocess,  whom  he  loves  as  a  father- 
does  his  children.  The  civil  wars  do  not  terrify  him.  He  was  visiting 
the  mountains,  in  order  to  carry  succour  to  the  poor  Catholics,  whose 
dwellings  had  been  burned  by  the  sectaries,  when  he  fell  into  an  am- 
buscade : — What  is  thy  name  ?  said  a  Huguenot  soldier  to  the  Catholic 

priest.     I  am  called   Danes,   responded   the  prelate. God  protect 

thee,  said  the  soldier,  proceed;  1  know  thee ;  it  is  not  I,  that  will  kill 
the  father  of  the  poor ! 

Hail !  exclaims  GaJland,  hail  Postel,  whose  merits  and  virtues  I 
could  not  duly  celebrate,  had  I  a  hundred  mouths  and  a  hundred 
tongues,  as  was  said  of  thee  by  one  of  thy  colleagues,  Maurice  Bressieu; 

Postelli  virtutes  et  literas 
Non  mihi  si  centum  linguae  sint,  oraque  centum 

Ferrea  vox 

Enurnerare  queam 

'•The  man   of  all   languages,    of  all   arts,    the   epitome   of  all   the 


sciences. 


"•* 


The  life  of  Postel  is  quite  a  romance.  At  the  age  of  eight,  he  is 
made  an  orphan;  God  having  removed  his  father  and  mother  by  the  pest. 
He  begs  upon  the  highway.  At  fourteen,  he  teaches  reading  at  Say, 
near  Pontoise.  Ambition  seizes  him  :  he  sets  out  for  Paris,  to  seek  his 
fortune,  falls  in  with  some  Bohemians,  who  maltreat,  rob,  and  strip 
liim,  and  he  enters  the  first  hospital  which  he  finds,  and  there  passes 
two  years  of  his  life.  He  comes  out  cured,  but  without  a  cent  in  his 
pocket,  and  devoured  by  hunger  :  he  then  remembers  his  old  trade, 
and  again  turns  beggar.  Travelers  at  that  period  were  rare  :  he  is  on 
the  point  of  dying  with  starvation,  when  he  e-ncounters  a  wheat-field, 
from  which  the  grain  had  just  been  reaped  :  he  gleans  it,  and  sells 
what  he  has  collected  by  the  labour  of  a  whole  day,  far  a  few  farthings. 
The  owner  of  the  field  takes  pity  on  the  boy,  and  employs  him  in  his 
service.  One  morning,  at  early  dawn,  Postel  takes  his  field  staft',  flies 
to  Paris,  and  enters  into  the  service  of  the  University..  He  sweeps  the 
class-room,  puts  ink  into  the  inkstands,  locks  up  the  books  of  his  mas- 
ter, lights  fires  in  the  stove  during  winter,  and  goes  to  market  for  the 
college  provisions.  One  day,  the  servant  was  transformed  into  master: 
he  could  now  teach  all  the  professors  of  Paris  !  He  no  longer  fears 
])0verty,  hunger,  or  thirst  :  he  has  a  princely  treasure  in  his  brain. 
This  treasure,  in  his  notion,  is  not  yet  sufiiciently  large  ;  by  traveling, 
lie  will  be  able  to  procure  new  literary  wealth.  But  here  is  the  mis- 
fortune !  Science  has  disturbed  his  reason.  Postel  becomes  Rabbin, 
and  has  visions  :  an  angel,  the  angel  Raziel,  reveals  to  him  the  se- 
crets of  heaven.  He  dreams  of  an  universal  religion,  of  which  he 
shall  be  supreme   Pontiff,    and  prints   his  Concord  of  the    World,  in 

*"  Bressieu:  dc  senat.  Reg.  profess,  ct  Math,  erga  se  BeneC. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIT.  65 

which  he  salutes  Francis  I.  with  the  title  of  universal  monarch.  To 
the  new  prophet,  a  new  land  was  necessary.  Postel  is  at  Rome,  where 
he  assumes  the  habit  of  a  Jesuit,  "because,"  says  he,  ''the  conduct  of 
the  disciples  of  Loyola  is  the  most  perfect  of  any  in  the  world,  since 
the  days  of  the  Apostles." 

He  abandons  Rome  for  Venice  :  there  he  is  discovered  by  a  little  wo- 
man fifty  years  old,  who  illmnines  him,  and  fills  him  with  inspiration.* 
Under  the  dictation  of  this  muse  in  rags,  Postel  writes  his  book  de 
Vinculo  Mundi,  his  treatise  of  mother  Jane,  or  the  very  wonderful 
victories  of  women,  and  the  ''prime  nove  delValiro  inondo,''  (the  first 
news  from  the  other  world,)  in  which  the  writer,  divested  of  his  terres- 
trial envelope,  and  clothed  with  an  angel's  body,  sees  nothing  but  air,t 
and  announces  to  the  world  the  apparition  of  a  Venetian  virgin,  like 
that  woman  sought  for  in  the  east,  three  centuries  after,  by  the  Saint- 
simonians.  The  young  maiden,  inspired  by  God,  prophesies  of  times, 
when  the  sovereign  Pontiff  shall  choose  his  most  christian  majesty,  as 
minister  of  his  kingdom,  and  when  the  Turks  shall  believe  and  be 
baptized.  Postel,  "the  spiritual  father  of  the  virgin,"  seems  in  this 
prodigious  book,  to  have  anticipated  Mesmer ;  he  teaches  positively 
that  the  human  eye  can  see  locally  through  bodies.  J 

He  had  lucid  intervals.  It  was  during  one  of  these  intervals,  replete 
with  all  sorts  of  intellectual  prodigies,  that  Francis  I.  confided  to  him 
the  chairs  of  mathematics  and  the  oriental  languages  :  the  learned  world 
could  but  applaud  the  perspicacity  of  the  prince. 

This  impulse  of  classical  erudition  was  not  the  only  one  favoured 
by  the  instincts  of  the  monarch. 

The  convents  began  to  be  freed  from  the  obligation  to  monopolize 
the  guardianship  of  literature  and  the  sciences  :  they  manifested  a  ten- 
dency to  secularization,  and  to  liberate  themselves  from  the  cloister,  within 
which  they  had  so  long  been  supported  and  feasted.  The  world  felt  the 
necessity  of  recurring  to  juridical  studies,  in  order  to  ground  its  protest 
against  the  feudal  despotism,  which,  for  so  long  a  period,  had  weighed 
upon  its  destinies  :  it  needed  other  focuses  of  light  and  activity.  Fran- 
cis I.  had  the  honor  to  establish  in  France,  those  chairs  of  Roman  law, 
of  which  Bologna  furnished  the  model.     He  invited  the  jurist,  Alciati, 

*  Retractation  de  Guillaume  Postel,  manuscripts  of  the  Royal  Library. — 
Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  inscriptions  at  belles-lettres,  t.  xiv. 

t  lo  son  in  tal  disposizione  che  ne  satieta,  ne  bisogno  del  mangiare  o  bere, 
non  fan  nulla  in  me,  imperoche  quasi  tutta  la  natura  del  cibo  se  ne  va  in  aria 
et  si  disfa  tal  che  a  pena  la  centesima  parte  se  ne  va  per  la  via  naturale. 

■\.  Come  sia  possibile  che  siano  talmente  aperti  li  occhi  di  una  personna  che 
lei  possi  vedere  localmente  a  traverso  i  corpi  scuri,  over  quello  che  nessuno 
altro  vede. 

The  Royal  Library  possesses  a  copy  of  this  apocalyptic  book.  This  is  its 
title : 

Le  prime  nova  deiraltro  Mondo,  cioe  Padmirabile  historia  e  non  meno  ne- 
«essaria  et  utile  da  esser  letta  et  intesa  da  ogni  che  stupenda  intitulata  la 
vergine  Venetiana. 

Parte  vista,  parte  provata  et  fidelissimamente  scritta  per  Gnlielmo  Postelloi 
primogenito  della  restitution©  et  spirituale  Padre  di  essa  Vergine.  1555. 

6* 


65  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVlN. 

to  France,  who,  at  Bourges,  on  the  29th  of  April,  1529,  opened  that 
school,  which  was  destined  to  exert  so  potent  an  influence  upon  civili- 
zation. Thanks  to  this  prince,.  France  took  the  lead  in  behalf  of  other 
ideas,  which,,  in  their  turn,  were  to  control  the  future.  It  is  a  beautiful 
spectacle,  which  is  presented  to  us  by  the  monarch,  when  he  takes  his 
seat  on  the  University  benches  of  Bourges,  to  listen  to  the  lessons  of 
Alciati,  and  when  he  shields  his  poet,  Marot,  from  the  wrath  of  the 
Sorbonne. 

And  yet  this  wrath,  was  just.  Marot  had  abandoned  France,  chant- 
ing the  praises  of  all  the  courts  which  eagerly  granted  him  an  asylum. 
Grumbler,  epigrammatist,,  "pleasant  in  his  rondos,  ballads,  lyrics,  and 
cock-and-bull  stories,"  he  aped  the  Lutheran,,  in  order  to  be  different 
from  his  compeers  of  Parnassus,  who  went  to  mass,  and  abstained  from 
meat  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays,  but  at  bottom,,  he  repelled  the  suspicion 
oi  heresy,  with  which  they  sought  to  tarnish  his  muse.     He  said  : 

De  Lutheriste  ils  m'ont  donne  le  nom 
Que  droit  ce  soit;  Je  respond  que  non. 

The  duchess  d'Etampes  was  desirous  to  see  the  poet  again,  who  was 
tired  of  his  exile,  and  burned  with  anxiety  to  return  to  Paris.: — To  her 
royal  lover  she  had  exhibited  a  piece  of  verse  Avherein  Marot,  speaking 
of  Francis  I.,  said  :  he  would  recall  me, 

S'il  savott  bien  comment 
Depuis  unpeu  Je  parte  sobrement: 
Car  ces  Lombards  avee  qui  Je  chemine 
M'ont  fort  appris  a  faire  bonr>e  mine. 

Marot  was  recalled,  and,  unfortunately,  fell  into  the  clutches  of  a 
learned  Hebraist,  who  would  not  let  him  go,  till  he  promised  to  renounce 
the  pagan  muses,  and  sing  after  the  manner  of  King  David.  Marot 
gave  tke  promise,  kept  his  word,  and  without  knowing  a  word  of  the 
language  of  the  Prophets^  began  to  turn  their  magnificent  hymns  into 
rhyme.  Imagine  the  sun  darting  its  rays  through  a  tuft  of  thorn  bushes. 
The  Sorbonne,  which  did  not  pride  itself  upon  poesy,  but  theology, 
found  that  faith  was  outraged  in  the  verses  of  Marot,  and  condemned 
the  thirty  Psalms  of  the  valet  de  chambre.  Happily,  the  poet  had  a 
royal  mantle  with  which  to  shelter  himself  from  the  indignation  of  the 
J  earned  body  :   he  seized  it,  and  forthwith  began  to  sing  : 

Pulsque  vous  voulez  que  Jo  poursuive,.0  Sire,, 

L'  ocuvre  royal  du  Psautior  commence 

Et  que  tout  ccBur  aimant  Dicu  le  desire; 

D'y  besongiier  no  me  ticns  dispense. 

S'en  sente  done  qui  voudra  oftensc, 

Car  ccux  a  qui  un  tel  bion  no  pent  plaire 

Doivent  penser  si  ja  ne  I'ont  pense 

Q,u'en  vous  plaisant  me  plait  de  leur  deplaire. 

The  parliament  took  sides,  with;  the  Sorbonne,  insisted,  and  the  king 
wa3  compelled  to  listen  to  his  counselors ;  but  the  poet  was  well  com- 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIT,  6T 

pensatedi  his  Psalms  became  the  delight  of  the  court ;  Henry  II.,  to 
the  air  of  a  hunting  song,  sang  "Ainsi  qu'on  'voit  un  lerf  braire." 
Madam  de  Valentinois  gave  vogue  to  "diifondde  ma  penssee."  The 
queen,  and  the  king  of  Navarre,  danced  a  reel  of  Poitou,  humming,  '-re- 
vange-moi,  prends  ta  querelle."^ 

Now,  let  them  cease  to  tell  us  that  the  reformers  were  the  preceptors 
of  France.  Was  not  the  tree  of  knowledge  flourishing  there,  when 
Calvin  came  to  study  under  Mathurin  Cordier  ?  Calvin,  says  Mr. 
Nisard,  formed  himself  after  the  manner  of  Melancthon;t  but  this 
method  had  not  yet  appeared  in  France,  at  the  period  when  Cordier 
published  his  dialogues;  Ravisius  Textor,  his  Specimen  Epithetorum ; 
Aleandro,  his  Lexicon;  Sadolet,  his  de  Liberis  rede  instituendis ;  Bud6, 
his  treatise  De  Studio  literarum  recte  instituendo  ;  Tissot,  his  Hebrew 
Grammar;  Fichet  his  Rhetoric;  Martin  Delphe^  his  treatise  on  the 
art  of  oratory.  What  then  can  the  reformation  cite  at  this  epoch  of 
renovation  ?  At  most,  Calvin's  Psychopannychia,  and  Beza's  ode  to 
Audebert ;  and,  in  truth,  there  is  here  no  subject  for  glorying.  We 
speak  not  now  of  Italy,  who  had  her  historians  when  France  was 
making  her  essay  in  Latin  grammar.  What  work  of  art  has  the  re- 
formation produced  ?  None.  It  was  not  it  that  inspired  master 
Roux,  the  architect,  poet,  musician,  canon  of  the  holy  chapel  of  Paris,. 
when  he  was  constructing  the  grand  gallery  of  Fontaine-bleau ;  nor 
Jules  Romain,  whom  Francis  attracted  to  France  by  his  benefits;  nor 
Andrew  del  Sarto,  the  painter  of  the  Madonna  del  Sacco  ;  nor  Ben- 
venuto  Cellini,  the  sculptor^  so  poetic ;  nor  Primatice,  who  makes  a 
Vatican  out  of  Fontaine-bleau;  nor  Vecelli,  the  great  Venetian  colour- 
ist;  painters,  statuaries,  humanists,  literati,  you  all  belong  to  Catholi- 
cism !  We  claim  your  glory  as  hers.  Doubt,  says  a  critic,  (Mr. 
Planche,)  is  a  method  of  investigation,  and  not  of  instruction  or  study;}: 
he  who  learns  must  believe  already ;  now,  Calvin  did  not  believe.  Let 
him  then  admire  himself  in  his  pride^  compare  himself  to  the  sun,  ap- 
plaud himself  for  having  brought  light  and  truth  to  his  country.  §  W^e 
think  that  Bude,  Danes,  John  du  Bellay^  Vatable^  and  those  floods  of 
Greeks  and  Italians,  who,  at  the  voice  of  the  great  monarch,  came  to 
mingle  with  the  Parisian  population,  are  glorious  representatives  of  hu- 
man letters ;  that  Nicolai,  Jerome  Poncher,  Petit,  William  Pelissier, 
— r-the  honor  of  the  French  episcopacy, — have  taught  and  practised  the 
gospel ;  that  the  reformation,  in  the  person  of  Calvin,  has  no  more 
found  light  than  truth,  both  of  which  were  of  the  patrimony  of  France 
at  the  time  he  dreamed  of  reforming  Luther,  and  of  converting  Francis 
I.,  by  dedicating  to  him  his  book  of  the  Christian  Institutes. 

We  must  study  the  efforts  made  by  Protestantism  to  revolutionize  the 
religious  aspect  of  the  country,  and,  for  the  Catholic  symbol,  which 
was  yesterday  what  it  will  be  to-morrow,  to  substitute  the  thousand  con- 


*  Florimond  de  Remond.  t  Revue  des  deux   mondes,  Oct.  1839. 

:j:  L'Artiste,  November,  1839. 

1}  Superbiam  illam  detegunt  loci  mille  in  quibus  soli  se  comparans,  pro  tene- 
bris  lucem,  pro  falso  verum  attulisse  in  patriam  gloriatur^  Papirius  Masso*. 
vita  Calvini,  p.  25^ 


68  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

fessions  of  its  doctors.  We  shall  see,  if,  as  said  by  Beza :  "The  sins 
of  France  and  of  its  king  drew  down  upon  the  heads  of  our  ancestors  the 
wrath  of  heaven,  and  if  it  be  true  that  the  innovators  had  more  science 
than  the  fathers  of  primitive  times."* 

♦  Dicere  noc  immerito  quidem,  ut  opinor,  consuevi,  dum  ilia  tempora  apoy- 
tolis  etiam  proxima  cum  nostris  comparo,  scientias  minus  illos  habubse.  Beza, 
cp.  I,  Th. 


CHAPTER    VII 


THE    LADIES. 


Intrigues  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Court  to  introduce  the  Reformation  into  France.. 
— The  Duchess  d'Etampes. — The  Ladies  de  Pisseleu  and  de  Cani. — The 
Mass  of  the  Seven  Points. — Reformation  Colporteurs. — Le  Coq,  cure  of  St. 
Eustache,  preaches  before  Francis  I. — An  effort  is  made  to  bring  Melancthon 
to  France. — Letter  of  his  to  the  King. — Cardinal  de  Tournon  frustrates  the 
conspiracy  of  the  Ladies. — The  Placards. 

Who  would,  at  this  day,  believe  that  the  intrigues  of  women  came 
near  robbing  France  of  her  ancient  credo  of  Athanasius  ?  The  chief 
of  this  conspiracy  was  Margaret,  the  real  or  pretended  author  of  the 
Heptameron  ;  the  auxiliaries  were  the  duchess  d'Etampes,  her  sister 
Madame  de  Pisseleu,  and  Madame  de  Cani.  At  Pau,  Margaret  had  a 
fme  castle,  where  since  Henry  IV.  was  born,  a  true  feudal  habitation, 
quite  thick-set  with  drawbridges,  and  impenetrable  to  the  human  eye, 
were  it  even  as  sharp  as  that  of  lieutenant  Morin.  In  this  old  manor 
the  queen's  court  assembled  of  an  evening,  in  imitation  of  the  christians 
of  the  primitive  church,  and  there  read  in  French  some  prayer  arranged 
a  la  Lutherienne.  When  Roussel,  the  queen's  chaplain,  was  absent,  a 
fugitive  Carmelite,  by  name  Solon,  held  forth  the  word.  This  monk  did 
not  scruple  heaping  insults  on  those  whom  he  termed  papistical  gentry. 
These  were  received  with  loud  peals  of  laughter,  such  as  arose  at  the 
jovial  recitals  of  Desperriers,  in  the  evening  reunions.  In  an  especial 
manner,  they  ridiculed  the  Catholic  mass,  and  resolved  to  displace  it  for 
the  mass  of  the  seven  points. 

Now,  here   is  the   mass  of  the   seven   points.* 

Mass,  with  public  communion  ;  first  point. 

Mass,  without  elevation  of  the  host;  second  point. 

Mass,  without  adoration  of  the  species;  third  point. 

Mass,  without  oblation  of  the  bread  and  wine ;   fourth  point. 

Mass,  without  commemoration  of  the  Virgin  and  Saints;  fifth 
point. 

Mass,  with  breaking  the  bread  at  the  altar :  first,  for  the  priest,  then 
for  the  faithful;  sixth  point. 

Mass,  celebrated  by  a  married  priest ;  seventh  point. 

Mass,  C'dthollc,  Lutheran,  Cavinistic. 

*  Florimond  de  Remond,   p.  698. 


70 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


The  ladies,  d'Etampes,  de  Cani,  and  de  Pisseleu,  grew  pa.ssionatel/ 
fond  of  the  mass  of  the  seven  points  :  had  it  been  allowed  them,  per- 
haps,  together  with  the  abolition  of  confession,  they  -would  not  have 
been  very  exacting  with  regard  to  the  other  dogmas  of  the  Catholic 
church.  They  accepted  the  Pope's  supremacy,  purgatory,  the  venera- 
tion of  the  Virgin  and  the  Saints,  the  greater  part  of  the  sacraments, 
and  even  hell  itself :  only  it  was  necessary  that  they  should  have  a 
prayer  book  in  French,  which  was  found  for  them.  Margaret  caused  a 
French  translation  to  be  prepared  of  the  "book  of  hours,"  by  the 
bishop  of  Senlis,  the  confessor  of  the  king,  whose  orthodoxy  was  not 
doubtful. 

Now,  this  mass-book,  entirely  French,  was  a  great  novelty  to  the 
little  court  of  Nerac,  which  set  to  work  to  peruse  it  devoutly,  then  to 
comment  and  explain  it,  in  other  words,  to  torture  it,  until  at  length  it 
became  utterly  unintelligible.  As  soon  as  it  was  incomprehensible, 
every  body  wanted  it.  It  was  printed  secretly,  with  little  notes,  glosses, 
and  explanations;  and  colporteurs  were  sent  forth  to  distribute  it  in  the 
neighbouring  provinces.  These  simple  souls,  who  were  ignorant  of 
every  thing  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God,  imagined  their  trade  bless- 
ed by  heaven,  because  it  was  successful.  A  historian  of  the  revival  has 
described,  in  joyous  terms,  this  mercantile  proselytism. 

"  Many  companions  of  the  French  and  German  printers,  thronged 
forward,  allured  by  the  prospect  of  great  profit,  who  afterwards  dis- 
persed themselves  on  all  sides,  to  distribute  bibles,  catechisms, — bucklers, 
kettles,  anatomies,  and  other  such  books,  particularly  the  little  Psalms, 
when  they  were  printed,  gilt,  embossed  and  nicely  executed.  Their  very 
elegance  invited  the  ladies  to  peruse  them;  and  as  avaricious  merchants, 
allured  by  the  hopes  of  gain,  fear  not  to  traverse  the  seas,  and  encounter 
a  thousand  hazzards  and  chances  from  tempests,  in  the  same  sort,  these 
companions  of  the  type,  from  the  appetite  of  gain  induced  by  the  first 
taste  thereof,  and  to  secure  access  to  the  cities  and  country  places,  and 
entrance  into  the  houses  of  the  nobility, — some  of  them  made  themselves 
pedlersof  little  articles  for  the  ladies,  concealing  at  the  bottom  of  their 
bales,  the  little  books  which  they  presented  to  the  maidens,  quite  slyly, 
as  if  they  were  things  very  precious,  in  order  to  stimulate  a  relish  for 
them.  These  postillions  and  couriers  of  contraband  merchandise  often 
fell  a  prey  to  the  flames,  into  which  they  were  cast,  wlien  taken  in  the 
act  of  violating  the  laws  which  forbid  their  trade.  Those  who  have 
collected  the  details  of  their  history,  are  quite  humorous,  when  they 
represent  these  colporteurs  before  the  parliament,  harranguing  like  learn- 
ed doctors.  John  Chapot,  they  tell  us,  the  vender  of  books  which  he 
had  brought  from  Geneva,  came  near  routing  the  whole  parliament  of 
Paris,  by  a  very  learned  and  very  holy  remonstrance,  which  he  made 
to  the  counselors,  when  allowed  to  dispute,  face  to  face,  with  three 
doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  who  were  never  willing  to  come  direct  to  the 
subject  matter  of  the  controversy." 

In  the  meantime,  all  this  clamor  of  women,  preachers,  colporteurs, 
reached  even  to  Paris.  The  Sorbonne  grew  angry,  and  threatened  to 
end  the  business  by  a  decree.  The  king,  who  wished  to  shield  the 
honor  of  Margaret,    his   darling,   orders   her   to  come  to  Paris.     The 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVTW.  71 

queen  arrives,  attended  by  the  lord  de  Burl,  governor  of  Guyenne,  and 
<le  Roussel,  her  almoner;  an  interview  takes  place;  it  is  stormy.  Mar- 
garet laments,  cries,  prays ;  she  desires  that  Roussel,  Corand  and  Ber- 
thaud  should  be  heard,  for  they  preach  the  true  doctrine.  The  king  is 
melted,  and  consents  to  listen  to  the  preachers.  Roussel,  Coraud,  and 
Berthaud,  by  turns,  preach  before  the  king  and  the  Sorbonne  :  Ber- 
tbaud  and  Coraud,  on  leaving  the  church,  are  arrested  and  thrown  into 
prison.  Berthaud  effects  his  escape,  and  in  his  flight  comes  across  a 
church,  into  which  he  enters,  and  there  he  weeps  and  repents  ;  Coraud 
goes  to  Switzerland,  there  meets  with  Farel,  seduces  a  young  girl,  and 
becomes  a  minister.  Roussel  saves  himself  at  Nerac,  because  lieutenant 
Morin  has  received  orders  to  allow  him  to  escape.  Roussel  took  with 
him  his  Vicar  General,  Aimerici,  a  religious  of  the  order  of  St.  Bene- 
diet,  who,  after  the  death  of  his  bishop,  threw  off  his  gown,  and  married 
an  old  woman,  who  caused  him  to  die  of  ennui. 

It  was  an  affair  with  women,  nay,  with  great  ladies,  who  w^ere  re- 
solved on  the  conversion  of  Francis  I.     Intrigues  were  renew^ed. 

Among  the  orators  of  the  age,  the  most  admired  was  Le  Coq,  cure  of 
St.  Eustache,  a  sort  of  village  missionary,  who  feared  not  to  tell  truth 
to  courtiers,  and  in  place  of  the  incense  of  adulation,  threw  into  their 
faces  his  word,  quite  imbued  with  biblical  colours; — a  popular  preach- 
er, with  whom  the  literati  were  delighted,  because  he  used  the  French  lan- 
guage with  no  more  deference  than  he  did  the  noble  seigniors.  It  is  not 
precisely  known,  why  he  was  attracted  to  the  Lutheran  novelties  :  those 
who  preached  them,  in  general,  had  very  pale  faces,  haggard  features, 
and  skins  of  sepulchral  hue,  whilst  the  monks  presented  a  rubicund 
visage  ;  now,  Le  Coq,  though  very  pale  himself,  admired  the  tints  of 
vermilion. 

The  duchess  d'Etampes  and  queen  Margaret  persuaded  the  king  to 
hear  the  orator  of  St.  Eustache.  The  discourse  had  been  preparf^d  be- 
forehand. Le  Coq  was  on  fire,  according  to  his  custom ;  thumped  the 
pulpit  with  clenched  fists,  and  screamed  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  that  we 
should  not  stop  at  a  contemplation  of  the  species  on  the  altar,  but  allow 
the  mind  to  soar  upon  the  wings  of  faith,  even  to  heaven  :  sursum  cor- 
da,  he  repeated,  sursum  corda.^  The  grand  ladies,  who  were  present 
at  the  sermon,  re-echoed,  sursum  corda:  but  Cardinal  du  Bellay  went 
out  scandalized,  and  summoned  the  priest  to  court.  Le  Coq  wanted  to 
dispute  ,  the  duchess  d'Etampes  was  of  his  opinion  : — the  disoute  took 
place.  The  cardinal  easily  fathomed  the  resources,  and  exhausted  the 
eloquence  of  the  missionary.  Le  Coq,  on  that  day,  lost  all  his  glory  : 
the  duchess  d'Etampes  ceased  to  receive  his  visits,  and  closed  upon  him 
the  doors  of  her  hotel. 

She  had  a  boon  companion,  who  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  a  great 
theologian  :  Landri,  another  cure,  who  desired  no  better  fun  than  to  be 
allowed  to  grumble  and  complain.  Landri  obtained  an  audience  of  the 
king,  through  the  influence  of  the  duchess ;  but  the  poor  man  mumbled 
such  pitiful  things,  about  purgatory  and  the  veneration  of  saints,  that  he 

*  Histoire  de  Fran9ois  ler.,  par  Gaillard,  in  8vo.  t.  iv.  p  264, — Maimbouro^, 
histoire  du  Calvinisme,  liv.  1. 


72  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

was  politely  conducted  out,  and  sent  back  to  his  parishioners.     Landri 
50on  again  returned  to  Catholicism. 

This  exotic  mania  of  disputation  bewitched  souls,  divided  families, 
enkindled  enmities,  and  filled  France  with  troubles  and  commotions. 
It  always  happened  that  each  disputant  claimed  the  victory,  and  grew 
proud  of  his  glory.  Whoever  was  in  search  of  truth  might  be  sure  to  find 
it  in  two  hostile  sanctuaries.  And  yet  a  person  could  not  help  asking, 
if  truth  be  one,  how  it  could  be  the  heritage  of  Zwingle  and  of  Luther, 
of  Bucer  and  of  Farel,  of  (Ecolampadius  and  of  Carlstadt,  who  did 
not  agree  among  themselves,  but  damned  each  other  without  mercy. 

They  wished  to  introduce  trouble  into  the  conscience  of  the  king, 
and  lead  him  gently  to  doubt;  they  would  have  then  left  him  in  quiet 
until  doubt  threw  him  into  heresy  :   this  was  a  skillful  manosuvre. 

At  that  period,  Melancthon  was  in  high  repute  in  France,  as  well  as 
in  Germany.  It  was  known  that  he  had  fallen  out  with  the  puritans  of 
his  party,  and  was  endeavouring  to  reconcile  Luther  with  the  Pope. 
The  duchess  d'Etampes  and  queen  Margaret  conceived  the  project  of 
inviting  the  Saxon  humanist  to  France.  After  some  opposition,  Fran- 
cis I.  at  length  consented  to  send  for  Melancthon,  who  was  to  dispute 
with  the  most  renowned  theologian  of  the  capital.  The  king's  billet 
to  the  Wittenberg  professor  is  a  model  of  courtesy  : 

"Some  time  since,  I  was  informed,  through  William  du  Bellay, 
sieur  of  Langcai,  gentleman  of  oui:  chamber,  and  member  of  our  privy- 
council,  of  the  ardent  desire  you  entertain  to  restore  peace  to  the  church, 
and  to  appease  the  troubles  and  divisions  which  have  come  upon  her. 
Since,  by  the  letters  you  have  written  me,  and  the  report  made  by  Bar- 
nabas Voceus  after  his  return,  I  have  learned  that  you  are  willing  to 
take  the  trouble  to  visit  me,  and  confer  with  our  doctors  and  theologi- 
ans, concerning  the  reunion  of  the  church,  and  the  re-establishment  of 
the  ancient  Catholic  discipline; — an  object  which  I  desire  to  advance 
with  all  possible  care  and  solicitude  ;  whether  you  come  as  a  private  in- 
dividual or  as  the  representative  of  your  party,  you  will  be  welcome, 
and  you  will  find  me  in  truth  very  desirous  of  the  repose,  peace,  honor 
and  dignity  of  Germany." 

Melancthon  hastened  with  skillful  terms  to  reply  to  the  noble  ad- 
vances of  the  prince  : 

"Although,  very  christian  and  most  j^werful  king,  the  very  noble 
kingdom  of  France  excels  the  other  kingdoms  of  the  earth  in  many 
other  things,  serving  for  its  honor  and  ornament,  yet  among  its  chief 
eulogies,  this  should  hold  the  first  rank,  that  it  has  ever  surpassed  other 
nations  in  doctrine,  and  has  always  stood  like  a  sentinel  for  the  defense 
of  the  Catholic  religion.  On  account  of  this,  with  good  right,  it  enjoys 
the  title  of  very  christian,  which  is  the  grandest  and  most  august  eulo- 
gy that  can  be  spoken  on  earth,  and  consequently  it  is  a  thing  very 
praiseworthy  in  your  majesty,  that,  at  this  time,  you  are  careful  to  pre- 
serve the  unity  of  the  church,  not  by  violent  remedies,  but  by  means  of 
reason,  as  becomes  a  very  excellent  and  very  christian  king,  and  that 
'n  the  midst  of  these  dissentions,  it  is  your  endeavour  and  affectionate 
aim,  so  to  moderate  and  compose  the  efforts  and  violence  of  both  parties, 
that  the  christian  doctrine,  being  explained  and  purified,  may  be  dilli- 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIW.  73 

gently  studied  and  practised,  to  the  glory  of  Christ,  for  the  dignity  of  the 
ecclesiastical  order  and  public  tranquillity.  Certainly  there  is  nothing 
which  merits  so  much  glory  and  praise  as  this  desire.  Nothing  more  wor- 
thy of  a  king  can  be  imagined.  Wherefore,  1  beseech  your  royal  majesty, 
not  to  grow  weary,  or  cease  employing  all  your  power  for  this  care  and 
for  this  thought :  for  although  public  dissension  has,  in  certain  places, 
opened  the  way  for  some  disorderly  and  wicked  teachers,  yet,  there  are 
many  things  undecided,  and  esteemed  by  good  people,  which  it  is  very 
important,  and  would  be  very  useful  to  teach,  and  which  should  remain 
in  the  church.  And  besides,  the  petulance  of  the  wicked  ought  to  be 
repressed;  nevertheless,  I  beseech  your  royal  majesty,  not  to  allow 
yourself  to  be  so  led  by  the  more  severe  opinions  and  waitings  of  some, 
as  to  suffer  things  good  and  useful  to  the  church  lo  be  abandoned.  As 
to  myself,  no  irregular  opinions,  such  as  those  which  have  desolated 
and  corrupted  the  most  beautiful  and  most  holy  order  of  the  church, 
have  been  pleasing  to  me,  as  also,  there  ought  to  be  nothing  more  dear 
and  commendable  than  this.  And  since  I  am  aware  that  you  esteem  all 
good  persons,  who  are  versed  in  this  same  kind  of  doctrine  as  myself, 
as  soon  as  I  saw  the  letters  of  your  royal  majesty,  I  take  God  to  wit- 
ness, that  1  exerted  myself  with  all  my  power,  that  I  might  immediate- 
ly be  able  to  visit  your  majesty;  for  there  is  nothing  that  I  so  much 
desire,  as  to  have  the  power  to  give  some  aid  to  the  church,  according 
to  the  extent  of  my  limited  capacity.  And  I  have  begun  to  entertain 
good  hopes,  from  the  time  I  knew  that  the  piety  and  prudence  of  your 
royal  majesty  desired  nothing  so  much  as  to  advise  and  provide 
for  the  common  good  of  Christ's  glory.  But  your  majesty  will  learn 
from  Voceus,  how  many  difficulties  yet  retain  me  for  a  little  while, 
which,  though  delaying  my  journey,  have  never  turned  my  mind  from 
the  profession,  counsels,  affection  and  desire  which  I  have  to  appease 
the  differences  of  Christendom.  Voceus  will,  more  in  detail,  unfold  all 
these  things  to  your  majesty  :  in  conclusion,  I  recommend  myself  to 
your  majesty,  and  promise  you  that  I  shall  always  assimilate  and  defer 
my  judgment  to  the  opinion  of  the  good  and  learned  men  who  are  in  the 
church.  May  Christ  preserve  your  royal  majesty,  prosperous  and  safe, 
and  deign  direct  you  for  the  common  salvation  of  the  whole  world, 
and  for  the  illustration  of  the  glory  of  God.  Given  in  Saxony,  the  fifth 
day  before  the  calends  of  September,  1535." 

To  this  long  epistle,  Melancthon  had  appended  a  Latin  treatise,  with 
this  title  :  De  morandis  controversiis  reliponis  ad  Gallos,  (concerning 
the  arrest  of  religious  controversies  in  France,)  in  which  he  frankly 
recognized  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  the  necessity  of  an  ever 
living  spiritual  authority,  for  the  government  and  discipline  of  the 
church. 

After  such  an  avowal,  it  seemed  as  if  peace  was  on  the  point  of  be- 
ing restored  to  the  Catholic  world.  The  great  ladies  congratulated 
themselves  on  the  coming  of  Melancthon,  who  was  to  confound  the 
science  of  all  our  Catholic  bishops.  Their  favourite  poet,  however, 
prophesied  that  Melancthon  would  not  come.     He  said  : 

Je  ne  dis  pas  que  Melancthon 
Ne  declare  au  roy  son  avis : 


74  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Mais  de  disputer  vis  a  vis 

Nos  maistres  n'y  veulent  entendre. 

This  prevision  was  taken  for  a  poetic  sally,  and  Marot  was  sent  back 
to  his  muses.  He  was,  however,  right.  On  a  sudden,  a  red  robe  ap- 
peared to  break  off  these  negotiations,  already  so  far  advanced. 

Cardinal  de  Tournon,  archbishop  of  Lyons,  one  day  entered  into  the 
king's  presence  with  a  book  under  his  arm  : 

"  You  have  a  fine  book,  my  Lord,"  said  the  prince,  casting  his  eyes 
on  the  gilded  clasps  of  the  book. 

"  Sire,  you  have  rightly  called  it,"  replied  the  archbishop,  "it  is 
written  by  one  of  your  first  bishops  in  the  church  of  Lyons.  By  good 
fortune,  I  have  come  across  this  passage,  which  is  in  the  third  book. 
Jreneus  relates,  that  he  heard  from  St.  Polycarp,  that  his  master,  St, 
John,  the  Apostle,  on  a  time,  going  into  the  baths,  met  the  heretic 
Cerinthus,  and  suddenly  he  withdrew,  saying,  "let  us  fly,  for  fear  we  be 
sullied  and  defiled  by  the  water,  in  which  that  enemy  of  truth  is  bath- 
ing.      * 

The  archbishop  had  no  difficulty  to  make  the  prince  understand,  that 
a  disputation  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  would  be  altogether  as 
unsuccessful  as  those,  of  which  Germany  had  been  the  theatre  during 
twenty  years  past;  that  Miltitz,  Cajetan,  Veh,  Aleandro, — missionaries 
of  the  Holy  See, — had  conferred  with  Luther,  and  been  embarrassed 
by  his  obstinacy.  Francis  I.  countermanded  the  passport  which  the 
chancellor  was  on  the  point  of  sending  to  Melancthon. 

The  public  mind  grew  feverish  and  irritated.  The  reformation,  em- 
boldened by  the  protection  of  queen  Margaret,  by  the  praises  of  certain 
literati,  by  the  intrigues  of  the  duchess  d'Etampes,  by  the  threatening 
League  of  Smalcald,  and  in  consequence  of  the  external  and  internal 
difilculties  which  embarrassed  the  government,  no  longer  concealed 
itself,  as  formerly.  It  had  become  scofiing,  disputatious,  and  insolent: 
in  place  of  joining  its  hands  for  prayer,  it  raised  them,  in  order  to  curse 
or  strike.  It  posted  its  errors,  and  it  penetrated  into  the  workshops,  to 
corrupt  the  labourers.  It  obscured  our  glories,  calumniated  our  bishops, 
insulted  our  priests,  invented  words  to  excite  public  contempt  against 
us,  and  called  us  Papolators  and  Theo'plia gists.  In  the  evening,  when 
night  had  covered  the  earth  with  darkness,  it  ran  through  the  streets  of 
the  city,  and  posted  insulting  placards  upon  the  doors  of  the  Louvre,  of 
the  convents  and  churches,  which,  on  the  next  day,  its  disciples  took 
down,  and,  for  their  amusement,  read  aloud.  Then,  if  some  poor  monk 
chanced  to  pass  by  alone,  he  was  hooted  at,  bespattered  with  mud,  and 
pursued  with  hue  and  cry.  Lieutenant  Morin  struggled  in  vain  ;  the 
reformation  had  even  seduc'ed  the  king's  valet  de  chamhre,  who  took 
pains  to  place,  upon  the  study-table  of  his  master,  some  of  those  clan- 
destine pamphlets,  which  Farel  had  transmitted  to  Paris  from  Switzer- 
land.! So  maiiy  of  these  were  spread  abroad  during  1535,  that  this 
year  was  (designated  tJie  year  of  the  i^lacards. 

*  Florimond  dc  Rcmond. 
t  Man  kann  nach  dem  Berichte  Crespin's  auuclimcn,  dasz  Farcl  diese  Mani' 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK.  75 

The  reformation  came  and  posted  on  the  palace  of  the  Sorbonne, 
this  sacrilegious  manifesto,  the  work  of  some  demoniac,  whose  courage 
was   warmly  eulogized : 

TRUE  ARTICLES      CONCERNING    THE    HORRIBLE,     GREAT    AND  IMPORTANT 
ABUSES    OF    THE     PAPAL    MASS. 

*'  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  witness  the  truth  against  this  pompous 
proud  mass,  by  which,  if  God  grant  not  a  remedy,  the  world  will  soon 
be  desolated,  ruined,  sunk,  since  in  this,  our  Lord  is  so  outrageously 
blasphemed,  the  people  are  seduced  and  blinded,  which  no  longer  should 
be  suffered  or  endured. 

*'  First,  it  is,  and  must  be  very  certain  to  every  christian,  that  our 
Lord  and  only  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  as  great  Bishop  and  Pastor,  eter- 
nally ordained  of  God,  has  offered  his  body,  life  and  blood,  for  our 
sanctification,  in  a  most  perfect  sacrifice,  which  sacrifice  cannot  and 
should  not  be  reiterated  by  any  visible  sacrifice,  if  we  would  not  make 
void  that  of  Christ,  as  if  inefficacious,  insufficient,  imperfect,  making  out 
that  Jesus  Christ  had  not  satisfied  for  us  to  the  justice  of  his  Father;  that  he 
was  not  the  true  Christ,  Saviour,  Priest,  Bishop,  Mediator,  to  think 
which  thing  even,  much  more  to  say  it,  is  a  horrible,  execrable  blasphe- 
my. And  yet,  the  earth  has  been,  nay,  now  is,  in  many  places,  troubled 
with  miserable  sacrificators ;  who,  as  if  they  were  oar  redeemers,  put 
themselves  in  the  place  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  make  themselves  his  com- 
panions ;  saying  that  they  offer  lo  God  a  sacrifice,  pleasing  and  accept- 
able as  that  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  for  the  salvation  of 
the  living  and  the  dead;  which  they  do  manifestly  against  all  truth  of 
the  holy  scriptures,  making  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists  liars. 

*'Now,  they  cannot  induce  any  one  of  sound  mind  to  think  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Apostles  and  Prophets  liars,  but  must  gnash  their  teeth,  since 
the  Pope,  and  all  his  vermin  of  cardinals,  bishops,  priests,  monks, 
and  other  Cflp/iar5, — the  sayers  of  masses, — are  such  :  to  wit,  false  pro- 
phets, damnable  deceivers,  apostates,  wolves,  false  pastors,  idolaters, 
seducers,  liars,  execrable  blasphemers,  soul-murderers,  deniers  of  Jesus 
Christ,  thieves,  ravishers  of  God's  honor,  and  worse  than  devils.  For, 
by  the  great  and  admirable  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ,  all  exterior  and 
visible  sacrifice  has  been  abolished  and  abrogated.   .   .  . 

"  And  where  have  they  invented  the  gross  word,  transubstantiation  ? 
The  apostles  and  fathers  have  not  spoken  thus :  they  have  openly 
named  the  bread,  bread,  and  the  wine,  wine.  St.  Paul  does  not  say  : 
eat  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  contained,  or  which  is,  under  the 
semblance  of  bread,  but  he  said,  clearly  :  eat  this  bread.  Now,  it  is 
certain,  that  the  scripture  contains  no  deception,  and  that  in  it  there  is 
no  hidden  artifice,  whence  it  clearly  follows,  that  it  is  bread ;  who 
then  can  endure  longer  such  antichrists  ?  for,  having  no  shame  in  their 
wish  to  shut  up  in  tabernacles  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  forgotten, 

feste  driicken  liesz,  die  zu  Paris  Placards  genannt   wurden.     Paul  Henry,  p. 
74.  Note. 


76  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIK. 

they  do  not  blush  to  say,  that  he  sufTers  huTiself  to  be  gnawed  by  rats, 
spiders,  vermin,  as  is  written  with  red  letters  in  their  missal,  in  the 
twenty-second  precaution,  commencing  thus  :  If  the  body  of  the  Lord, 
being  consumed  by  mice  and  spiders,  be  reduced  to  nothing  or  very 
much  gnawed ;  if  the  worm  be  found  entire  there,  let  it  be  burned,  and 
put  in  the  reliquary.  Oh  earth  !  why  dost  thou  not  open  and  engulph 
these  horrible  blasphemers?  Oh  villains,  and  most  detestable  !  is  this 
the  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  true  Son  of  God,  and  does  he  allow  it  to  be 
eaten  by  mice  and  spiders ;  he,  who  is  the  bread  of  angels  and  of  all 
the  children  of  God,  is  he  given  to  us  to  be  the  food  of  beasts;  he,  who 
is  incorruptible,  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  is  he  to  be  cast  by  you  to 
worms  and  rottenness,  of  whom  David  wrote,  prophesying  about  his 
resurrection?  Light  up  your  faggots,  to  burn  and  roast  yourselves,  and 
not  us,  because  we  Avill  not  believe  in  your  idols,  your  new  Gods,  your 
new  Christs;  who  allow  themselves  to  be  eaten  by  beasts,  and  by  you, 
likewise,  who  are  worse  than  beasts,  in  your  mummeries,  which  you 
perform  around  your  God  of  paste,  in  which  you  rejoice,  as  a  cat  does 
over  a  rat,  whining  and  striking  your  breasts,  after  having  divided  it 
into  three  pieces,  as  if  you  were  very  repentant,  calling  it  by  God's 
name.""^ 

Beza  himself  acknowledges  the  violence  of  his  co-religionists. 
"  There  is  great  appearance,"  he  writes,  "that  the  king  himself  began 
to  taste  something  of  the  truth,  having  been  won  to  this  point,  as  well 
by  his  sister,  the  queen  of  Navarre,  as  by  two  brothers  of  the  house  of 
Bellay,  whom  he  was  on  the  point  of  inviting  to  France,  and  hearing 
in  presence  of  that  eminent  person,  Philip  Melancthon ;  but  about 
the  month  of  November,  in  the  year  1534,  all  this  was  broken  up,  by 
the  indiscreet  zeal  of  certain  persons,  who  had  caused  some  articles,  writ, 
ten  in  a  very  bitter  style,  to  be  printed."! 

This  violence  was  not  exercised  only  against  the  dogmatic  teachings 
of  our  church.  The  reformation,  groAvn  still  bolder,  seized  upon  our 
very  temples  thefnselves,  which  it  despoiled  of  their  ornaments,  upon 
our  reliquaries,  which  it  broke  to  pieces,  upon  our  statues,  which  it  mu- 
tilated, upon  our  paintings,  which  it  tore  into  shreds,  upon  our  convent 
libraries,  which  it  threw  into  the  flames,  enveloping,  in  its  hatred,  the 
treasures  of  art,  the  riches  of  worship,  and  the  spoils  of  the  dead. 
Had  free  sway  been  allowed  it  in  France,  there  would  not  have  remain- 
ed a  stone  upon  a  stone  of  our  sacred  edifices.  And  when  we  call  to 
mind  that  these  sacrilegious  profanations  wrested  from  the  reformers 
neither  tear  nor  sigh,  we  ask,  if,  for  the  sake  of  mere  material  art,  it 
was  not  necessary  to  arrest  this  horde  of  Vandals,  who  would  have 
imitated  the  constable  Bourbon,  and  turned  our  churches  into  stables. 

The  civil  power,  admonished  by  the  murmurs  of  the  people  and  the 
eloquent  voice  of  Bude,  at  last  began  to  act.  The  people  wanted  to 
live  and  die  Catholic.     It  was  resolved,   first,  by  a  solemn  procession, 

*  Si  qua  unquam  fuit  putrida  ct  insulsa  farrnjro  vanitatis  atque  falsitntis,  si 
qua  impura  sentiua  fahularum  atque  anistortsias,  illam  porfecto  esse  altissima 
voce  profitcinur.     Resp.  pro  Balduino  ad  Calvinum  et  Bezam,  fol,  9S, 

t  Bexa.  Hist,  Eccl.  p.  15, 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN.  77 

to  expiate  the  numerous  profanations.  The  king  assisted  at  the  proces- 
sion,  with  uncovered  head,  a  torch  in  his  hand,  and  followed  by  his 
whole  court,  by  the  foreign  ambassadors,  and  crowds  of  the  people. 
The  bishop  of  Paris,  John  du  Bellay,  holding  the  Holy  Sacrament, 
marched  beneath  a  canopy,  borne  by  the  Dauphin,  the  dukes  of  Or- 
leans  and  Angouleme,  and  the  duke  of  Vendome,  first  prince  of  the 
blood.  The  king  entered  the  grand  saloon  of  the  episcopal  palace, 
and  in  these  terms  harrangued  the  members  of  parliament,  in  their  red 
robes,  the  clergy,  and  the  nobility  : 

"  Gentlemen  assistants,  should  the  subject,  upon  which  we  invite 
your  attention,  not  be  arranged  and  presented  in  such  order  as  becomes 
a  discourse,  be  not  astonished  :  the  great  zeal  we  feel  for  the  honor  of 
him,  of  whom  we  wish  to  speak,  the  omnipotent  God,  causes  us  so 
ardent  an  affection,  that  we  cannot  watch  our  words,  to  restrain  them 
to  the  requisite  and  necessary  order,  seeing  the  offence  offered  to  the 
King  of  Kings,  for  whom  we  reign,  and  w^hose  lieutenant  we  are,  in 
our  kingdom,  to  accomplish  his  holy  will ;  and  considering  the  wicked- 
ness and  fatal  influence  of  those,  who  try  to  embarrass  and  destroy  the 
French  monarchy,  which,  for  such  a  succession  of  years,  has  been  up- 
held by  this  Sovereign  King,  we  cannot  refuse  to  acknowledge  it,  even 
supposing  that,  in  the  progress  of  time,  it  was  never  before  so  much  af- 
flicted by  them  :  the  kings,  our  predecessors,  have  ahvays  persevered  firm- 
ly in  the  christian.  Catholic  religion,  of  which  we  still  bear,  and  will  al- 
ways bear,  the  name  of  "very  Christian."  And,  indeed,  our  good  city  of 
Paris  has  always  been  the  leader  and  model  of  all  good  christians,  ex- 
cept that  of  late  certain  innovators,  persons  wearied  of  good  doctrine, 
wrapped  in  darkness,  have  tried  to  essay  every  thing  against  the  saints, 
our  intercessors,  and  against  God,  Jesus  Christ,  without  whom  we  can 
do  nothing,  or  prosper  in  any  good  deed,  it  would  be  a  thing  very  ab- 
surd in  us,  did  we  not,  as  far  as  in  our  power,  confound  and  extirpate 
these  wicked  persons,  of  feeble  understanding.  For  this  cause  we  have 
desired  to  call  you  together,  and  beseech  you  to  put  from  your  hearts 
and  thoughts  all  these  opinions,  which  will  seduce  you  and  introduce 
confusion  among  you,  and  we  entreat  you  to  instruct  your  children  and 
servants  in  christian  obedience  to  the  Catholic  faith,  and  so  to  follow 
and  preserve  it,  that  should  you  know  any  contaminated  and  infected  by 
this  perverse  sect,  even  were  such  your  parent,  brother,  cousin,  or  rela- 
tion, you  would  denounce  him.  For,  in  concealing  his  wickedness, 
you  would  become  adherent  of  this  infected  faction.  And  as  to  our- 
selves, your  king,  did  we  know  any  member  of  our  family  stained  or 
infected  with  this  detestable  error,  not  only  would  we  deliver  him  to 
you  to  be  cut  off,  but  did  we  see  one  of  our  children  so  infected,  we 
would  ourselves  sacrifice  him." 

On  that  very  day,  or  the  next,  piles  were  erected  at  Paris,  on  which 
Barthelemy  Milo,  a  shoemaker  ;  Nicholas  Valeton,  Jehan  du  Bourg,  a 
huckster;  Henry  Poile,  a  mason;  Stephen  de  la  Forge,  a  merchant, 
mounted,  chanting  hymns.  Had  any  one  arrested  these  poor  creatures, 
on  their  way  to  eternity,  to  make  them  recite  their  symbol  of  faith,  no 
two  of  them  would  have  said  the   same.     They  were  neither  Zwingli- 

7* 


78  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

an5,  Calvinists,  nor  Lutherans,  but  fanatics,  inflated  and  excited  by  the 
perusal  of  Farel's  libels,  and  by  the  clandestine  preachings  of  some  ren- 
egade, and  they  scarcely  knew  the  meaning  of  a  confession  of  faith. 
Grespin  opens  the  gates  of  heaven  to  all  of  them,  and  inscribes  their 
names  in  his  book  of  martyrs;*  whilst  Westphal,  another  reformer, 
tears  away  this  crown,  woven  by  the  hand  of  a  Calvinist,.  in  order  to 
decorate  with  it  the  brows  of  such  only  as  died  in  the  faith  of  Luther. f 
Let  us  lament  these  unhappy  victims,  who  were  led  to  punishment 
as  to  a  martyrdom,  which  they  welcomed  on  the  faith  of  some  apostate, 
who,  the  evening  before,  had  renounced  his  vows  of  continency,  and 
chanted  the  funeral  pile,  which  he  would  not  have  been  willing  to 
ascend,  as  at  the  time  was  said  by  the  poet : 

O  ame  peu  hardie 
Qui  ressemble  celuy  qui  fait  la  tragedie, 
Lequel  sans  la  jouer  demeure  tout  craintif, 
Et  en  donne  la  charge  au  nouveau  apprentif 
Pour  n'etre  point  moque,  ni  siffle,  si  Tissue 
Ne  reussit  a  gre  du  peuple  bien  receue. 

Here  are  some  noble  words,  called  forth  from  a  Catholic,  on  witness- 
ing these  human  sacrifices,  to  which  the  civil  power  had  recourse,  less, 
perhaps,  for  the  preservation  of  the  national  faith,  than  for  the  welfare 
of  society,  which  the  violent  deeds  of  the  reformers  threatened  to 
subvert. 

"  In  the  meantime,  fires  were  enkindled  every  where ;  and,  as  on  the 
one  hand,  the  justice  and  rigor  of  law  restrained  the  people  to  their  duty,, 
so  on  the  other,  the  obstinate  resolution  of  those  who  were  dragged  to 
the  gibbet, — in  whom  it  was  easier  to  extinguish  life  than  courage, — 
was  the  occasion  of  great  astonishment  to  many.  For  when  they  saw, 
little  feeble  women  seeking  torments,  in  order  to  prove  their  faith,  and,, 
on  their  way  to  death,  exclaiming  only  the  name  of  Christ,  the  Saviour,. 
and  singing  some  psalm ;  young  virgins,  marching  more  gaily  to  pun- 
ishment, than  they  would  have  done  to  the  hymen ial  couch  ;  men,  re- 
joicing at  the  sight  of  the  terrible  and  frightful  array  of  instruments  of 
death,  which  had  been  prepared  for  them,  and,  half  burned  and  roasted, 
contemplating  from  the  height  of  the  burning  piles,  the  number  of 
wounds  inflicted  by  the  pincers,  carrying  joyful  air  and  visage,  while  in 
the  fangs  of  the  executioners,  and  standing  like  rocks  amid  the  waves 
of  sorrow  ; — in  short,  when  they  saw  them  die  laughing,  like  those  who 
have  eaten  the  Sardinian  plant; — these  melancholy  spectacles  of  firm 
suffering,  produced  some  trouble,  not  only  in  the  souls  of  the  simple,  but 
even  of  the  great,  who  covered  them  with  their  mantles,  not  being  able 
for  the  most  part  to  persuade  themselves  that  these  poor  people  were 
not  right,  since,  at  the  price  of  life,  they  maintained  their  faith  with  so 
much  firmness  and  resolution.  Others  had  compassion  on  them  :  sorry 
to  see  them  thus  persecuted,  and  beholding  those  blackened  carcasses, 
suspended  by  chains  in  the  air,  in  the  public  squares,  the  remains  of  the 

•  Grespin.  Histoire  des  Martyrs,  p.  103.  t  Westphal,  contra  Lascium, 


LIFE    OF    JOHH    CALVIW.  79 

executions,  they  could  not  restrain  their  tears  :  their  very  hearts  wept 
through  their  eyes." 

This  page  is  from  the  pen  of  Florimond  de  Remond.*  who  wrote 
it  a  short  time  after  the  punishment  of  Servetus,  at  which  Calvin 
assisted. 

♦  Chap.  vi.  1.  vii. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  reception  given  to  this  work  by  the  Reformation. — It  is  a  manifesto  against 
Protestantism.— Antagonism  of  Calvin  and  the  German  reformers.— Some 
doctrines  of  the  Institutes.— Variations  of  Calvin's  Symbol.— Servetus.— 
Idea  of  the  polemics  of  the  Institutes.— Appeal  to  Catholic  authority.— Pre- 
face of  the  Institutes. — Style  of  the  v^^ork. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1536,  Thomas  Platter  and  Balthasar  Lasius 
concluded  at  Bale  the  printing  of  "  The  Christian  Institutes,"  undoubt- 
edly  the  finest  book  which  has  come  from  the  hands  of  Calvin.  A 
poet  of  that  time  places  it  immediately  after  the  Apostolic  writings. 


•  ChristianEB  religionis  institutio,  totam  fere  pietatis  summam  et  quicquid 
est  in  doctrina  salutis  cognitu  necessarium,  complectens:  omnibus  pietatis 
studiosis  lectu  dignissimum  opus,  ac  latine  recens  editum. — Preefatio  ad  chris- 
tianissimum  regem  Franciae  qua  hie  ei  liber  confessione  fidei  offertur. 

JOANNE     CALVING 

Nouiodunensi    autore, 

BA  S  I  LE  jE. 
MDXXXVI. 

At  the  end  of  the  work  was  read :  Basileae,  per  Thomam  Platterum  et  Bal- 
thasarem  Lasium,  mense  Martio,  anno  1536.  Small  8vo.  of  514  pages,  with  six 
pages  of  index:  After  tjic  index  was  seen  the  figure  of  Minerva,  with  this  in- 
scription: Tu  nihil  invita  facics  dicesve  Minerva.  The  sword  of  flame  is  not 
upon  the  title  page  of  tlio  work. 

Pao-e  2.     Heads  of  the  subjects  treated  of  in  this  book. 

1.  °0f  the  Law,  containing  an  explanation  of  the  Decalogue,  (p.  42.) 

2.  Of  Faith,  where  tlio  symbol  (called  the  Apostolic,)  is  explained,  (p.  102.) 

3.  Of  Prayer,  where  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  expounded,  (p.  157.) 

4.  Of  the  Sacraments,  where  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  are  treated. 
(p.*200.) 

5.  In  which  it  is  shown  that  the  five  others,  commonly  esteemed  sacra- 
ments, are  no  sacraments,   (p.  205.) 

6.  Concerning  Christian  Liberty,  Ecclesiastical  Power,  and  Political  Go- 
vernment, (from  p.  400  to  the  end.) 

According  to  Beza.,  the  first  edition  of  the  Christian  Institutes,  appeared  in 
1535,  at  Bale,  where  Calvin  was  residing.  Gerdes  (Scrinium  antiquarium  sive 
miscellanea  GrcEningana,  t.  11.  p.  453)  also  speaks  of  an  edition  in  1535,  of 
which  no  copy  can  be  found.  He  remarks  that  printers  had  a  custom  to  ante- 
date the  title  of  their  works.  It  is  pretended  that  the  edition  of  1536  is  not 
the  first,  for  Calvin  in  it  names  himself  on  the  title  page,  in  the  commence- 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIM.  81 

•'Praeter  Apostolicas  post  Christi  tempora  chartas 
Huic  peperere  libro  seecula  nulla  parem."* 

It  is  the  work,  for  which  the  scholar  of  Noyon  began  to  collect  ma- 
terials at  Bourges  and  Orleans,  and  at  which  he  laboured,  while  travel- 
ing hither  and  ihilher  through  France.  The  reformation  waited  for  its 
appearance  widi  great  expectation.  Some  fragments,  read  by  the  au- 
thor to  his  friends,  had  been  retained,  transcribed  and  circulated  at  the 
court  of  Margaret.  Desperriers,  Marot,  Roussel, — all  the  boon  com- 
panions of  the  Queen, — declared  that  the  Institutes  were  destined  to 
change  the  face  of  the  Catholic  world.     It  was  known  that  Calvin  had 

ment  of  the  preface,  and  at  the  head  of  the  first  chapter.  Whereas,  from  the 
reformer's  own  testimony,  wc  know  that  the  work  did  not  appear  under  Cal- 
vin's name.  The  edition  of  1536  is  in  the  Brunswick  library  and  at  Geneva. 
M.  Turretin,  in  a  letter  of  1700,  says,  "the  most  ancient  edition  to  be  found  at 
Geneva,  is  one  in  iivo.  of  514  pages,  printed  at  Bale,  per  Thomam  Platterum  et 
Balthaserem  Latium,  m.  martio,  ann.  1536.  At  the  end  of  the  book  is  the 
representation  of  Minerva,  with  these  words:  Tu  nihil  invita  faciesve  dicesve 
Minerva.  The  beginning  is  wanting,  as  far  as  pifje  43."  Sponde  admits  a 
French  edition  of  Bale,  August  1535:  Bayle,  art.  Calvin. 

Paul  Henry  thinks  there  must  have  bec'n  a  French  edition  of  1535,  the  same 
that  appeared  under  the  Pseudo-name  of  Alcain,  and  a  Latin  edition  of  1536, 
which  bore  the  name  of  Calvin.  In  the  French  edition  of  the  Institutes  of 
1566,  the  preface  is  dated  Bale,  August  1st,  1535.  It  remains  to  be  explained, 
how  no  copy  of  the  original  edition  has  reached  our  times. 

In  the  Royal  Library  at  Paris  there  exists  a  very  rare  edition  of  this  work, 
(1565,)  of  which  this  is  the  title : 

Institution  de  la  religion  Chrestienne  nouvellement  mise  en  quatre  livres; 
augmentee  aussi  de  tel  accroissement  qu'on  la  peut  presque  estimer  un  livre 
nouveau;  par  Jean  Calvin. 

A   LYON 

Par  Jean  Martin. 
On  the  reverse  of  the  frontispiece   is  a  "portrait  of  the  true  religion,"  with 
Ihese  verses : 

Mais  qui  es  tu  (di  moy)  qui  vas  si  mal  vestue, 
N'ayant  pour  tout  habit  qu'une  robe  rompue? 
•  Je  suis  religion  (et  ne  sois  plus  en  peine,) 
Du  pere  souverain  la  fille  souveraine. 
Pourquoy  t'habilles-tu  de  si  poure  vesture? 
Je  meprise  les  biens  et  la  richc  parure. 
Quel  est  ce  livre  \k  que  tu  tiens  en  la  main? 
La  souveraine  loy  du  pere  souverain. 
Pourquoy  aucuncment  n'es  couverte  au  dehors 
La  poitrine  aussi  bien  que  le  reste  du  corps? 
Cela  me  sied  fort  bien  a  moy  qui  ay  le  coeur 
Ennemi  de  finesse  et  ami  de  rondeur. 
Sur  le  bout  d'une  croix  pourquoy  t'appuyes-tu? 
C'est  la  croix  qui  me  donne  et  repos  et  vcrtu. 
Pour  quelle  cause  as-tu  deux  ailes  au  coste? 
Je  fay  volcr  les  gens  jusques  au  ciel  voute, 
Pourquoy  tant  de  rayons  environnent  ta  face? 
Hors  de  I'esprit  humain  les  tenebres  Je  chasse. 
Que  veut  dire  ce  frein?  que  J'enseigne  a  dompter 
Les  passions  du  coeur,  et  a  se  surmonter. 
Pourquoy  dessous  tes  pieds  foulles-tu  la  mortblesme? 
Pour  autant  que  Je  suis  la  mort  de  la  mort  raesme. 

♦Paulus  Thurlus. 


82 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


undertaken  this  work  in  order  to  prove  that  the  reformation  had  found 
a  theologian  and  an  author.  The  book  first  appeared  in  Latin.  In 
fr6nt,  Calvin  had  placed  a  dedication  to  Francis  the  First,  which  h® 
translated  into  French,  as  many  years  later  he  did  the  book  itself. 
The  dedication  is  one  of  the  first  monuments  of  the  French  language, 
it  wants  neither  boldness  nor  eloquence.  When  it  appeared,  the  literati 
declared  that  "  it  was  a  discourse  worthy  of  a  great  king,  a  portico 
worthy  of  a  superb  edifice,  a  composition  which  might  be  ranked  by 
the  side  of  De  Thou's  introduction  to  his  Universal  History,  or  with 
that  of  Cassaubon,  to  his  Polybius."* 

In  the  works  of  Protestant  writers,  we  know  of  no  more  eloquent 
manifesto,  against  the  principle  of  the  reformation,  than  the  Christian 
Institutes.  Bossuet,  with  alb  his  genius,  has  not,*  in  one  sense,  done 
better  than  Calvin.  Behold  here  a  book  of  patient  study,  destined  to 
destroy  Catholicism,  to  change  in  France  the  religion  of  the  State,  and 
to  seduce  Francis  I.  They  hope  that  it  will  ruin  that  ancient  faith  of 
our  fathers,  which  has  wearied  the  iron  of  so  many  executioners;  which 
has  surmounted  the  wicked  instincts  of  so  many  innovators;  and  it  is 
found,  in  the  designs  of  Providence,  that  this  very  book,  is  the  most 
terrible  weapon,  which  the  reformation  could  have  forged  against  its 
own  existence.  If  Calvin,  in  this  exomologesis,  have  told  the  truth,  it 
is  necessary  to  burn  the  books  of  the  other  reformers;  if  he  be  the  Apos- 
tle sent  by  God,  the  Protestants  of  Germany  are  no  more  than  teachers 
of  falsehood;  if  the  Institutes  were  written  under  the  inspiration  of  eter- 
nal wisdom,  Luther's  Captivity  of  Babylon,  Melancthon's  Augsburg 
Confession,  the  book  of  Zwingle  De  vera  et  falsa  religione,  and  the 
De  CcBJia  of  (Ecolampadius,  should  be  cast  into  the  fire.  For  the  doc- 
trines taught  by  Calvin  in  his  Institutes  are  not  those  taught  by  the 
German  innovators.  The  word  of  the  one  no  more  resembles  the  word 
of  the  others,  than  shade  resembles  the  sun.  If  God  robed  with  his 
cloud  the  Israelite  of  Noyon,  he  must  have  left  the  doctors  of  Germany 
in  darkness.     Let  the  reformation  itself  inform  us. 

"We  say,"  and  it  is  Calvin  who  speaks,  "we  say  that  the  Roman 
church  is  not  the  daughter  of  Christ,  that  her  popes  have  profaned  her 
by  their  impieties,  have  poisoned  her  and  put  her  to  death. "f 

"And  I,"  says  Luther,  "I  reply,  that  the  church  is  with  the  papist??, 
because  they  have  baptism,  absolution  and  the  gospel!"{ 

"And,"  he  adds  in  another  place,  "they  have  the  Eucharistic  sacra- 
ment, the  keys  of  conscience,  preaching,  the  catechism,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  &c."§ 

*  Man  hat  in  der  gelehrten  Welt  gesagt,  dcsz  es  niir  drei  treffliche  Vorreden 
gabe:  die  des  Priisidenten  Thuanus  vor  seiner  Geschichte,  die  des  Cnsaubonus 
ad  Polybium,  die  dritte  Calvin's  morus,  panegyrique,  p.  101,  Inst.  Ed.  Icard, 
et  Melanges  critiques  de  M.  Ancillon,  Bale,  1698,  p.  65. — Trineguy  Lefevre,  in 
Scaligerina,  p.  40. — To  these  three  fine  prefaces  Bayle  adds  that  of  M.  Pellissou 
to  the  works  of  Sarrazin,  p.  715.        flnst.  Chret.  p.  774. 

If.  Etsi  fatemur  apud  eos  esse  ecclesiam  quia  habent  baptismum,  absolutionem, 
textum  evangelii.     Luth,  in.  cap.  28.  Gen.  fol.  696. 

i  Recht  Sacrament  des  Altars,  rechte  Schllisscl  zu  Vergebung  der  Siinden, 
recht  Predig-Ampt,  rechter  Catechismus,  als  das  Vaterunser,  ZehenGebott,  die 


LIFE    OP    JOHN    CALVIN.  83 

The  University  of  Helmstadt,  consulted  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
concerning  the  marriage  of  Elizabeth,  princess  of  Brunswick- Wolfen- 
buttel,  witii  the  Archduke  of  Austria,  adds — that  the  Catholics  have  the 
foundation  and  principle  of  faith;  tliat  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  a 
true  Church,  which  hears  the  word  of  God,  and  receives  the  sacraments 
instituted  by  Jesus  Christ."* 

Calvin  continues — "I  maintain  that  the  Pope  of  Rome  is  the  head 
and  prince  of  the  cursed  kingdom  of  Anti-Christ." 

And  the  Augsburg  Reformers  rise  up  to  defend  Anti-Christ,  and  say: 

"Such  is  the  summary  of  our  doctrine,  in  which  it  may  be  seen  that 
there  is  nothing  contrary  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and  to  the  Roman 
Church." 

So  that,  when  Calvin  so  grossly  insults  the  See  of  Rome,  behold, 
the  churches  of  Germany,  and  its  cenacle  of  doctors  come  forward  to 
defend  her  boldly  against  the  scholar  of  Noyon. 

"  I  maintain,  says  Calvin,  that  whenever  they  represent  God  by 
means  of  images,  his  glory  is  tarnished  and  degraded  by  the  impiety  of 
falsehood;  f  that  all  the  statues  which  they  carve  for  him,  that  all  the 
pictures  which  they  paint  for  him,  give  him  infinite  displeasure,  as  so 
many  outrages  and  opprobriums. "J 

This  same  language  was,  at  Wittenberg,  addressed  by  Carlstadt  to 
the  image-breakers,  when  Luther,  if  you  remember,  mounts  the  pulpit, 
vindicates  Catholicity  against  the  foolish  rapsodies  of  the  Arch-deacon, 
and  causes  the  statues  of  the  saints  to  be  replaced,  amid  the  applauses  of 
all  the  intelligent  of  Germany.  Calvin  invented  nothing:  he  derived 
all  his  arguments  against  the  use  of  images  from  the  books  of  Carlstadt, 
■which  the  Saxon  monk  visited  with  unsparing  ridicule. 

Calvin  goes  on: — "Christian,  when  they  present  you  bread  as  a  sign 
of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  do  you  make  this  comparison:  as  bread 
sustains  the  material  life  of  our  body,  so  the  body  of  Christ  should  be 
the  nourishment  of  our  spiritual  life.  When  they  bring  you  wine,  the 
symbol  of  blood,  think  that  the  blood  of  Christ  should  revivify  you 
spiritually,  as  wine  does  your  material  body.§  Ignorant  persons!  who 
add  to  the  text  their  own  conceits,  and  to  show  their  subtilty  of  mind, 
imagine  I  know  not  what  reality,  and  what  substantiality,  and  that  pro- 
digious  transubstantiation,  a  folly  of  the  brain,  if  there  ever  was 
one."  II 

The  church  of  Wittenberg  cries  out  blasphemy!  the  voice  of  her 
apostle  is  full  of  wrath. 

"  Imbecile  !  that  thou  art,  who  hast  never  understood  the  scriptures: 
<lidst  .hou  understand  the  Greek,  the  text  would  blind  tliee,  it  would 

Artickel  ties  Glaubens,  christliche  Kirch,  Christns,  Hell.  Geist,  rechter  Kern 
vind  Ausbund  dcr  Cliristenheit;  wer  das  hat,  liatalles.  Op.  Lutheri,  t.  iv.  Jen. 
Germ.  fol.  408-400.— Nuremb.  fol.  320,  t.  11.  Witt.  Germ.  fol.  279,  t.  iv.  Alt. 
foi.  275. 

*Memoires  pour  servir  a  I'Histoire  Ecclesiastique  pendant  le  18e.  sie 
cle  1. 1. 

t  Inst,  Chret.  p.  51,    :j:  ib.    i  Christ.  Relig.  Insti.  p.  238.     ||  lb.  240. 


84  LIFE    OF    JOHH    CALVIH. 

leap  into  thy  eyes:  read,  then,  simpleton;  in  virtue  of  my  title  of  Doctor, 
I  say  to  thee,  that  thou  art  an  ass."* 

We  have  beheld  Luther  at  Mdrbourg,  at  the  colloquy  imagined  by 
Philip  of  Hesse,  refuse  to  give  the  kiss  of  peace  to  the  sacramentarians, 
whom  Calvin  repre.-enis,  and  in  leaving  for  Wittenberg,  devote  them  to 
the  wrath  of  God  and  men. 

Let  the  Hungarian  Poet  then  sing  the  Institutes,  as  the  most  splen- 
did gift  which  heaven  has  bestowed  upon  the  christian  world  since  the 
Apostolic  times! 

Has  not  Luther  just  torn  out  the  page, — where  Calvin,  speaks  of  the 
bread  and  wine  of  the  Eucharist  as  mere  emblems, — as  a  page  inspired 
by  the  evil  spirit. 

Let  Professor  Samarthanus  then  envy  Bale  this  christian  treasure 
which  France  will  never  be  able  to  rival. j 

Has  not  this  Chribtianism  been  convicted  of  novelty  and  folly  by 
Melancthon,  Luther,  and  Osiander? 

If  Francis  I.  embraces  the  symbol  of  Calvin,  Luther  threatens  him 
with  reprobation. 

If  he  listens  to  Luther,  Calvin  damns  him  irremediably,  for  allowing 
himself  to  be  seduced  by  "  the  detestable  error  of  the  Real  Presence." 
Apostles  of  the  Lord  agree  then  among  yourselves  !  You  both  tell  me, 
take  and  read,  here  is  the  book  of  life,  the  bread  of  truth,  the  manna  of 
the  desert.  I  listen  to  you,  and  your  word  throws  my  soul  into  an 
abyss  of  doubts.— Who  then  will  cause  to  shine  ''that  first  star  of  day," 
as  Calvin  calls  his  gospel. $ 

"I  will"  says  Osiander,  "but  accept  my  essential  justice." 

"  I  will,"  says  Calvin,  "but  reject  the  justice  of  the  heretic  Osiander, 
and  accept  my  gratuitous  justice." 

"  I  will,"  says  Melancthon,  "but  remain  in  the  papacy,  for  the 
church  must  have  a  visible  head." 

"  I  will,"  says  Calvin,  "but  reject  the  pope,  the  prince  of  darkness, 
the  anti-christ  of  flesh  and  bone." 

"  I  will,"  says  Luther,  "but  believe  that  with  your  lips  you  receive 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ." 

"I  will,"  says  Calvin,  "but  believe  that  your  mouth  only  touches 
the  symbols  of  the  flesh  and  blood,  and  that  faith  alone  has  the  power 
to  transform  them  into  reality." 

W^here  then  did  the  first  star  of  day,  announced  by  John  of  Noyon, 
stop  in  its  course? 

"  At  Zurich,"  says  Zwingle. 

"At  Bale,"  says  (Ecolampadius. 

"At  Strasbourg,"  says  Buccr. 

"At  Wittenberg,"  says  Luther. 

"At  Neuchatel,"  says  Farel. 

*Luthcr's  Tisch-Redcn,  or  Tablc-Talk. 
t  Hoc  doleo  tantum  quod  abreptus  nobis  sis,  quodque  alter  loquens  Cnlvinus, 
nempe  Institutio  Christiana  ad   nos  non  pervcnint.     Invideo   Germaniae,  quia 
quod  illaassequi  non  possumus. — Manuscrits  de  Gotha. 

:}:  Aux  fideles  de  Geneve  durant  la  dissipation  de  reglise. 


LIFE    OF    JOHM    CALVIN.  CS 

But  in  what  Bible  shall  I  read  the  word  of  God? 

"In  Luther's  Bible,"  says  Hans  Luflft,  his  printer. 

<'In  the  Geneva  Bible,"  say  Calvin  and  Theodore  Beza. 

*•'  In  the  Bible  of  Zurich,"  exclaims  Leo  Judae. 

"In  the  Bible  of  Bale,"  answers  (Ecolampadius. 

"In  truth,"  says  Beza,  "the  translation  of  Bale  is  pitiful,  and  in 
many  passages  offensive  to  the  Holy  Spirit."* 

"  Cursed  be  the  Geneva  translation,"  says  -the  colloquy  of  Hamp- 
toncourt,  "  it  is  the  worst  that  exists."! 

"  Be  on  your  guard,"  says  Calvin,  "against  the  Bible  of  Zwingle, 
it  is  poison;  for  Zwingle  has  written  'that  Paul  did  not  recognize  his 
epistles  as  holy,  infallible  scripture,  and  that  immediately  after  they  had 
been  written,  they  had  no  authority  among  the  Apostles.'  "| 

What  will  Francis  I.  do?  If  he  accept  the  Christian  Institutes  as  a 
book  of  truth,  behold  what  he  must  henceforward  believe,  and  with  him 
his  court,  his  children,  and  his  very  christian  kingdom,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain eternal  life: 

"That  just  as  the  will  of  God  is  the  sole  reason  for  the  election  of 
men,  so  the  same  will  is  the  cause  of  their  reprobation.  §" 

"That  the  fall  of  the  children  of  Adam  comes  from  God:  a  horrible 
decree!  But  no  one  can  call  into  doubt  that  God,  from  all  eternity 
foresaw  and  sealed  beforehand  the  end  which  man  is  to  have.  ||" 

"'  That  for  certain  reasons,  to  us  unknown,  God  wills  that  man 
-should  fall," 


*.  .  .  Dasz  sie  in  vielenSachen  gottlos,  und  derMeinungdes  heiligenGiestes 
ganzlich  zuwider  seye.     R.  P.  Dez.  S.  J.  in  reunione  Protest,  p.  480, 

tDasz  unter  alien  Dollmelschungen,  die  bis  zu  der  Zeit  heraus  gekommen, 
die  Genfische  die  allerschlimmste  und   untreueste  ware.     R.  P.  Dez.  loc.  cit. 

if  Ignorantia  vestra  est  quod  putatis  cum  Paulus  hsec  scriberet,  evangelis- 
tarum  commentarios,  et  epistolas  apostolorum  eliam  in  manibus  apostolorum 
atque  authoritate  fuisse,  quasi  vero  Paulus  epistolis  suis  et  jam  tunc  tribuerit 
ut  quidquid  in  eis  contineretur  sancto  sanctum  asset.  Zwingl.  t.  II.  op.  contra 
Catabapt.  fol.  10.  Some  of  the  reformers  doubt  of  the  salvation  of  Zwingle: 
Ipsum  in  peccatis  mortuum  et  prohinde  gehennse  filium  esse  pronunciare  non 
verentur. — Gualt.  in  Apol.  pro  Zwinglio  et  operibus  ejus,  initio  primi  tomi  op, 
Zwingl.,  fol.  18. 

Unst.  lib.  3.  ch.  22,  Ul. 

II  lb.  i  7.  Let  us  listen  to  a  Protestant :  "  There  is  scarcely  a  dogma  which 
Protestants  reformed  with  consent  more  unanimous,  than  that  concerning 
grace  and  predestination.  But  this  concord  did  not  endure,  whether  because 
it  was  a  state  a  little  too  violent  for  the  littleness  of  our  minds,  which,  not  being 
able  to  elevate  themselves  to  God,  were  pleased  to  bring  God  down  to  man; 
or  because  it  was  thought  more  proper  to  expound  the  dogmatic  expressions 
of  the  sacred  writers  by  their  popular  expressions,  than  to  explain  the  popular 
by  the  dogmatic;  or  finally,  because  they  had  other  views  and  other  motives. 
Discord  therefore  introduced  itself  among  Protestants,  for  there  are  some  who 
attribute  the  salvation  of  man,  not  to  the  eternal  decree  of  predestination,  but 
to  the  good  use  which  he  makes  of  the  grace  which  God  gives  him." 

De  I'etat  de  I'homme  apres  lepeche,  et  de  sa  predestination  au  salut:  ofi  Ton 
examine  les  sentimens  communs  et  o6  I'on  explique  ce  que  PEcriture  Saintc 
nous  en  dit.  A  Amsterdam  chez  H-enri  Desbordes  dans  le  Kalver-Straat,  1684. 
in  12mo. 

8 


85  LIFE    OF    JOim    CALVIH. 

"  That  the  incest,  by  -which  Absalom  defiled  his  father's  bed,  wais  the 
work  of  God."* 

'•  That  God  sends  the  devil  with  command  to  be  a  lying  spirit  in  the 
mouth  of  the  prophets. "t 

Desolating  doctrines!  which  the  reformation  has  not  entirely  aban- 
doned,:]: and  which  would  take  away  from  man  his  liberty,  chain  him  irre- 
mediably to  evil,  and  make  the  crimes  of  the  creature  proceed  from  the 
Creator !  What  judge,  with  Calvin's  gospel  in  his  hand,  could  con- 
demn the  criminal  who  should  say  to  him  ''it  is  written  in  these  Hnes 
by  our  apostle,  that  the  incest  of  Absalom  is  the  work  of  God,  I  have 
not  defiled  his  image,  he  has  himself  profaned  it;  I  am  innocent!" 

•'Now  let  Beza  place  this  work  upon  the  brow  of  the  reformation, 
as  a  crown  of  glory,  and  exclaim:  "To  thee  particularly,  and  to  thy 
doctrine  and  zeal,  are  France  and  Scotland  indebted  for  the  re-establish- 
ment of  Christ  in  their  midst;  the  other  churches,  niomerously  dispersed 
through  the  whole  world,  confess  that  they  owe  thee  much  on  this  ac- 
count. Let  thy  books  be  the  first  Vv^itnesses  of  this,  and  especially  the 
present  work  of  the  Christian  Institutes,  and  which  all  learned  and 
God  fearing  men  admit  to  be  of  an  understanding  so  excellent,  an  eru- 
dition so  solid,  a  style  so  elegant,  that  they  shoiild  not  know  where  to 
point  out  a  man,  who,  up  to  this  time  has  more  dextcyously  expounded 
the  holy  scriptures;  and  for  another  band  of  witnesses,  behold  the 
furious  mataeologues,  or  vain  babblers,  sworn  enemies  of  the  truth  of 
God,  who  have  frothed  with  all  their  rage  against  thee,  before  and  after 
thy  death.  Do  thou  with  Jesus  Christ,  thy  master,  enjoy  in  the  mean- 
time, the  rewards  with  which  he  recompenses  his  faithful  servants. 
And  do  you,  churches  of  the  Son  of  God,  continue  to  learn  from  the 
books  of  this  great  doctor,  who,  although  his  mouth  be  closed,  never- 
theless, in  spite  of  envy,  continues  to  teach  us  to  the  present  day?"§ 

Had  the  court  embraced  the  doctrines  of  The  Institutes,  the  church 
of  Notre  Dame,  converted  into  a  Protestant  meeting-house,  could  not 
have  contained  a  single  specimen  of  each  variety  of  the  sects,  which; 
have  had  their  birth  beneath  the  sun  of  this  new  gospel.  Bossuet,  had 
he  then  lived,  would  never  have  dared  undertake  his  admirable  history 
of  the  Variations. 

Servetus  had  read,  in  the  Institutes,  Calvin's  explanation  of  the  dogmas 
of  the  Trinity  ;  he  had  been  but  little  satisfied  with  it,  inasmuch  as  he 
still  continued  to  write  concerning  this  mystery.  His  eyes  had  fallen 
upon  the  lines  where  Calvin  teaches  that  the  christian  soul,  if  forbid- 
den by  the  church  to  live  in  intimacy  with  sinners,  ought,  in  order  to 
reclaim  them  from  error,  to  try  exhortations,   mildness,  prayers,  tears, 

♦  Absalon  incesto  coitu  patris  torum  polluens  detestabilo  scclus  pcrpetrat; 
Dous  tamcn  hoc  opus  suum  esse  pronunciat.     Inst.  Christ.  18.  ^  1. 

t  Inst.  Chr.  ch.  13  H- 

1  It  is  manifest,  says  Jurioii,  that  God  is  the  first  author  of  all  evils,  and  if 
we  speak  sincerely,  wo  sliall  admit  that  nothing  can  be  replied  for  God,  which 
will  impose  silence  on  the  human  mind.  Examen  de  la  theologie  de  M.  Ju- 
rieu,  par  Elie  Saurln,  paslcur  dc  I'Eglise  Wallonne  d'Utrecht.  2  vol.,  La  Haye 
1694,  in  8vo. 

t  Beaa.  in  the  preface  of  his  odition  of  Calvin's  opuscules. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIJT.  87 

even  t1a©ugk  t5sey  shoiald  be  Turks  or  Saracens,  and  Servetus  had  been 
itenderly  atiected,  and  had  blessed  the  writer.*  At  a  later  period,  shut  up 
in  the  prison  of  Geneva,  lying  upon  straw,  devoured  by  vermin,  he  re- 
called these  beautiful  words  of  the  Institutes,  and  felt  a  hope  that 
the  lips  which  had  let  them   fall,    would   never  pronounce,  against  a 

christian,  a  sentence   of  death Unhappy   wretch,    who  knew 

not  the  heart  of  his  judge  !  The  Spaniard  died,  and  the  edition  which 
followed  the  punishment  of  the  heretic,  came  forth,  revised,  corrected, 
and  purged  of  those  passages,  which  might  have  arrayed  themselves  as  a 
condemnation  of  the  prosecutor,  judge,  and  executioner. f 

The  Christian  Institutes  shared  the  fate  of  the  Augsburg  Confession. 
Both,  it  is  known,  were,  on  their  first  appearance,  regarded  as  the  in- 
spiration 0/  the  Holy  Spirit.  At  each  edition,  the  Holy  Spirit  of  the 
reformation,  corrected,  revised,  and  remodeled  his  theme  with  the  docil- 
ity of  a  school-boy ;  he  listesied  to  the  sage  or  fooUsh  criticisms  of  the 
learned  wcrld,  and  with  his  wing  now  effaced  a  passage,  which  gave 
displeasure  to  some  eo-religionists,  now  a  phrase  or  chapter,  which  need- 
ed more  illumination  ;  substituted  for  a  badly  understood  text,  one  that 
had  been  more  profoundly  studied  ;  adroitly  removed  a  chapter  ;  flash- 
ed out  a  few  rays  of  anger,  that  there  might  be  no  doubt  of  his  having 
passed  that  way :  and  left  untroubled  all  the  insults  with  which  he  had 
inspired  the  copyist  against  the  Pope  and  the  papacy.  The  Catholics 
amused  tkemse!j^'es  at  the  expense  of  tliese  revolutions  in  doctrine,  for 
example,  on  the  subject  of  the  Eucharist,  of  Grace,  and  Free-will. 
But  the  disciples  had  an  air  not  to  understand  criticism,  and  continued 
io  affirm,  with  virginal  candor,  that  their  father  had  never  changed  any 
ihing  in  the  doctrines  which  he  delivered.!}:  Calvin  is  himself  more 
worthy  of  belief;  he  has  recognized  the  labour  of  the  file  and  stylus. 
*'.  .  .  As  to  the  first  edition  of  this  work^  1  did  n<>t  expect  that  it  was  to 
be  so  well  received,  as  God,  in  his  inestimable  goodness,  has  willed  : 
consulting  brevity,  t  had  acquitted  myself  ioo  lightly.  But  havin^i: 
knov/n,  with  time,  that  it  has  been  received  with  such  favour,  as  I  should 
not  have  presumed  to  desire,  (far  less  to  expect,)  I  have  felt  myself 
compelled  to  acquit  myself  better  and  more  fully,  towards  those  who 
receive  my  doctrine  with  so  great  affection,  for  it  would  be  ingratitude 
in  me  not  to  satisfy  their  desire,  as  far  as  my  littleness  will  allow. — • 
Wherefore,  I  have  tried  to  do  ray  duty  in  this,  not  only  when  said  book 
firas  printed  the  second  iime,  but  every  time;    and  whenever  it  has  been 


*  .  .  .  Familiar) us  vef sari  aut  interiorem  consuctudinem  habere  non  licet; 
clebemus  tamen  contendere  sive  exhortatione,  sive  doctrina,  sive  dementia  ac. 
Cfiansuetisdine,  sive  nostrisad  Deum  preclbus,  ut  admeliorem  frugem  eonvers'i 
in  societatem  ac  unitatem  ecclesise  so  reelpinnt.  Neque  ii  modo  sic  tractandi 
sunt,  se(STurc^  quoque,  ac  Sarraeeni,  eoeterique  religionis  hostes.  p.  147. 

t  Cseterum  editio  hfBc  ,  .  .  .  notatu  digna  est  propterea  quod  loca  plurima, 
<^U8B  de  ferendis  hsereticis  agant,  in  qmbusquo  Calvinus  mitius  senseratcom- 
plcctiturs  quae  quideml.»ca  in  posteri©ribus,  iisque  imprimis,  qua?  post  suppl'* 
<eium  Servefi  exierant,  editionlbus,  i^uod  supprime«da  ea  Calvinus  putavit, 
frustra  imvestigaris.     Liebe,  Pseudonymia  Calvlni,  p.  =27. 

t  In  dodriiiaa  quam  initio  tradidit  ad  extremum  constnns  nihil  prorsus  immB- 
tav'Ue  <ja«dpau£as  nostra  ro£m.oria  thcOiUgis  <cojitigit,    Beza,  Vita,  Calv. 


88  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

reprinted,  it  has  been  somewhat  augmented  and  enriched.  Now,  al- 
though I  had  no  occasion  to  be  dissatisfied  with  the  labour  I  had  done, 
yet  I  confess  that  I  have  never  been  myself  contented,  until  I  have 
brought  it  into  the  order  in  which  you  now  see  it,  and  I  can  allege,  for 
good  approval,  that  I  have  not  spared  myself  in  serving  the  church  of 
God  in  this  place  the  most  zealously  that  for  me  is  possible ;  in  this, 
that  last  winter  being  menaced  with  death,  by  the  quartan  fever,  the 
more  my  sickness  ui-ged,  the  less  I  spared  myself,  in  order  to  perfect  the 
work,  that  living  afte'r  my  death,  it  should  show  how  much  I  desired 
to  satisfy  those  who  had  so  much  profited  by  it.  I  would  have  wished 
to  do  this  sooner  ;  but  it  will  be  soon  enough,  if  well  enough.  Now, 
the  devil  with  all  his  band,  is  greatly  mistaken,  if  he  thinks  to  cast  me 
down  or  discourage  me  by  charging  me  with  falsehoods  so  frivolous." 

The  devil,  with  his  band,  meant  no  other  than  the  Catholic  writers, 
who  had  a  little  too  bitterly  shown  up  the  variations  of  Calvin,  and 
dared  call  in  question  the  theological  value  of  the  book  of  Institutes. 
The  reformed  polemics,  in  traversing  the  Rhine  to  come  from  Witten- 
berg to  Paris,  have  not  changed  their  forms  of  language.  At  Noyon,. 
as  at  Erfurth,  it  is  a  thing  decided,  that  the  devil  has  covered  himself 
with  the  tiara  in  the  person  of  Leo  X.  or  Adrian  VI.,  and  that  his  imps 
have  put  on  violet  robes,  by  taking  possession  of  Sadolet,  bishop  of 
Carpentras,  of  Petit,  bishop  of  Paris,  and  of  Nicolai,  bishop  of  Apt. 

Not  long  since,  disputing  against  the  Anabaptists,  Calvin  said  :  "In 
fact,  I  have  always  avoided  insulting  and  biting  words."  The  Catho- 
lics are  less  fortunate  :  he  likens  them  to  monkeys,  and  compares  their 
mass  to  the  Grecian  Helen. 

"  The  papistical  ceremonies,"  says  he,  "correspond  with  the  thing. 
Our  Lord,  in  sending  his  Apostles  to  preach  the  gospel,  breathed  on 
them.  By  which  sign  he  represented  the  virtue  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  he  put  in  them.  These  good,  simple  men  have  retained  the 
breathing,  and,  as  if  they  vomited  the  Holy  Ghost  from  their  throats,  they 
murmur  over  their  priests,  whom  they  ordain,  saying:  receive  ye  the 
Holy  Ghost.  They  are  so  given,  that  they  leave  nothing  which  they 
do  not  perversely  counterfeit  :  I  do  not  say  like  mountebanks  and  farce 
players, — who  have  some  art  and  manner  in  their  doings, — but  like 
monkeys,  who  are  frisking  about  and  trying  to  ape  everything,  without 
propriety  or  discretion.  Also,  they  say  :  look  at  the  example  of  our 
Lord  ;  but  our  Lord  has  done  many  things  which  he  does  not  wish  to 
be  imitated.  He  said  to  his  disciples:  receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  He 
also  said,  on  the  other  hand,  to  Lazarus  :  Lazarus,  come  forth.  He 
said  to  the  paralytic  :  arise,  and  walk ;  why  do  not  they  say  the  same 
to  all  the  dead  and  palsied  ?*" 

"  Certes,  Satan  never  devised  a  more  powerful  machine  for  combat- 
ing and  prostrating  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  mass  is  like  a 
Helen,  for  whom  the  enemies  of  truth  to-day  wage  battle  with  such  great 

*  Inst.  1.  4,  ch.  19,  p.  1221,  edit.  Lyons,  1565. — "In  askin<T  miracles  of  us» 
thoy  are  unrcnsonable.  For  we  do  not  forge  our  gospel,  but  wc  retain  that,  in 
favour  of  which  M'cre  performed  all  the  miracles  operated  by  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  Apostles." — Dedication  to  Francis  I. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


$9 


credulity,  with  such  great  fury,  and  with  such  great  rage.  And  verily,  it 
is  a  HeJen  with  whom  they  thus  commit  spiritual  fornication,  which  is 
of  all  the  most  execrable.  I  do  not  here  touch,  only  with  my  little 
finger,  the  heavy  and  gross  abuses  by  which  it  could  be  proved  that  the 
purity  of  their  cursed  mass  has  been  profaned  and  corrupted.  We 
should  know  how  many  villainous  bargains  and  trades  they  make;  how 
many  illicit  and  dishonest  gains,  such  sacrificators  acquire  by  their 
masses ;  with  what  great  robbery  they  gratify  their  avarice."* 

To-day,  the  Christian  Institutes  are  definitively  judged  at  the  bar  of 
criticism.  It  is  a  factum  of  some  thousands  of  pages,  in  which  the 
author  desired  to  give  a  body  and  soul  to  what  was  then  called  the  re- 
formation. To  demonstrate  that  Protestantism  was  not  born  yesterday, 
the  writer  has  recourse,  first,  to  the  Bible,  which  he  bends  to  his 
own  caprices;  next,  to  the  Catholic  fathers  ;  so  that  if  you  lis- 
ten to  him,  his  word  should  be  nothing  but  an  echo  of  that  of  the 
Ireneuses,  the  Pothiuses,  the  Augustines,  the  Cyprians,  and  even  of 
Jerome,  whose  soul  was,  by  Luther,  valued  at  so  little,  that  it  is  well 
known  he  would  not  give  six  goulden  for  it.t  Is  it  not  strange,  to  see 
Calvin  seriously  maintain,  that  our  fathers  of  the  primitive  church  pro- 
fessed the  same  opinions  with  himself,  in  regard  to  the  symbolical 
presence,  whilst  Luther,  with  all  the  Greeks  and  all  the  Catholics, 
avails  himself  of  the  same  doctors,  to  prove,  against  the  Sacramentari- 
ans,  that  the  dogma  of  the  real  presence  has  always  been  taught  in  the 
church  ?  Where  then  is  the  falsification  to  be  found  ?  Calvin  also 
pretends  that  his  ideas,  concerning  predestination,  works,  grace,  and 
justification,  are  those  of  our  great  Catholic  writers.  But  why  then 
does  he  not  vindicate  their  memory,  outraged  by  Luther  ?  Why  does 
he  not  open  the  gates  of  heaven  to  them,  in  place  of  leaving  them  in 
those  dwellings  of  fire  in  which  they  were  buried  by  the  apostle  of 
Germany,  his  father  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  he  calls  him?  This  church, 
then,  was  not  so  miserable  as  he  pretended,  inasmuch  as  in  it  were  taught 
the  dogmas  which  he  resuscitates,  in  order  to  reproduce  them  by  the 
sound  of  his  voice  ?  Thanks,  then,  Calvin  !  thanks  to  thy  book,  we 
may  acknowledge  all  the  glories  of  our  religion,  given  up,  as  they  had 
been,  to  the  ridicule  of  the  drinkers  of  Thorgau  beer.  Cyprian,  Au. 
gustine,  Lactantius,  and  thou,  too,  Jerome, — ye  all  enjoy  the  sight  of 
God  !    It  is  Calvin  himself  who  honors  you  with  the  name  of  Saints. 

There  is  nothing  new  in  this  much  vaunted  book  of  the  Institutes, 
All  the  disputes  excited  by  Eck,  Prierias,  Miltitz,  and  Cajetan,  are  here 
again  agitated,  but  without  life,  without  impulse,  without  eclat.  Calvin 
resumes  the  discussion  concerning  the  Pope's  supremacy,  at  the  point 
where  Luther  left  it  in  his  duel  with  Eck,  and  without  rejuvinating  it 
by  the  power  of  his  word.  It  is  perceptible  that  he  has  only  studied  it 
under  one  of  its  phases,  in  the  very  terms  laid  down  by  Luther,  without 
concerning  himself  with  the  logic  of  his  adversary.  It  was  not  thus 
he  should  have  proceeded ;  the  learned  world  expected  something  else 
from  the  pupil  of  Alciati.     Sometimes  he   excites  the  curiosity  of  the 

»  Inst,  page  1196.  cd.  de  Lyons,  1565.  tLuther's  Table-TaJk. 

a* 


9t)  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

reader,  by  setting  forth,  in  magnificent  terms,  an  objection  ivhicli  he  h 
about  to  resolve  and  pulverize  :  for  example,  when  there  is  question 
concerning  the  double  will  in  God ;  the  one,  in  virtue  of  which  He 
orders,  by  secret  counsel,  what,  by  the  other,  the  public  law,  He  has 
forbidden.*  Thereader  rouses  himself  and  is  interested;  then  suddenly, 
this  master  of  christian  doctrines  lets  fall  words  of  impotence,  and  can- 
didly confesses  that  the  mind  could  not  be  able  to  conceive  this  phe- 
nominal  dualism. f 

However,  as  a  literary  production,  the  Christian  Institutes  merit 
some  praise.  If  the  theologian  looses  himself  amid  the  obscurities  of 
his  argumentation,  the  writer  gives  out  some  beautiful  corruscations. 
We  must  go  back  even  to  Calvin  to  understand  the  transformations  of 
our  idiom.  Though  separated  from  the  Catholic  church,  one  may  still 
belong  to  the  republic  of  letters,  and  the  heterodoxy  of  Calvin  should 
not  prevent  us  from  lauding  in  him  the  writer's  skill,  and  the  rhetori- 
cian's phraseological  facility.  One  is,  at  times,  in  admiration,  while 
reading  the  dedication  to  Francis  I.,  and  some  of  the  chapters  of  this 
treatise,  to  behold  with  what  docility  the  material  sign  obeys  the  ca- 
prices of  the  writer.  Never  does  the  proper  word  fail  him.  He  calls 
it,  and  it  comes.  It  is  Job's  horse,  which  runs  and  stands  in  obedience 
to  the  least  impulse  of  the  rider  ;  only  the  scholar's  caparison  never 
frisks  or  emits  flames.  Antiquity  is  reflected  in  the  Institutes.  From 
Seneca,  Calvin  has  stolen  a  numerous  period;  from  Tacitus,  certain 
rudenesses  of  style;  from  Virgil,  frequently  a  honey  quite  poetic.  Tlie 
study  of  the  Roman  law  has  furnished  him  with  the  severe  forms  of 
language,  a  clear  and  precise  expression,  but,  unfortunately,  it  is  one 
also  too  often  dry  and  barren.  It  is  a  defect,  which  he  candidly  ac- 
knowledges,  when  speaking  of  Saint  Augustine,  whose  prolixity  dis- 
pleased him,  and,  as  he  said,  obscured  the  streams  of  light  which  the 
doctor  spread  over  his  writings. :|. 

We  shall,  farther  on,  have  occasion  to  estimate  the  author  of  the 
Christian  Institutes,  as  a  writer. 

*  Inst.  lib.  1.  cap.  18.  k  8.  t  Mcthodc  de  card.  Richelieu,  p.  311. 

^  Scis  quam  rcvercnter  de  Augustino  sontiam.  Quin  tamen  ejus  prolixitns 
inil)i  disprc:'at,  nou  dissimulo.  Intcroa  forte  brevitas  niea  niniis  conscisa  est; 
sed  ego  in  |)rffisentia  non  disputo  quid  sit  optimum.  Nam  ideo  fidem  ipso 
mihi  non  liabeo,  quod  dum  naturam  meam  sequor  niihi  veniam  dari  malo  quam 
alios  improbare.  Tantum  vcrcor  no  ct  stylus  aliquantum  pcrplexus  et  longior 
tructatio  obscurent  ea  lumina  quae  ego  illic  conspicio.  Ep*  Mss.  Gen.  Culvo. 
Sopt.,  1549.  Farello. 


CHAPTER  IX 


CALVIif  AT  FEERARA. 1536. 


Italy  is  faithfxjl  to  the  forms  of  religion. — Calvin  at  Ferrara. — Ariosto  — Cal- 
gagnini. — Marot. — The  Duchess  of  Ferrara. — Calvin  is  compelled  to  leave 
Ferrara. — Epistolary  correspondence  with  the  Duchess. 

The  reformation  has,  at  all  times,  misunderstood  the  genius  of  na- 
tions. When  Luther,  for  the  first  time,  enterenl  Rome,  his  soul  tho- 
roughly German,  saw  nothing  in  its  wonderful  spectacle  of  festivals, 
churches  and  museums,  but  the  revival  of  the  follies  of  paganism.  He 
thought  himself  transported  into  the  Rome  of  the  Caesars.  Child  of  the 
north,  in  his  fancy  he  contrasted  the  splendours  of  the  Italian  ritual 
with  the  ceremonies  of  his  own  church  of  All-Saints,  and  he  believed 
that  truth  should  be  clad  in  coarse  cloth,  and  not  vested  with  stuffs, 
glittering  with  rubies.  He  was  not  far  enough  initiated  in  the  science 
of  x^sthetics,  and  did  not  sufficiently  comprehend  the  mysterious  and 
antique  harmonies  of  the  Latin  liturgy,  with  the  bright  skies  which 
served  as  a  pavilion  for  Rome.  A  land,  whose  suns  are  so  ardent, 
whose  auroras  are  so  brilliant,  whose  perspectives  are  so  transparent, 
and  whose  atmosphere  is  so  luminous,  must  have  temples  of  marble, 
altars  of  porphyry,  chalices  of  gold,  and  sacerdotal  robes  sparkling  with 
precious  stones.  A  people  marching  upon  the  Appian  way,  amid 
mausoleums,  temples,  trophies  of  sea-fights,  baths,  aqueducts,  works 
of  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  chisel,  will  never  consent  to  place  their 
God  beneath  a  roof  of  straw.  To  compel  them  to  renounce  their 
gorgeous  ritual,  you  must  first  do  two  things;  you  must  give  them  an- 
other nature  and  other  skies.  The  seductions  of  the  Saxon  word  would 
have  succumbed  before  these  obstacles.  At  a  later  period,  Luther  was 
at  last  able  to  understand,  that  truth  could  not  exact  the  sacrifice  of  the 
material  inclinations  of  a  people,  and  he  pleaded  very  eloquently  in 
behalf  of  images,  against  Carlstadt, — that  undisciplined  soldier  ^f  the 
reformation, — who  desired  their  banishment  from  the  christian  temple. 
It  is  true,  that  the  voice  of  Erasmus,  in  tones  of  wrath,  had  denounced 
to  Germany  this  assault  on  matter,  idealized  by  the  hand  of  man.* 

Calvin  had  not  yet  heard  him,  when  he  composed  his  Institutes,  in 
which  he  devoted  images  to  the  indignation  of  the  christian  soul.     He 

*  Erasmi  epistols  passim.  Erasmus  called  the  books  of  Carlstadt,  insulsis- 
simos  libros.  Ep.  adv.  minist,  Arg. 


92  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

was  under  the  dominion  of  Carlstadian  ideas,  at  the  epoch  of  his  de- 
parture from  Bale  for  Ferrara,  towards  the  end  of  March,  1536.* 

Ferrara  was  a  city  of  monks  and  literati,  from  the  midst  of  which 
arose  a  marble  palace,  which  had  received  the  title  of  the  palace  of 
diamonds.  It  was  enveloped  in  an  enclosure  of  gardens,  embellished 
or  created  by  Hercules  d'Est.  Jt  was  the  habitation  of  the  muses,  the 
asylum  of  the  learned,  the  rendezvous  of  artists,  attracted  from  all  quar- 
ters, by  the  reputation  of  Ariosto.  Happy  land !  which  the  chanter  of 
Roland  could  never  summon  up  sufficient  resolution  to  abandon  ! 

"  Let  him,  who  wishes,  over-run  the  world,"  did  he  say,  "let  him  go 
to  France,  Hungary,  England,  Spain ;  as  to  myself,  I  have  seen  Tus- 
cany, Lombardy,  and  Romagna ;  I  have  seen  the  Apennines,  the  Alps, 
and  the  two  seas,  is  not  this  sufficient  ?     I  remain  at  Ferrara. "f 

Chi  vuol  andare  a  torno,  a  torno  vada, 

Vcgga  Inghilterra,  Ungheria,  Francia  e  Spagna. 

A  me  place  habitat  la  niia  contrada.  .  .  . 

Ariosto's  abode  was  small,  neat,  resplendent.  The  poet  had  purchased 
it  with  means  furnished  by  the  generosity  of  his  patrons.  It  might  be 
seen  from  afar,  perched  upon  a  hill,  whence  the  eye  could  command  the 
city,  wrapped  up  in  the  ample  folds  of  its  churches  and  monasteries. 
On  the  door  were  read  these  two  Latin  verses,  the  improvisation  of 
Ariosto: 

Parva  sed  apta  mihi,  sed  nulli  obnoxia,  scd  non 
'  Sordida,  parta  meo,  sed  tamen  sere  domus. 

Almost  beside  it  arose  the  habitation  of  Calcagnini,  whose  rent  was 
paid  by  the  prince,  and  where  the  occupant, — poet,  theologian,  antiqua- 
ry and  archaiologist, — passed  his  time  in  decyphering  hieroglyphics,  in 
making  Latin  verses,  and  writing  dissertations  on  the  Bible. 

Near  the  church  of  the  Benedictines  stood  the  abode  of  that  painter, 
who  was  such  a  lover  of  form,  that  he  depicted  the  devil  with  the  visage 
of  Antinous,  the  eyes  of  an  archangel,  and  the  tresses  of  a  young 
maiden  : 

-Gia  un  pittor,  non  ml  rccordo  il  nomo, 


Che  dipingere  il  diavolo  solea 

Con  bel  viso,  begli  occhi  e  belle  chiome. 

Ar.  Sat    5. 

But  the  finest  ornament  of  Ferrara,  at  that  epoch,  was  the  duchess, 
the  daughter  of  Louis  XII.,  still  young,  and  acquainted  with  history, 
the  languages,  the  mathematics,  astrology,  and  a  sufficiency  of  theolo- 
gy for  a  disputation  with  a  licentiate.  Like  Margaret  of  Navarre,  she 
leaned  towards  the  new  doctrines, — less  because  of  any  attractions  of 
heart,  than  because  of  her  hatred  of  the  tiara ; — ''resenting,"  says 
Brantome,  "the  wrongs  in  so  many  respects  done  to  the  king,  her  father, 
by  the  Popes,  Julius  II.  and  Leo  X.,  whose  power  she  denied,  refusing 

•  Paul  Henry,  f.  1.  p.  153.  t  Ariosto,  satire  4, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  93 

obedience,  not  being  able  to  do  worse,  inasmuch  as  she  was  but  a 
woman.* 

Now,  to  visit  the  duchess,  and  not  to  inflame  his  genius  by  the  sun  of 
Italy,  Calvin  undertook  this  long  pilgrimage,  alone,  and  a  part  of  the 
way,  on  foot.  He  has  left  us  no  account  of  this  journey;  we  know 
not  if,  like  Luther,  he  still  remained  cold  while  gazing  upon  that  city 
so  richly  embellished  by  the  arts.  He  came  there  to  disseminate  his 
doctrines,  under  the  name  of  Charles  Despeville,t  forgetting  that  the 
Saxon  monk  did  not  change  his  name,  when  he  set  out  from  Wittenberg 
for  Worms.  At  the  court  of  Ferrara,  Calvin  found  madame  de  Sou- 
bisse,  her  daughter,  Anne  de  Partenay,  and  her  son  John,  who  after- 
wards become  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Protestant  party.  J 

There  also  lived  Marot,  secretary  of  the  duchess,  who  must  needs, 
with  all  his  force,  deal  in  theology.  He  was  then  engaged  in  translat- 
ing the  Psalms  into  French  verse,  although  he  understood  nothing  of 
the  language  of  the  sacred  writers;  a  fact  which,  in  his  Gascon  vanity, 
he  thought  would  be  forgotten. 

The  duchess,  in  despite  of  her  dislike  for  the  papacy,  had,  in  the  be- 
ginning  of  this  year,  made  peace  with  the  court  of  Rome.  There  was 
promise  of  good  friendship,  on  the  part  of  the  Pope,  the  Emperor,  and 
the  Duchess  of  Ferrara.  One  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty  required 
that  the  French,  whose  turbulent  disposition  was  dreaded,  should  be 
banished  from  the  states  of  Ferrara.  Marot,  therefore,  retired  to  Ven- 
ice, where,  in  a  little  dwelling,  he  forgot  the  quarrels  of  this  world,  on 
beholding  the  sun  of  the  east  come  each  morning  to  rouse  him  from  his 
slumbers.  Calvin  was  also  obliged  to  leave.  He  carried  with  him 
the  memory  of  the  welcome  he  had  received  from  the  duchess,  and  the 
hope  of  a  better  futurity  for  Italy,  which  was  not  willing  to  embrace 
his  doctrines.  Ferrara  remained  faithful  to  her  skies,  to  her  muses, 
and  to  her  creed.  Rome  had  just  been  making  her  presents  of  some 
of  the  finest  pictures  from  the  easel  of  Raphael,  Andrew  del  Sarto,  and 
Perugino.  Whilst  Calvin  was  waging  war  against  images,  tiie  Italian 
soil  was  every  where  opening  to  present  to  view  the  statues  of  the  gods, 
which  had  been  there  sleeping  for  so  many  centuries.  The  Catholic 
muse  assisted  at  this  waking  up  of  matter,  and  chanted  it  in  every  lan- 
guage. Fortunate  it  was,  that  the  triumphant  reformation  was  not  there 
10  close  the  tomb  again,  and  seal  it  forever  ! 

We  have  under  our  eye,  a  life  of  Calvin,  by  a  minister  of  the  Evan- 
gelical, Church  of  Berlin.  We  are  precisely  at  that  page,  where  the 
author  of  the  Institutes  is  leaving  Italy,  to  return  to  Noyon,  whose 
cemetery  encloses  all  that  he  should  have  held  most  dear  in  the  world. 
For,  his  father  is  no  more ;  his  mother  too,  is  dead,  and  the  ashes  of 
the  good  abbe  Hangest  have  long  since  been  cold.  We  were  waiting 
for  Calvin  at  the  hour,  when  he  is  about  to  set  foot  on  that  dear  soil, 
which  ever  makes  the  exile's  bosom  leap  with  emotion.     We  called  to 

*■■  Moreri.  art.  Renee  de  France.  fOne  of  the  pseudo-names  of  Calvin. 

\  "He  received  the  most  distinguished  attentions  from  the  duchess,  who  was 
confirmed  in  the  Protestant  faith  bv  his  instructions."     Th.  M'Crie. 


94 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


mind  that  humble  cemetery  where  Luther,  the  evening  before  his  entry 
into  Worms,  goes  to  kneel  on  ihe  stone  which  covers  the  body  of  a 
poor  brother  whom  lie  had  loved  tenderly.  The  monk,  at  that  time, 
forgets  the  Pope  and  emperors,  and  thinks  only  of  weeping  the  loss  of 
his  friend.  At  Noyon  reposed  remains  far  more  precious  for  Calvin. 
Two  wooden  crosses  stood  erect ;  on  one,  might  be  read  the  name  of 
his  father,  on  the  other,  that  of  his  mother;  he  did  not  visit  this  holy 
place.  He  said  nothing  of  it,  at  least,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  one  of 
his  friends.  He  did  not  weep,  therefore  ;  or  if  he  wept,  he  concealed 
his  tears,  as  he  would  have  done  a  bad  action.  He  was  right,  perhaps, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  reformation  :  for,  in  his  Christian  Institutes,  he  con- 
demns the  commemoration  of  All-Souls, — the  festival  on  which  the 
church  sings  their  glorious  combats  upon  this  earth, — the  material  sign 
of  the  cross,  purgatory,  and  even  the  prayer  which  the  soul  breathes  for 
the  dead.  He  has  done  more  :  for  has  he  not  irremediably  damned  all 
those  who  have  gone  to  sleep  in  the  arms  of  Catholicism  ?  It  is  known 
that  he  exhibits  the  Pope  under  the  features  of  anti-christ,  and  that  of 
our  church  he  makes  a  harlot,  and  the  impure  lady  of  Babylon.  Now, 
the  mother  Avho  nursed  him,  the  father  who  supported  him,  the  abb6 
who  educated  him,  perservered  in  the  faith,  and  had  their  eyes  closed  by 
a  Catholic  priest.     Calvin,  therefore,  ought  neither  to  pray  nor  to  weep. 

During  his  stay  at  Noyon,  where  he  could  not  have  remained  un- 
known,  in  spite  of  all  his  precautions,  we  do  not  perceive  that  the  au- 
thorities even  thought  of  molesting  him.  He  is  allowed  in  quiet  to 
arrange  his  affairs,  to  sell  what  belonged  to  him.,  and  with  his  brother 
Anthony  and  his  sister  Maria,  to  make  preparations  for  his  departure  for 
Switzerland.  The  historians  of  the  reformation  party,  declare  that  his 
word  was  not  sterile  at  Noyon  ;  they  say  that  he  succeeded  in  seducing 
a  gentleman  of  Normandy,  a  judge  in  that  city,  and  others  besides,  who 
consented  to  share  his  exile,  and  depart  for  another  land.*  This  apa- 
thy of  the  authorities,  represented  by  the  reformation  as  so  cruel,  must 
fill  us  with  astonishment.     What  was  lieutenant  Morin  about  at  Paris? 

The  itinerary  of  the  little  colony  had  been  traced  by  Calvin  :  they 
were  to  pass  through  Strasbourg  and  Bale,  in  order  to  reach  Geneva; 
but,  while  Francis  I.  was  traversing  the  Alps,  with  a  view  to  conquer 
Milan,  Charles  V.  was  invading  our  provinces:  Lorraine  Avas  filled  with 
soldiers.  Calvin  thought  it  prudent  to  change  his  direction,!  and  took 
the  route  of  Savoy. !{; 

Muratori  was  mistaken,  as  remarked  by  Scnebier,§  in  causing  Cal. 
vin  to  traverse  Aoste,  after  leaving  Noyon.  He  had  visited  this  city  on 
his  way  from  Ferrara,  and  remained  there  for  some  days,  for  the  dissemi- 
nation of  his  doctrines.     It  appears  that  a  few  souls  allowed  themselves 

*  Drclincourt,  p.  47.  Paul  Henry,  p.  156.   1. 1, 

tPaul  Henry,    t.  1.  p.  156. 

:};Ex  Italia  in  Galliam  rcgressus,  rebus  suis  omnibus  ibi  compositis,  abducto- 
que   quern   unicum   supcrstitem    habebat  Ant.  Calvino    fratre,   Basileam,  vel 
Argentinam    roverti   cogitantem,    intcrclusis  aliis   itineribus  per  AUobroguinu^ 
fines,  iter  institutum  prosequi   bella   coegerunt.     Ita   factum  est  ut  Genevara 
veniret. — Bcza,  vita  Calvini,  p.  368. 

{Hist.  Litt.  de  Geneva,  in  8vo.  t.  1.  p.  82. 


hirt    OF    JOHN    CALVIK.  95 

to  be  seduced.  At  Aoste  is  shown  a  stone  pillar,  on  which  may  be 
read  the  following  inscription  in  Latin  :  "Hanc  Calvini  fuga  erexit 
anno  1541,  religionis  constantia  reparavit  anno  1771."  Calvin  was 
watched,  "and  the  wolf  was  obliged  to  quit  the  valley,  and  fly  to  Ge- 
neva."* They  might  have  inflicted  on  him  the  punishment  of  the 
scourge  or  the  galleys,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  country.  Peter 
Gazino,  bishop  of  Aoste,  was  labouring  effectively  to  repress  heresy 
throughout  the  states  of  Savoy. f 

Henceforth,  exile,  in  place  of  breaking,  served  to  strengthen  the  ties 
which  united  Calvin  and  the  duchess  of  Ferrara.  From  that  moment, 
there  existed  an  epistolary  correspondence  between  the  princess  and  the 
reformer.  The  daughter  of  Louis  XII.  was  compelled  to  seek  a  refuge 
in  France.  She  took  up  her  abode  in  the  Castle  de  Montargis,  whose 
ruins,  even  in  our  days,  so  powerfully  affect  the  soul  of  the  artist,  and 
which,  by  its  massive  grandeur,  recalled  to  the  mind  of  the  duchess  the 
diamond  palace  of  Ferrara.  At  intervals,  the  gates  of  the  castle  might 
be  seen  to  open  for  the  entrance  of  a  courier,  who  brought  to  the  ex- 
iled lady  news  from  Calvin.  The  whole  aim  of  the  theologian  was, 
to  preserve  this  royal  conquest  to  the  cause  of  the  reformation.  He 
endeavoured  to  strengthen  the  princess  against  the  assaults  of  her  hus- 
band, and  of  Orits,  the  controvertist.J  Once,  Geneva  must  have 
thought  that  the  heart  of  the  noble  lady  had  rebelled,  and  that  she  had 
returned  to  Catholicism.  Calvin,  in  a  little  note,  allowed  some  words 
of  sadness  and  fear  to  escape  from  his  pen.  "They  give  me  very  sad 
news  :  they  say  that  the  duchess  of  Ferrara  has  yielded  to  menaces  and 
reproaches.  How  rare  is  constancy  among  the  great  !"§  Calvin  was 
mistaken;  the  duchess,  in  that  other  Patmos,  continued  Calvin's  work, 
read  the  Bible  in  French,  cursed  anti-christ,  and  openly  favoured  the 
reformation  party. 

One  day,  the  duke  of  Guise,  who  had  espoused  Anne  d'Est,  the 
daughter  of  Renee,  intimated  to  his  mother-in-law;  that  if  she  continu- 
ed her  movements  against  the  tranquillity  of  the  state,  he  would  come 
and  besiege  her  in  her  castle  of  Montargis.  The  duchess  then  remem- 
bered that  she  was  daughter  of  Louis  XII.,  and  responded  to  the  duke's 
envoy  : 

"  Be  well  advised  as  to  what  you  are  about  to  do,  and  if  you  come 
here,  I  will  be  the  first  ii>'the  breach,  where  I  will  try  whether  you  have 
the  audacity  to  kill  the  daughter  of  a  king,  whose  death  heaven  and 
earth  would  be  obliged  to  avenge,  upon  yourself  and  all  your  line,  to 
the  very  babes  in  the  cradle."  || 

Renee  would  have  done  what  she  said  :  "for,  although  she  had  no 
very  grand  exterior,   because   of  the   deformity  of  her   body,  she  had, 


*Manel  presente  anno  veggendo  si  scoperto  questo  lupo,  se  ne  fuggi  aGine- 
vra. — Guicciardini. 

tDe  Costa,  memoires.  Hist,  sur  la  Maison  royale  de  Savoie,  etc.  t.  1.  note 
70,  p.  358.  ^  :j:De  Costa,  memoires,  hist.  t.  1.  p.  358. 

jDe  Ducissa  Ferrariensi  tristis  nuncius  ac  certlor  quam  vellem,  minis  ac  pro- 
bris  victam  cccidisse.  Quid  dicam,  nisi  rarum  in  proceribus  esse  constantiae 
exemplum? — Mss.  Goth.  Farello,  Nov.,  1554. 

||Bayle,  article,  Ferram. 


96  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIR. 

however,  a  great  deal  of  majesty."*  The  duke  of  Guise  left  her  un- 
molested in  her  castle,  where  death  soon  came  to  deliver  her  from  a 
more  unmanageable  enemy, — her  husband. 

Rente  was  unwilling  to  die  in  the  faith  of  the  paladin  Roger,  whose 
fame  was  chanted  by  Ariosto,  and  from  whom  the  house  of  Est  claims 
descent;  she  lived  and  died  semi-Lutheran,  semi-Calvinist,  but  to  the 
last  attached  to  the  veneration  of  the  Saints. 

Calvin  wrote  to  her  from  Geneva  ; 

"  I  am  aware,  madam,  how  God  has  fortified  you,  under  the  most  rude 
assaults  ;  how,  by  his  grace,  you  have  virtnously  resisted  all  tempta- 
tions,  not  being  ashamed  to  bear  the  opprobrium  of  Jesus  Christ,  though 
the  pride  of  his  enemies  swelled  higher  than  the  billows  of  the  sea  : 
that,  besides,  you  have  been  a  nursing  mother  to  the  poor  faithful,  ex- 
pelled, and  ignorant  where  to  seek  an  asylum.  I  am  aware  that  a 
princess,  regarding  the  world  only,  would  not  only  have  been  ashamed, 
but  have  regarded  it  as  an  insult,  to  have  her  castle  called  aHotel-Dieu; 
but  I  could  not  do  you  greater  honor  than  to  speak  thus,  to  eulogize  and 
acknowledge  the  humanity  which  you  have  displayed  towards  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  who  (ound  refuge  with  you.  I  have  often  thought,  ma- 
dam, that  God  reserved  these  trials  for  your  old  age,  to  compensate  for 
the  arrears  you  owed  him,  because  of  your  timidity  in  times  past.  I 
speak  after  the  ordinary  manner  of  men  :  for,  had  you  done  a  hundred 
limes,  nay,  a  thousand  times  as  much,  you  would  not  compensate  for  all 
you  owe  him  for  the  infinite  benefits  which  he  continues  to  bestow  upon 
you.  But  I  conceive  that  he  has  done  you  singular  honor,  in  employ- 
ing you  in  such  a  duty,  making  you  bear  his  standard  to  be  glorified  in 
you,  entertain  his  word — the  inestimable  treasure  of  salvation, — and 
become  a  refuge  to  the  members  of  his  Son.  The  greater  care  should 
you  take,  madam,  in  future,  to  preserve  your  house  for  him  pure  and 
entire,  that  it  may  be  consecrated  to  him."t 

Before  pursuing  the  development  of  Calvin's  life,  ^ve  must  consider; 
the  condition  of  Switzerland  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  domination 
of  the  episcopacy  at  Geneva,  and  the  religious  and  political  physiogno- 
my of  that  city,  at  the  moment  the  exile  of  Noyon  made  his  appear- 
ance there. 

♦Brantome.  tManuscrits  fr.  de  Geneve.  10  Mai,  1563. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE    EEFOEJIATION     IN    S  WITZEEL  A5D. 

Commencement  of  the  reformation  in  Switzerland. — Ulrlch  Zwingle. — Cause* 
of  the  success  of  the  reformation. — The  nobles. — The  people. — The  Coun- 
cils,— The  Senate. — Violent  proceedings  against  Catholicism. — Portrait  of 
Farel. — His  theses. — Geneva  before  the  reformation. — Political  condition. — 
The  bouse  of  Savoy. — The  Eidgenoss. — Religious  monuments  of  Geneva. 

In  1516,  a  Franciscan  friar,  by  name,  Bernardin  Samson,  came  to 
Zurich,  to  preach  indulgences.*  Among  hU  auditors  was  a  young 
priest  of  Toggenbourg,  whose  name  was  Zwingle,  and  who  found  the 
word  of  the  missionary  rather  unseemly.  Born  in  a  canton,  the  wealth 
of  which  consisted  of  mountains  of  snow,  glaciers,  and  precipices,  Zwin- 
gle could  not  forgive  Samson  for  causing  the  Swiss  to  discover  some 
alms,  amid  the  slight  revenues  which  they  gathered  from  their  fields. f 
When,  in  justification  of  the  zeal  of  the  brother  who  made  the  collec- 
tion, it  was  said  to  Zwingle  that  these  voluntary  alms  were  destined  for 
the  completion  of  that  Basilica,  on  which  Bramante  was  labouring, 
Zwingle  .shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  pointed  to  the  summits  of  the  Alps, 
bathed  in  sunlight,  and  presenting  a  thousand  artistic  caprices,  more 
beautiful  far,  than  anything  which  could  either  be  conceived  or  produ- 
ced by  human  imagination.  The  name  of  Bramante  awakened  in  him 
no  emotion;  by  his  instincts,  he  resembled  the  vulgar  reformers  of  Ger- 
many, and  Carlstadt  especially;  with  this  difference,  that  his  cold 
soul  would  never  have  consented  to  employ  brute  force  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  images  in  the  churches.  A  man  of  thought,  he  had  made  some 
study  of  the  biblical  books;  seeking,  in  this  commerce  with  the  inspired 
word,  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  his  pride  rather  than  the  religious  crav- 
ings of  his  soul.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  created  world,  but  the  hori- 
zons of  his  canton,  and  he  thought  that  Catholicism,  with  its  images 
made  by  human  hands,  did  not  suit  the  contemplative  soul,  which,  to 

♦  D.  Franz  Volkmar  Reinhard's  sammtliche  Reformationspredigten.  Sulz- 
bach,  1823,  1. 1.,  p.  144. 

t  Schrockh's  Refor.  Gesch.  1. 11.  J.  L.  Hpss,  vie  de  Zwingle. — While  blaming- 
the  perhaps  inconsiderate  zeal  of  Bernadin  Samson,  we  must  be  cautious  not 
to  credit  all  the  fables  circulated  against  the  Franciscan.  A  modern  writer, 
the  author  of  Cahin  and  the  Swiss  RtformaticTu,  John  Scott,  (London,  1838,J 
exhibits  to  us,  Simson  at  Baden,  after  the  ser\'ice  for  the  dead,  exclaiming  to 
the  assistants,  Eccerolant!  Behold  they  soar  on  hi^h! — an  old  Huguenot  legend, 
which  he  found  in  Mvcomius,  and  which  should  be  classed  witn  those  absurd 
stories  circulated  about  Tetzel.  Quite  recently,  the  memory  of  the  Domini- 
can has  been  vindicated  in  a  work,  in  German,  published  at  IJayence. 

9 


98  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

meditate  upon  the  works  of  God,  has  a  sufficiency  of  natural  wonders 
in  the  physical  world.  He  had  blamed  pilgrimages  to  holy  places,  to 
which  at  this  epoch,  the  Swiss  were  accustomed  to  resort  for  prayer ; 
he  discovered  that  the  cliristian  who  wished  to  journey  with  advantage^ 
•should  descend  into  his  own  heart,  to  study  himself  there  first,  and  fromtliis 
contemplation  to  rise  to  the  adoration  of  the  Divinity.  This  was  the 
most  beautiful  sanctuary:  the  others  were  material  works.  Having 
once  entered  upon  this  mystic  way,  he  soon  made  for  himself  a  worlds 
— wherein  God  was  to  be  adored  according  to  his  spirit,  as  contracted 
as  the  valley  where  he  dwelt,  and  of  whom  every  emblem  must  be  ban- 
ished,— a  world,  where  the  priest's  voice  should  have  no  more  authority 
than  it  could  derive  from  the  divine  word,  that  is  from  the  naked  letter 
of  the  text. 

The  declivity  was  perilous,  and  led  directly  to  the  abyss.  Wliat 
would  he  have  said  of  the  traveler,  who,  wishing  to  visit  the  mountains 
of  Albis,  should  be  content  to  read  the  Latin  description  of  some  old 
writer,  and  have  refused  the  assistance  of  a  guide? 

Thas  after  having  expunged  from  his  symbol,  pilgrimages,  indulgen- 
ces, images,  purgatory,  celibacy,  the  curate  of  Einsiedeln, — causing 
ruin  after  ruin, — came  to  deny  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments,  and  even 
the  real  presence.  Enlightened  by  a  dream,  and  some  sort  of  appari- 
tion of  a  being  without  color,  he  had  abondoned  the  secular  teaching 
of  his  church,  for  a  fantastic  interpretation  which  destroyed  the  very 
Jetter,  whose  power  he  desired  to  re-establish.  Universal  authority  was 
by  him  contemned,  and  sacrificed  to  a  narrow  and  gross  individualism. 
In  place  of  that  beautiful  Catholic  heaven, — peopled  with  our  martyrs, 
ascetics,  doctors,  fathers,  virgins, — he  dreamed  of  an  Olympus,  in  which 
amid  the  same  glory  he  placed  Samuel,  Elias,  Moses,  Paul,  Socrates, 
Aristides,  Hercules,  Theseus;*  and  even  Cato,  who  tore  out  his  own 
bov/els.     We  comprehend  why  Luther  has  damned  Zwingle.f 

The  reformation  has  some  strange  boasts.  If  we  listen  to  it,  the  ex- 
position of  faith  by  Zwingle  is  the  song  of  a  melodious  swan;  it  is  Bul- 
lingcr  who  affirms  this.  Because  a  mountaineer  population,  whose 
gross  inclinations  are  flattered,  allows  itself  to  be  hurried  away,  almost 
without  resistance,  by  the  voice  of  its  priest,  the  reformation  triumphs, 
cries  out  "  a  miracle!"  and  imagines  to  see  the  luminous  light  of  the 
desert  enveloping  the  pulpit  where  ZAvingle  preaches,  and  the  tongues 
of  fire  of  Jerusalem  descending  upon  the  lips  of  the  orator. 

Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  Helvetic  society 
during  the  middle  ages,  have  no  great  difficulty  in  responding  to  Bul- 
linger.  During  that  period,  feudal  Switzerland  was  at  the  same  time 
governed  by  her  bishops  and  her  barons.     To  the  first  she  paid  tythes, 

*  Exposition  de  la  foi  Chretlonnc,  dcdiec  d  Francois,  lor, 
flchwill  disz  Go/ougnusz  und  dicsen  Riihm  mit  mir  fQr  meines  lleben 
Ilcrm  und  Heylands  Jcsu  Christi  Richtorstuhl  bring(>n,  dasz  ich  die  Schwar- 
rnor  und  Sacraments  Fcindo  -Carlstadt  und  Zvvingli,  etc.,  von  ganzem  Horzen 
verdanimt  und  gcniidcn  habe,  .  .  ,  Op  Luthcri,  t.  viii.  .Ton,  fol.  192.  b.  lOS.  a 
voir:  Johann  Eiscnius:  de  fugiendo  Zwinglio — Calvinismo,  t.  I.,  p.  123, 124  et 
alia.s. — Philippus  Nicolai  in  seinem?kurzen  Bericht  von  dem  Calvinisten  Gott. 
p.  90. 


LIFE    OF    JOHIT    CALVIN.  99 

to  the  last  annual  rents.  Her  grain,  her  fruits  did  not  belong  to  her: 
she  could  only  dispose  of  ihem  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  her 
lords.  When  her  sons  came  forth  from  her  fields,  they  had  to  take  up 
the  lance  and  sword,  and  assume  place  among  the  retainers  of  the  Su- 
zerains. Switzerland  has,  at  the  price  of  her  blood,  achieved  her 
freedom,  but  it  was  only  to  fall  back  under  the  yoke  of  sovereigns, 
more  unmanageable  than  the  Austrian.  Those  iron  hands  revenge 
themselves,  by  wringing  from  the  mountaineer  population  die  pretended 
exactions  of  the  Roman  Chancery.  Delivered  by  the  arms  of  their 
vassals  from  foreign  despotism,  they  would  be  glad  to  be  rescued  from 
the  yoke  of  the  Roman  court.  Who  will  free  them?  It  will  not  be 
the  people,  who* have  so  many  reasons  to  hate  their  new  masters.  Nor 
would  the  sword  be  of  much  use  to  them,  even  should  the  people  be 
willing  to  unsheathe  it  in  their  defence.  The  word,  is  then  the  new 
Arminius  whom  the  lord  waits  for  in  his  castle. 

Let  the  word  then  resound,  and  we  shall  behold  them  rally  around 
him  who  announces  it,  although  indeed  attracted  by  mere  worldly  in- 
terests. Luther  declared,  that  "the  golden  suns  of  the  tabernacles  have 
operated  more  than  one  conversion."*  Now,  the  churches  of  Switzer- 
land had  suns,  chalices,  soutans,  reliquaries,  copes,  and  dalmatics  of 
gold  and  silver.  Nowhere  in  all  Christendom,  could  be  found  more 
splendid  abbeys.  Around  these  convents  were  spread  pasture  grounds, 
in  which  the  seigniors  would  have  been  delighted  to  graze  their  horses. 
Therefore,  the  immediate  effect  of  a  reformation  should  be  to  secular- 
ize the  monasteries,  and  to  deliver  up  the  riches  of  the  church  to  the 
covetousness  of  the  great  and  powerful.  Protestantism  proceeded  thus 
in  Saxony;  far  different  from  the  princes  of  this  world,  who  break  to 
pieces  the  instruments  which  they  have  used,  it  showed  itself  gener- 
ous, and  did  not  even  forget  the  cellars  of  its  protectors,  which  it  caused 
to  be  filled  up  with  vt^ines  stolen  from  the  monks.  In  Switzerland  the 
example  could  not  be  lost.  That  the  people,  after  all  their  disappoint- 
ments in  the  war  of  independence  against  the  house  of  Austria,  con- 
sented, to  lend  to  their  lord  the  plebeian  lances  which  were  stored 
away  in  the  arsenal,  should  not  awaken  our  astonishment:  the  people 
were  once  more  the  dupes  of  the  promises  of  their  masters;  they  ex- 
pected, when  the  hour  should  arrive,  to  obtain  part  of  the  booty  of  the 
monasteries,  deemed  sufficiently  rich  to  satisfy  the  avarice  of  nobles 
and  villeins;  but  this  time  they  were  well  determined  to  stipulate  for  a 
larger  share  of  the  administration  of  the  country. 

In  general,  the  councils  were  filled  with  the  nobles  or  their  creatures, 
and  in  some  of  the  cantons,  the  powers  of  the  senate  were  really  exor- 
bitant. It  ruled  over  the  magistracy  and  the  clergy.  In  case  of  need 
it  could  prohibit  fractious  theologians  from  grinding  their  grain  at  the 
city  mills,  or  buying  provisions  at  the  markets.  It  had  famine  in  its 
service;  the  priest  could  only  make  use  of  excommunication,  which 
kills  the  soul  but  leaves  the  body  living.  The  weapons  were  not 
equal. 

*  Viele  sind  noch  gut  evangelisch,  well  es  noch  katholische  Monstranzen 
and  KlostergUter  gibt.  xii.,  Pred.,  p.  137. 


100  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

What  could  the  clergy  answer  to  this  order  of  the  Senate  of  Bale? 

**  We  make  known  to  pastors,  theologians  and  students,  that  they 
must  be  present  at  the  discussion  set  on  foot  by  master  Farel,  in  default 
of  which,  they  shall  not  have  permission  to  grind  their  grain  at  the  mills, 
to  cook  their  bread  at  the  ovens,  or  to  buy  their  meat  and  vegetables  at 
the  markets  of  the  city."*  They  were  forced  to  obey,  for  the  palace  of 
the  bishop  was  not  provisioned.  Therefore,  on  the  day  indicated  by  the 
senate,  all  the  streets  of  Bale  were  thronged  by  priests  of  every  rank, — 
bishops,  grand  vicars,  pastors,  chaplains,  vicars,  monks  of  all  orders, 
f^anciscans,  Benedictines,  Dominicans,  clerks,  tonsurates;  Counts,  Ba- 
rons, who  scarcely  knew  how  to  read;  professors  of  the  University,  mas- 
ters of  colleges,  students,  merchants,  peasants; — who  came,  compelled 
by  brute  force,  to  assist  at  the  tournament.  The  theologians  of  the  two  re- 
ligions were  undoubtedly  the  natural  judges  of  the  field  of  combat;  but 
most  commonly,  the  senate  remained  sovereign  master.  If,  yielding  to 
party  influences,  governed  by  ideas  of  locality,  and  domestic  hatred,  urged 
on  by  the  noise  of  steel  gauntlets,  and  the  shouts  of  students,  it  decided  that 
the  new  word  had  triumphed  over  the  old,  then  the  question  was  adju- 
dicated, and  forthwith  the  hand  of  some  mason  attached  a  cord  to  the 
jieck  of  a  statue,  and  made  it  leap  from  its  pedestal,  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  laughing  crowd.  And  in  the  evening,  it  was  publicly  an- 
nounced that  the  image  was  vanquished,  and  that  Moses  was  right  in 
forbidding  the  worship  of  idols,  which,  against  the  text  of  the  decalogue, 
had  been  invented  by  the  papacy.  But  if,  quite  fresh  from  the  school 
benches,  some  seminarian  took  it  into  his  head  to  draw  a  distinction 
between  an  image  and  an  idol,  they  pointed  out  to  him  the  glory  which 
covered  the  Saint's  head  with  its  halo  of  massive  gold,  and  the  argu- 
ment was  irrefutable.  At  Liestal,  the  people,  excited  by  the  magis- 
trates, cried  out  to  the  monks:  "Discourses,  and  not  masses!"  The 
monks  resisted;  "and  they  cut  off  their  supply  of  provisions,"t  The 
historian  has  not  even  one  souvenir  of  pity  for  these  poor  religious,  and 
yet  they  had  cleared  out  the  rubbish  from  the  whole  country  of  Hauen- 
stein. 

More  than  once,  the  episcopacy  was  desirous  to  forbid  these  passion- 
ate contests  of  human  speech,  in  which  Catholic  faith  could  acquire  no 
recompense  but  blessings;  whilst  error,  if  triumphant,  marched  away 
with  hands  full  of  gold.  But  they  would  not  even  hearken  to  its  voice, 
if  the  prelates  insisted,  if  they  appealed  to  the  weapons  of  St.  Paul, 
anathemas,  they  were  driven  from  their  sees.  Then  Capito  (Koepflein) 
and  (Ecolampadius,  (Hausschein)  usurped  their  places  and  enacted  the 
office  of  judge,  theologian,  priest,  and  bishop.  Zvvingle,  who  divined 
the  hostility  of  the  spiritual  power,  had  organized  a  religion  in  which, 
according  to  his  gospel,Ij]  the  priesthood  was  devolved  upon  every  chris- 

*Secus  facturis,  usu  molendinorum,  furnorum  et  morcatus  interdicit  .... 
Melch.  Adam  in  vitis  thcol.  extern,,  p.  114. 

tHottinger,  p.  191.     Ruchat.  Hist.  Reform,  t.  1,  p.  230. 

^  Zwingli  war  entschieden  republikaniseh,  wie  Calvin;  darum  wollten  beide 
die  apostolische  Gleichheit  unter  alien  Geistlichen  ohne  Aufseher.  Paul  Henry, 
t.  I,  p.  138. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  101 

tian:  so  that  senators,  who  yesterday  performed  the  part  of  theologian, 
would  waken  up  to-morrow,  priests  according  to  the  order  of  the  pastor 
of  Einsiedeln. 

The  religious  form  of  the  country  was  soon  changed  in  Switzerland: 
Bale,  Neuchatel,  Zurich,  and  Coire  embraced  the  reformation.  But 
Luther's  work  had  been  spoiled:  he  no  longer  recognized  it,  so  profound 
was  the  transformation!  At  each  theorem,  from  some  new  evangelist, 
the  Saxon  monk  roused  himself,  in  order  to  condemn  the  indocile  soul. 
When  OEcolampadius  died,  he  caused  the  devil  to  intervene,  to  account 
for  the  sudden  death  of  the  theologian.  When  Zwingle  fell  at  CappeJ, 
in  his  struggle  with  the  lesser  cantons,  the  doctor  returned  thanks  to 
God,  for  having  removed  from  this  earth  that  enemy  of  the  holy  name 
of  Jesus;*  whilst  Besa  sang: 

Zwingle,  homme  de  bien,  sentant  son  ame  esprise 
De  raniour  du  grand  Dieu,  de  I'aniourdu  pays, 
A  Dieu  preniierement  voua  sa  vie,  et  puis 
De  mourlr  pour  Zurich  en  son  coeur  fit  emprise, 
Qu'il  s'en  acquitta  bien,  tue,  reduit  en  cendre, 
II  voulut  le  pays  et  verite  defendre.f 

(Ecolampadius  and  Zwingle,  having  abandoned  the  doctrines  of  the 
Saxon  reformer,  were  desirous  to  constitute  a  distinct  apostolate  for 
themselves.  In  fact,  (Ecolampadius  did  not  believe  in  the  enslaved 
will  of  Luther,  and  Zwingle  rejected  the  impanation  of  Wittenberg. 
Both,  then,  had  reason  to  expect,  if  they  died  impenitent,  that  they 
would  fall  into  Luther's  Hell,  and  suffer  in  those  lakes  of  fire,  in  which 
he  had  already  cast  Prierias,  £ck,  Miltitz,  and  Leo  X.  Had  he  known  the 
theses  which  Farel  had  just  affixed  to  the  door  of  the  Cathedral  of  Bale, 
he  would  have  banished  him  from  his  paradise. 

These  were  thirteen  in  number:  the  tenth,  quite  revolutionary  in  its 
character,  was  thus  conceived: 

"Persons  who  are  in  good  health,  and  not  entirely  occupied  in  preach- 
ing the  word  of  God,  are  obliged  to  labor  with  their  hands. "J 

Now,  at  Bale,  the  persons,  who  were  not  occupied  in  preaching  the 
word  of  God,  were  in  part,  the  monks,  the  bishop,  the  prebendaries, 
the  great,  the  rich,   the   magistrates.     Judge,  if  such  a  thesis  was  not 

*  Pislorius  may  be  consulted,  im  zweyten  bosen  Geist  Luther  Azoara  vi.  p. 
163,  and  the  following,  where  are  found  numerous  passages  extracted  from  the 
works  of  Luther  against  Zwingle  and  the  Swiss. — Lavather,  in  hist.  Sacram. 
p.  32. — Surius,  in  comra.  ad  annum  1543,  fol.  350. — Ulcnberg,  in  vita  Lutheri, 
cap.  xxxii,  n.  L 

t  Zwingle,  a  good  man,  feeling  his  soul  absorbed  with  love  for  the  great  God, 
and  love  for  the  country,  vowed  his  life  to  God  first,  and  then  in  his  heart  re- 
solved to  die  for  Zurich,  of  which  he  well  acquitted  himself,  being  killed,  re- 
duced to  ashes,  he  was  desirous  to  defend  the  country  and  truth. 

X  Hist,  de  laRef.  de  la  Suisse,  par  Ruchat.  1. 1,  p.  234. 

A  modern  historian  thinks  it  extraordinary  that  the  Catholic  clergy  used 
their  influence  to  have  Farel  banislied  from  Bale,  and  Avith  great  simplicity 
says:  "Leaving  Strasbourg  he  visited  Bale;  but  as  the  hosiility  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  clergy  did  not  permit  him  to  continue  in  that  city,  he  removed,  by  tho 
recommendation  of  CEcolampadius  and  other  friends,  to  the  neighboring  prin- 
cipality of  Montbelliard." — JohnScott's  Cahin^andthe  Swiss  Reformation,  p.  184. 

9* 


102 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN, 


calculated  to  inflame  the  whole  city,  and  if  Schnaw,  the  episcopal  vicar, 
was  right  in  making  opposition  to  its  discussion  in  full  assembly? 

The  reformation  can  boast  no  more  ardent  soul  than  that  of  FareL 
Under  the  kings  of  Israel,  Farcl  would  have  acted  the  part  of  priest  of 
Baal;  in  Franconia.  that  of  Munzer  or  Bockold;  in  England,  in  case  of 
need,  he  could  have  taken  the  place  of  Cromwell  or  of  Knox. 

He  was  born  for  the  popular  drama,  with  his  eye  of  fire,  his  com- 
plexion scorched  by  the  sun,  and  his  red  and  badly  combed  beard. 
Were  you  to  hoist  this  half  dwarf  upon  a  post,  concealed  amid  his  thick 
tufts  of  hair,  he  would  attract  the  people  as  they  passed  along  the  street. 
Garry  him  down  into  the  mines  of  Mansfeld,  and  the  workmen 
would  quit  their  anvils  to  hear  and  follow  him.  If  you  were  to  trans- 
port him  into  a  prdpit  surrounded  by  images,  he  would  seize  a  knife  or 
hammer,  to  deface  and  break  what  he  calls  idols.  One  day  a  proces- 
sion was  moving  through  the  streets  of  the  little  town  of  Aigle;  the 
priest  was  carrying  the  holy  sacrament:  Farel  pierces  through  the 
crowd,  marches  up  to  the  canopy,  seizes  the  sun  of  gold,  casts  it  upon 
the  ground,  and  saves  himself  by  flight.  Falsehoods,  violence,  sedi- 
tions, all  things  seemed  to  him  proper  for  the  destruction  of  "the  papism,"* 
He  imagined  that  he  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  crying  to  him,  march  1 
and  he  marched,  like  death,  without  disquieting  himself  about  robes, 
red  or  blue,  about  mantles  of  ermine  or  silk,  crowns  of  dukes  or  kings, 
sacred  vessels,  pictures  or  statues,  which  he  considered  mere  dust  and 
rubbish.  He  insolently  scoffed  at  history,  christian  art,  traditions,  and 
forms.  Had  not  Froment,  Saunier,  or  some  other  moderated  this  hot 
southern  head,  of  our  holy  edifices,  there  would  not  remain  a  stone  upon 
a  stone.  To  chastise  the  world,  God  would  not  in  his  wrath,  want 
more  than  two  or  three  fallen  angels,  kneaded  out  of  the  slime  of  which 
Farel  was  composed,  and  society  would  relapse  into  darkness. 

He  was  in  Switzerland,  at  the  time  that  Calvin  was  vainly  trying  to 
reform  Italy.  Montbelliard,  Aigle,  and  Bienne,  agitated  by  his  preach, 
ing,  had  expelled  their  monks,  and  instituted  a  new  religion.  He  die? 
not  pass  through  a  city  or  town,  without  causing  the  inhabitants  to 
measure  arms.  "Heaven  suffers  violence,"  he  said  on  these  occasions: 
and  he  accomplished  his  mission  of  noise  and  destruction  without  mis- 
giving or  remorse.  The  magistrates  themselves,  frightened  by  the  stran- 
ger's attempts,  did  not  dare  keep  him  but  a  moment:  the  revolt  accom- 
plished, they  opened  the  city  gates  for  him,  and  Farel,  satisfied,  took  his 
pilgrim-staff,  and  set  forth  on  foot  across  the  mountains,  in  quest  of  ano- 
ther  city  where  his  voice  might  excite  another  tempest.  The  horse  of 
Attila  cut  the  grass  under  his  feet:  Farel's  staff  laid  low,  on  the  high- 
way, the  crosses  of  Christ  and  the  images  of  the  Virgin. 

Ho  was  at  Geneva,  in  1536,  where,  like  a  skillful  workman,  he  had 
profited  by  the  intestine  divisions  which  agitated  the  city,  in  order  to 
spread  his  gospel,  which,  moreover,  in  nothing  resembled  the  gospel  of 
Luther. 

To  estimate  and  understand  the  success  of  Farel's  preaching,  we 
need  not,  after  the  manner  of  the  historians  of  the  reformation,  call  in 

*  Erasmi  Epistolse.  Ep.  xxx,  lib.  18,  p.  798. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  103 

the  intervention  of  the  Deity.  It  is  sufficient  merely  to  glance  at  tho 
social  condition  of  the  city,  and  the  unceasing  contests  of  parties,  whit;h, 
for  so  long  a  time,  had  tormented  it.  We  are  then  convinced  that  a 
great  prospect  of  success  awaited  the  man,  whose  soul  w^as  of  a  teniper 
sufficiently  stern,  to  enable  him  to  control  with  his  voice  the  dissen- 
sions, the  hates,  and  the  rage,  to  which  the  city  was  a  prey. 

On  the  banks  of  Lake  Leman, — which  by  Voltaire  was  preferred  to 
all  the  other  lakes  of  Switzerland, — set  in  the  midst  of  a  basket  of  ver- 
dure, illumined  by  the  rays  of  light  which  glanced  from  the  summits  of 
the  surrounding  mountains,  and  from  Mount  Blanc,  covered  with  its 
snows  and  ices,  and,  in  the  distance,  lifting  high  its  gigantic  crest, 
arose  Geneva,  a  Celtic  city,  as  is  indicated  by  the  name  it  bears,  and 
for  which,  in  the  ninth  century,  it  exchanged  that  of  Gabennum.* 
This  was  the  capital  of  the  Allobrogi,  which  Caesar  called  the  strong 
city.f  It  preserves  its  republican  organization  under  the  Romans,  who 
are  found  frequently  descending  the  Alps,  traversing  it,  and  there  leav- 
ing traces  of  their  passage.  Under  Marcus  Aurelius  it  perishes  by  a 
conflagration.  Aurelian  rebuilds  it,  and  there  establishes  fairs,  which, 
at  a  later  period,  become  for  the  nation  an  abundant  source  of  riches ; 
and,  through  gratitude,  it  assumes  the  name  of  the  emperor.  In  the  fourth 
century,  it  is  a  christian  city,  and  has  its  saints,  its  doctors,  and  its 
bishops.  Republicanism  there  facilitates  the  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity. Dionysius,  driven  out  of  Venice,  comes  there  to  preach  the 
gospel.  When  that  German  tribe,  the  Burg-Huns,  organize  a  mon- 
archy, Geneva  becomes  the  capital  of  the  new  state.  Gontram,  in 
585,  lays  the  ffi-st  foundation  of  a  Catholic  temple ;  the  erection  is 
prosecuted  by  Otho,  and  under  Choldwig  it  is  completed,  and  dedicated 
to  the  prince  of  the  Apostles. J  This  is  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  des- 
tined to  be  profaned  and  despoiled  by  the  reformation. 

It  is  Gondebaud  who  causes  the  Gombette  law  to  be  digested ;  an 
ancient  code,  presenting  a  view  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
German  people,  and  of  the  Roman  Allobrogi.  Gondebaud  makes 
vain  efforts  to  introduce  Arianism  into  Geneva;  Catholicism  Avas  des- 
tined to  triumph ;  Clovis,  king  of  the  Franks,  had  just  embraced  it. 
The  Burgundian  kingdom, — torn  to  pieces,  dismembered,  dissolved, — 
soon  passed  under  the  dominion  of  the  Franks,  but  still  preserved  its 
laws  and  its  franchises.  To  the  Burgundian  city,  Charlemagne  accord- 
ed new  franchises,  for  it  had  welcomed  him  with  lively  sympathy, 
when  he  was  waging  war  in  Lombardy.  The  office  of  count  of  the 
Genevese  must  have  been  an  institution  of  this  prince.  It  seemed, 
however,  to  have  been  limited  to  the  territory  which  enclosed  the  city. 
Geneva,  under  the  Franks,  had  neither  lord  nor  prince.  §  The  form  of 
the  government  was,  at  this  epoch,  entirely  republican ;  the  people 
named  their  bishops,  who  were   confirmed  by  the  Pope.     At  the  death 

•Geneva,  which  signifies  'outlet  of  the  river.'  Some  of  the  names  of  the 
mountains,  rivers,  and.  towns,  seem  to  be  derived  from  tlie  Celtic. 

tExtremum  oppidum  Allobrogum  est,  proximumque  Helvetiorum  finibus 
Geneva. — Cessar,  de  bello  Gallico,  lib.  i.  cap.  6  et  7. 

:j:Spon.  t.  i.  p.  28. 

jFazy,  Essai  du  precis  de  Thistoire  de  la  Republique  de  Geneve,  t.  ler. 


104  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

of  Charlemagne,  the  destinies  of  the  Genevan  country  are  changed; 
it  becomes,  for  a  time,  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Lorraine,  and  then  part 
of  the  kingdom  of  Aries ;  afterwards,  for  more  than  half  a  century, 
part  of  transjuran  Burgundy, — an  epoch  of  glory,  in  which  the  histori- 
an delights  to  point  out  the  generous  efforts  of  its  princes,  Rodolph  and 
Conrad,  to  embellish  the  city.  With  Rodolph  III.  terminates  that  fine 
line  of  kings  of  little  Burgundy,  whose  names  have  remained  popular. 

It  was  at  the  death  of  Rodolp^h,  the  last  king  of  Burgundy,  in  1032, 
that  Geneva  came  under  the  Empire,  and  was  made  capital  of  the 
Genevese  :  a  governor,  in  the  name  of  the  emperor,  administered  jus- 
tice ;  the  bishop,  as  well  as  the  governor,  was  dependent  on  the  house 
of  Austria.  Then  arose  the  contests  between  the  priesthood  and  the 
empire.  Germany  and  Italy  became  vast  battle-fields,  on  which  the 
tiara  and  the  German  eagle  contended  for  the  sceptre  of  the  world.  The 
eagle,  triumphant,  would  have  strangled  christian  civilization  with  its 
talons.  During  these  afflicting  contests,  the  two  powers,  at  that  time 
distinct  at  Geneva, — the  one  represented  by  the  governor,  the  other  by 
the  bishop, — conceived  the  thought  to  throw  off'  the  yoke  of  the  Em- 
pire. The  moment  seemed  propitious.  The  Council  of  Lateran  had 
just  excommunicated  Henry  V.  Then,  says  Chorier,  the  prelates,  and 
after  their  example,  the  counts  and  seigniors,  ceased  to  render  to  the 
Teutonic  monarch  the  devoirs  due  to  the  lord  paramount,  and  proclaim- 
ed themselves  independent :   revolution  became  an  act  of  religion.* 

At  this  moment, — thanks  to  this  usurped  emancipation, — Avere  seen 
to  spring  up  a  host  of  counts  and  barons,  of  grand  and  noble  person- 
ages, the  possessors  of  a  few  acres  of  land,  which  they  erected  into  prin- 
cipalities. The  historian  of  those  distant  times,  at  each  step  he  makes 
in  this  enclosure  of  a  few  leagues,  encounters  a  man  mailed  in  steel, 
who  calls  himself  prince,  and  places  the  arms  of  the  Genevese  upon 
his  escutcheon.  These  noble  barons  are  at  war  with  Savoy,  which  dis- 
putes the  corner  of  land  that  they  have  appropriated  to  themselves ; 
they  are  at  war  with  the  German  empire,  which  contests  the  title  they 
have  usurped;  with  the  common  people,  who  demand  a  restoration  of 
thsir  curtailed  franchises ;  with  the  bishop,  who  desires  to  be  temporal 
prince,  and  carry  the  sword  as  well  as  the  mitre.  This  struggle  is  long. 
It  is  terminated  in  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  century,  by  a 
treaty,  in  which  Villars,  count  of  Geneva,  cedes  his  rights  to  Amedee, 
duke  of  Savoy :  from  this  epoch,  the  dukes  of  Savoy,  vicars  of  the 
Roman  empire,  stamp  money  at  Geneva,  there  convoke  the  assembly 
of  the  States  General  of  Savoy,  remit  capital  punishment,  and  exercise 
all  the  prerogatives  of  sovereigns.! 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  contests,  the  common  people  were  not  idle ; 
they  laboured  for  their  emancipation,  organized  themselves,  and  daily 
conquered  new  liberties;  the  bourgeoisie,  or  citizenship,  was  in  pro- 
gress of  formation. 

Soon,  Geneva   had  a   tricephalous  power.     The   bishop's  head,  the 

*Histoire  du  Daupliine,  t.  11.  liv.  1.   ch.   21,  22.— Spon.  t.  1,  p.  57.— Chron. 
manusc.  citee  par  Ruchat. 
t  De  Costa.    Memoires,  p.  315,  t.  L 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  105 

duke's  head,  and  the  head  bourgeois,  or  citizen's  head; — a  fantastic 
being,  whose  acts  cannot  be  more  easily  traced,  than  its  rights  can  be  de- 
termined ;  manifold  elements,  resulting  from  the  same  thought,  the  need 
of  independence. 

An  ancient  historian,  whose  work  was  never  published,  has  shed 
great  light  upon  the  political  constitution  of  the  country  :  it  is  a  work 
of  which  Ruchat  made  use,  and  which  we  will  reproduce  in  an  abridg- 
ed form. 

The  bishop  of  Geneva,  was,  in  right  of  regale,  at  once  prince,  spirit- 
ual and  temporal.  He  was  designated  by  the  people,  and  elected  by 
the  canons.  The  temporal  prince  had  lay-assessors;  first,  a  count, 
"who  was  not,  as  it  is  thought,  above  the  bishop,  but  under  him,  as  his 
officer,"  to  execute  what  had  been   resolved   upon,  by  the  the  secular 

counselors,  regarding  temporal  affairs. The   people,  that  is,   "the 

heads  of  families",  assembled  twice  a  year;— on  the  Sunday  after  St. 
Martin's  festival, — to  regulate  the  sale  and  price  of  wine ;  on  the  Sun- 
day after  the  Purification,  to  elect  the  syndics  and  council.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  council  were  four  syndics,  whose  powers  were  for  one  year; 
a  treasurer  and  twenty  counselors,  who  had  the  administration  of 
the  municipal  police. — The  bishop,  the  count,  his  lieutenant,  who  was 
called  the  Vidomne,  (vice  domini,)  swore,  on  entering  into  office,  to 
maintain  the  liberties  and  franchises  of  the  commune.  The  council 
caused  watchmen  to  patrole  the  city  by  day  and  night,  and  kept  the 
keys  of  the  city  gates,  which,  at  its  pleasure,  it  caused  to  be  opened  and 
closed  :  If  an  evil-doer  was  found  at  night,  he  was  seized,  and,  on 
the  next  morning,  shut  up  in  the  prisons  of  the  bishop.* 

The  counselors  directed  the  process,  and  sat  in  judgment  upon  all 
crimes;  after  the  sentence,  the  count  or  the  vidomne  was  charged  with 
its  execution.  The  bishop  had  the  pardoning  power.  None  but  gen- 
tlemen, or  the  graduates  in  some  science,  "or  wholesale  merchants  who 
sold  nothing  by  retail,"  could  be  elected  members  of  the  council. 

There  was  another  council,  elected  by  the  people,  and  consisting  of 
fifty  members,  who  were  assembled,  when  any  affair  of  importance 
presented  itself,  and  who  were  trade-wardens  during  the  continuance  of 
the  fairs. — Finally,  the  grand,  or  general  council,  in  which  the  canons 
represented  the  clergy,  and  whose  statutes  and  regulations  the  bishop 
was  obliged  to  confirm.  Each  new  ordinance  was  proclaimed,  at  the 
sound  of  trumpets,  through  the  streets  and  crossways  of  the  city,  in  these 
terms  : 

"  You  are  informed,  on  the  part  of  the  very  reverend  and  our  much 
respected  lord,  the  lord  bishop,  and  prince  of  Geneva,  of  his  vidomne 
and  syndics,  the  council  and  honest  men  of  the  city,  that,"   &c. 

Behold  the  pre-eminence  enjoyed  by  the  duke  of  Savoy,  at  Geneva. 
He  had  an  office  called  the  Vidomnat,  which  he  discharged  by  means 
of  a  lieutenant,  called  the  vidomne  ;  this  'vidomne,  who  had  a  lieute- 
nant called  the  governor  or  castellan,  swore  fidelity  to  the  bishop  and 
the  syndics,  and  promised  to  protect  the  liberties  and  franchises  of  the 
city.     Cases  of  appeal  were  carried  from  the  vidomne  to  the  episcopal 

♦Francois  Bonnivard,  prieur  de  St.  Victor  de  Geneve.  Chronique  manuscrite. 


106  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

council,  and  not  to  the  duke ; — from  the  bishop  to  his  spiritual  superi- 
ors in  ecclesiastical  matters,  viz  ;  to  the  archbishop  of  Vienna,  and  to 
the  Pope. 

At  a  quarter  of  a  league  from  Geneva, — towards  the  south, — the 
dukes  of  Savoy  possessed  a  small  fortified  place,  named  Gaillard,  where 
ducal  justice  executed  those  criminals,  who  were  condemed  by  the  syn- 
dics to  capital  punishment.  The  syndics  transmitted  their  sentence  to 
the  vidomne,  in  these  terms  :  "Sir  vidorane,  w^e  send  to  you,  and 
command  that  you  cause  our  sentence  to  be  executed.".  .  .  The  vidomne 
caused  the  culprit  to  be  conducted  to  the  gate  de  I'lsle,  where  stood  a 
castle  which  had  retained  the  same  name,  and  there  an  archer  cried 
out,  three  times  :  "Is  there  any  one  here  on  the  part  of  the  duke  of 
Savoy,  lord  of  castle  Gaillard?"  At  the  third  demand,  the  castellan 
of  Gaillard  advanced,  and  then  the  vidomme  read  the  sentence  passed 
against  the  criminal,  and  commanded  the  castellan  to  have  it  executed. 
The  castellan  summoned  the  executioner,  and  the  sentence  was  execut- 
ed, and  not  on  the  lands  of  the  duke,  but  at  the  place  Champel,  which 
was  under  the  bishop's  jurisdiction. 

The  duke  of  Savoy  held  the  castle  de  ITsle  at  Geneva,  of  which  the 
vidomme  Avas  governor,  and  in  it  were  the  prisons.* 

"Now,  the  dukes,"  says  Bonnivard,  "only  held  this  castle  and  other 
rights  of  pre-eminence,  as  a  pledge  for  the  payment  of  certain  sums  of 
money,  which,  in  the  wars,  they  had  advanced  to  the  bishop  and  syn- 
dics of  the  city.  The  city  often  wished  to  return  their  money,  but  the 
dukes  refused  to  receive  it,  because  they  did  not  wish  to  resign  the 
pledge."  Well,  one  day,  the  money  was  expedited  to  Rome,  and 
placed  in  the  hands  of  justice,  and  a  decree  of  excommunication  was 
fulminated  against  those  who  should  pretend  to  hold  the  castle  de  ITsle 
for  the  duke  of  Savoy.  "When  this  was  done,  and  by  what  counts 
and  bishops,  I  have  not  discovered,  because  many  rights  of  the  church 
and  city  have  been  lost.  But  I  have  heard  it  said,  by  persons  worthy 
of  belief,  who  saw  the  process  at  Rome." 

The  account  of  prior  Bonnivard  is  sufficiently  probable  ;  also,  when 
the  procession  passed  before  the  castle,  the  clergy  ceased  singing,  and 
the  cross  was  reversed,  to  indicate  that  this  castle  was  under  interdict. 
They  would  never  have  administered  the  sacraments  there,  to  any  one 
who  might  have  fallen  sick.t 

"  Charles,  the  third  of  this  name,  duke  of  Savoy,  who  lives  at  this 
day,  still  possessed  the  above  named  rights  of  pre-eminence,  and  that 
too  without  any  contradiction  ;  he  should  have  been  satisfied  with  right, 
and  with  having  more  than  Geneva  owed  him,  for  both  he  and  his  pre- 
decessors were  better  served  by  Geneva,  not  subject  to  him,  than  by  any 
city  on  this  side  the  mountains  in  subjection  to  him,  whether  in  regard 

*"The  governors  of  cnstle  de  I'lsle  depended  only  on  the  duke  of  Savoy, 
and,  in  the  name  of  their  master,  collected  various  taxes  from  clerks,  Jews, 
Lombardians,  and  from  the  markets;  they  granted  or  sold  to  foreigners  per- 
missions of  residence,  and  placed  these  tributes  in  the  coffers  of  the  chamber 
of  the  counts  of  Chambery." — Guichenon. 

t  Bonnivard,  Chron.  Mss. — Fazy. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  107 

to  honor,  to  magnificence,  or  profit.  For  when  a  duke  or  duchess  made 
entry  into  the  city,  God  knows  what  festivity,  what  triumph  there  was, 
when  he  came  to  lodge  the  court ;  not  a  citizen,  not  an  inhabitant  of 
Geneva,  who  did  not  exert  himself  more  through  courtesy,  than  his 
subjects,  by  constraint.  If  there  was  question  of  war,  the  companions 
Avere  ready  to  serve  with  their  persons  :  the  magistrates  to  furnish 
money,  even  to  fortify  their  city,  to  aid  him  against  those,  whose  aid 
they  must  themselves  demand  against  him.  In  brief,  the  only  differ- 
ence between  him  and  them  was  of  word,  not  deed ;  for  he  wished  them 
to  be  his  subjects,  which  they  did  not  oppose  in  fact,  but  in  word  only, 
for  they,  of  good  will,  rendered  him  as  many  services,  as  his  subjects 
did  from  restriction  ;  but  he  wished  to  make  them  call  themselves  such, 
and  they  would  not  do  so  :  wishing  to  take  in  Geneva  more  than  his 
predecessors  had,  he  lost  what  he  had,  and  even  some  of  his  own  be- 
sides."* 

During  a  space  of  twenty-five  years,  from  1610  to  1635,  there  w^as  a 
warm  struggle  between  the  house  of  Savoy  and  the  patriots  of  Geneva, 
The  duke,  not  daring  to  employ  open  force,  had  recourse  to  stratagem, 
and  caused  an  annual  tribute  to  be  offered  to  the  citizens,  on  condition 
that  the  Savoyards  should  be  allowed  to  guard  the  gates  of  the  city,  at 
least  during  the  fairs.  The  citizens  refused.  About  this  time,  John  of 
Savoy,  named  bishop  of  Geneva  by  Leo  X.,  thought  that  exile  and 
confiscation  would  shake  the  courage  of  the  inhabitants.  He  was  mis- 
taken. Geneva  had  sent  some  of  its  citizens  to  Fribourg,  in  general 
poor  enough,  but  of  tried  patriotism,  and  who,  on  beholding  the  ban- 
ners conquered  on  the  field  of  Morat,  knelt  down  devoutly,  and  kissed 
the  fringes,  stained  with  Burgundian  blood.  They  were  feasted,  and 
even  allowed  the  rights  of  citizenship.  When  the  envoys  returned  to 
their  own  country,  they  were  saluted  with  acclamations.  They  were 
hearers  of  a  treaty  which  the  duke's  partizans  were  unwilling  to  accept. 
Then  Geneva  beheld  herself  divided  into  two  factions,  with  their  co- 
lours and  distinctive  appellations.  Those,  who  solicited  and  received 
the  alliance  of  Fribourg,  were  called  Eidgenoss,  or  Eidgenots,t  that  is, 
"the  confederated,"  a  name  which  directly  called  to  mind  the  drama 
of  Grutli. 

The  Eidgenoss,  or  the  confederated,  to  revenge  themselves,  designated 
their  adversaries  by  the  name  of  the  Mammelus,  or  slaves.  This  was 
a  falsehood  and  an  insult,  because  the  Mammelus,  loved  Geneva  like 
good  children.  But  they  were  zealous  Catholics,  and  foresaw  that  the 
alliance  with  Berne,  sought  for  by  the  Eidgenoss,  would  prove  fatal  to 
the  national  religion,  and  that,  for  the  sake  of  the  independence  of  the 
commune,  their  adversaries  would  sacrifice  the  faith  of  Ardutius ;  the 
Mammelus  read  the  future. 

They  were  driven  out  of  the   city,    as  partisans  of  the  duke.     The 

*We  should  not  blindly  confide  in  the  testimony  of  Bonnivard,  who  has 
often  calumniated  Charles  III.,  a  prince,  who  was'the  friend  of  justice  and 
order,  of  a  mild  and  amiable  character,  pious,  regular  in  his  habits,  but  desti- 
tute of  those  qualities  so  essential  to  sovereigns,  courage  and  firmness  of  soul, 

tEidgenoss,  in  German,  the  confederated. 


108  LIFE    OF   JOHK    CALVJK. 

Eidgenoss  feared  that  they  would  not  be  strong  enough  to  resist  the 
house  of  Savoy,  and  therefore  formed  an  alliance  with  Berne,  which,  a 
long  time  since,  had  received  the  reformation.  The  ducal  nobility  then 
constituted  itself  into  a  confraternity,  under  the  title  of  The  Confra- 
ternity of  the  Spoo?i.  Berne  regarded  the  moment  as  propitious  ;  it 
came  to  the  aid  of  its  ally  with  a  powerful  army,  bringing  along  twenty 
cannon,  for  the  subjugation  of  the  ducal  partisans,  and  William  Farel, 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Catholics.  To  show  that  it  had  received  the 
new  gospel,  Berne,  upon  its  way,  broke  to  pieces  our  holy  images,  and 
made  its  horses  drink  out  of  the  holy-water  pots  of  our  churches. 

Undoubtedly,  Geneva  would  never  be  able  to  forget  the  names  of 
Besanszon  Hugues,  of  John  Baud,  of  Ami  Girard,  of  John  Philippe, 
of  the  Lullins,  the  Vandels,  who  nearly  all  made  part  of  the  society  of 
the  Eidgenoss.  But  the  historian,  while  contributing  to  pay  homage  to 
these  patriots,  should  not  dissimulate  the  fact,  that  they  embraced 
the  reformation,  not  from  conviction,  but  policy,  and  to  preserve  the 
only  thing  which  they  esteemed  more  than  faith, — liberty.  The  field 
of  Morat  was  not  far  distant  from  Fribourg  :  the  Eidgenoss,  in  travers- 
ing it,  might  there  have  seen  the  scattered  bones  of  some  of  those  no- 
ble confederates,  who  died  for  their  God  and  their  country.  At  Fri- 
bourg, the  linden  tree,  planted  in  commemoration  of  the  victory  of  the 
Swiss  Catholics,  still  threw  the  protection  of  its  shade  on  some  child 
of  a  soldier,  wounded  at  this  other  Marathon ;  this  was  a  great  lesson, 
but  it  was  utterly  lost  on  the  confederates. 

While  Berne  was  thus  moving  on  with  floods  of  missionaries  and 
soldiers,  to  aid  the  Eidgenoss,  Geneva,  in  her  monuments  and  customs, 
was  still  entirely  Catholic ; — a  city  of  the  arts  and  of  charity,  open  to 
the  learned  and  to  the  poor.  Three  nations  seemed  to  defile  through 
it  without  intermission,  leaving  there  some  germs  of  their  distinctive 
characters;  the  Savoyard,  his  probity;  the  Italian,  his  love  of  forms; 
the  Frenchman,  his  reckless  gaity. 

Its  bishops  had  frequently  opened  their  palace,  to  give  welcome  to 
the  painters,  of  Germany,  who,  in  the  middle  ages,  went  in  pilgrimage 
to  Rome;  or  to  the  Italian  artists,  who  traversed  Switzerland,  for  the 
purpose  of  visiting  France.  Both  of  these  were  accustomed  to  repay 
episcopal  hospitality,  by  leaving  with  their  hosts  some  work  of  art, — a 
Christ  in  ivory,  a  little  statue  cut  from  the  hard  oak,  a  Madonna  paint- 
ed on  canvass, — with  which  the  prelate  would  enrich  some  church  or 
convent,  Vv^ith  the  sole  condition  of  praying  for  the  traveler.  These 
prayers  were  still  recited  at  the  time  that  the  reformation  came  to  drive 
away  the  bishops,  and  to  burn  the  statues  and  pictures;  thus,  at  once 
proving  itself  cruel,  sacrilegious,  and  ignorant.  At  that  period,  Gene- 
va possessed  a  fine  museum,  not  imprisoned  within  four  walls  of  parget 
stone,  but  open  to  the  air  and  to  the  Alpine  sunlight,  or  in  the  vast 
nave  of  some  basilica.  With  pride,  it  could  direct  the  stranger's  atten- 
tion to  six  statues  of  saints,  which  ornamented  the  grand  entrance  to 
the  church  of  the  Gray  Friars ;  to  the  two  angels,  whose  outspread 
■\vings  overshadowed  the  cemetery  of  the  Magdalen ;  to  the  stained 
glass  of  St.  Anthony,  whose  colours  were  fresh  and  beautiful  as  those 
of  Cologne ;  to  the  stone  arabesques,  of  the  convent  of  the  Jacobins ; 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  109 

the  crucifix  of  the  cathedral,  a  work  of  some  unknown  master,  and  to 
many  other  wonders  of  art,  which  the  fury  of  the  reformers  broke  into 
pieces,  to  prove,  without  doubt,  the  truth  of  that  prophecy  of  Erasmus: 
"Every  where  that  Lutheranism  shall  obtain  the  ascendency,  the  culti- 
vation of  the  arts  will  be  extinguished."* 

The  city  was  divided  into  seven  parishes,  thus  designated  :  the  first, 
the  cathedral  of  St.  Peter,t  under  the  title  of  the  Holy  Cross ;  the  se- 
cond, JSolre  Dame  la  Neuve,  near  to  St.  Peter's ;  the  third,  the  Mag- 
dalen ;  the  fourth,  St.  Germanus;  the  fifth,  St,  Gervaise ;  the  sixth, 
St.  Legier ;   the  seventh,  St.  Victor. 

In  the  interior  of  the  city,  could  be  counted  three  monasteries,  th« 
Gray  Friars,  or  Cordeliers,  at  the  convent  de  la  Rive ;  the  nuns  of  St. 
Clair ;  the  Jacobins,  on  the  street  la  Corraterie,  at  the  palace  where 
was  the  clock  of  Pont  du  Rhone,  which  was  burnt  down  in  the 
year  1670. 

Outside  the  city,  were  the  monastery  of  St.  Victor,  of  the  order  of 
Clugny,  with  a  prior  and  nine  monks,  the  convent  of  the  Augustinians, 
near  Pont  de  I'Arve,  and  styled  Notre  Bame  de  Grace,  and  another  at 
St.  John  des  Grottes,  opposite  la  Batie. 

Geneva  also  boasted  seven  hospitals,  sustained  by  their  own  income 
or  by  tha  alms  of  the  charitable.!}:  There  was  one  destined  for  the 
poor  traveler,  who  might  have  fallen  sick  upon  his  journey.  He  was 
cared  for  and  nursed,  until  he  was  able  to  resume  his  travel ;  as  soon 
as  he  could  rise  and  walk,  a  brother  came  and  warned  him  to  yield  his 
bed  to  another  pilgrim.  The  restored  wayfarer  set  out,  after  having 
received  a  loaf  of  bread  and  a  gourd  of  wine,  but  he  was  obliged  for 
three  days  to  recite  an  Ave  Maria  for  the  hospital. 

After  the  reformation,  nearly  all  these  institutions  of  prayer  and 
charity  fell;  only  two  remained. § 

♦Ubicumque  regnat  Lutheranismus,  ibi  literarum  interitus. — Ep,  p.  636-637, 

tGeneva  has  retained  the  church  of  St.  Peter.  The  interior  still  exhihits 
traces  of  the  ancient  church,  in  its  stained  glass,  where  the  saints  and  histori- 
cal scenes  are  represented :  and  those  who  were  unwilling  to  pardon  an  image 
of  Jesus  Christ,  have  shown  favour  to  that  of  one  of  their  bishops,  which  is  seea 
behind  Calvin's  pulpit,  attached  to  a  column.  There  are  also  some  seats,  abov« 
which  still  remain  six  images  of  the  Apostles,  in  alto  relievo,  with  their  names 
carved  upon  scrolls.  The  tombs  of  Catholics,  with  the  prayer  for  the  dead 
and  the  requiescant  in  pace,  are  also  to  be  seen. — Florimond  de  Remond, 

:}:Four  of  these  hospitals  had  been  founded  by  princes  of  the  house  of  Sa- 
voy. The  duchess  Yolande  founded  that  for  old  men;  Amedee,  that  for  luna- 
tics; Anne  of  Cypress,  that  for  pilgrims;  John  of  Savoy,  that  for  foundlings,—, 
De  Costa,  mem.  hist.  t.  i.  p.  357.  .  . 

iSpon.  hist,  de  Geneve,  in  4to.  t.  ii,  p.  212. 

10 


CHAPTER    XI. 


THE    BISIIOFS    AND    THE    PATRIOTS. 

A  picture  of  the  services  rendered  to  the  material  and  religious  interests  oi 
Geneva  by  the  Episcopacy. — Ardutius, — Adliemar  Fabri. — Jolm  do  Coni' 
pois. — Struggle  of  the  Patriots  and  the  Episcopacy. — Berthelier,  Besan<jon 
Hugues. — Pecolat. — Bonnivard. — Punishment  of  Berthelier,  of  Levrier,-~ 
Bishop  de  la  Baume  is  obliged  to  leave  Geneva. — His  character. — Berne 
p'.onts  by  the  intestine  divisions  of  Geneva  to  spread  tlie  reformation. 

In  the  history  of  the  Genevan  community,  there  is  one  figure  -which 
predominates  over  the  rest;  it  is  that  of  the  bishop,  the  apostle  of  ma- 
lerial  interests,  of  national  franchises, and  of  independence.  In  that  sac 
cession  of  prelates  who  occupied  the  See  of  Geneva,  from  the  end  of 
the  fourth  century  to  the  epoch  of  the  reformation,  there  is  not  one,  who 
does  not  present  claims  to  the  gratitude  of  the  christian  world.  When 
Guy  committed  the  error  of  ceding,  to  his  brother  Aimon,  several  seig- 
nioral  possessions  which  were  the  property  of  the  church,  Plnmbert  of 
Grammont  boldly  refused  to  recognize  the  alienation,  and  backed  by 
the  council,  appealed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Vienna,  as  umpire  of  the 
dispute.  The  treaty  signed  at  Seyssel  in  1124,  established  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  bishop,  who  was  amenable  only  to  the  authority  of 
the  Pope  and  the  emperor.*  To  comprehend  the  importance  of  such 
an  act,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  rights  of  the  church  were 
confounded  with  those  of  the  State.  The  count  Aimon  dies,  his  son 
refuses  to  recognize  the  treaty  of  Seyssel.  Ardutius,  successor  of  Hum- 
bert de  Grammont,  denounces  this  infraction  of  the  treaty  to  the  empe- 
ror, Frederic  Barberoussa,  who,  by  a  rescript,  dated  Spire,  Jan.  15th, 
1153,  maintains  the  privileges  of  the  episcopacy.  The  count  deter- 
mined to  resort  to  violence;  the  bishop  had  recourse  to  the  Pope,  and 
Adrian  IV.  promised  him  his  protection.  This  triumph  was  only  mo- 
mentary. Amedee  addressed  himself  to  the  brother  de  Bercthold, 
founder  of  Berne,  and  one  of  the  members  of  the  family  de  Zaehringen, 
contested  heir  of  the  kings  of  little  Burgundy,  of  which  Geneva  was  a 
portion.  The  duke,  who  was  of  good  faith,  claimed  the  sovereignty 
of  the  city  as  his  property.  Barbaroussa  accords  it  to  him,  and  Berc- 
thold also  agrees  to  the  alienation.     The   Genevan  liberties  were  in 

*  James  Fazy.  Essai  d'un  precis  de  I'histoire  de  laRepubliquede  Geneve  i,  1, 
Geneve  1838,  p.  17. 

Picot.  Histoire  do  Geneve  t.  1,  in  8va. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  Ill 

dano-er.  j\rdutius  flies  to  St.  Jean  de  Losne,  to  plead  the  people's 
cause  before  the  emperor,  who  strips  the  Duke  of  Zaehringen  of  the 
rio-ht,  which  had  been  acknowledged  and  confirmed  to  him  by  the 
Bull  of  Spire. 

The  struggle  continued.  Bernard  Chabert  understood  that,  to  bri- 
die  the  insolence  of  counts,  some  other  arms  were  necessary  besides  the 
bull  of  a  Pope,  and  the  decree  of  an  emperor;  he  fortified  the  castle 
de  risle.  Under  his  administration,  the  revenues  of  the  state  and  the 
fortunes  of  the  citizens  were  seen  to  increase.  New  roads  were  marked 
out  and  formed,  the  bridge  du  Rhone  was  restored,  the  foreign  mer- 
chants, who  resorted  to  the  markets  of  the  city,  were  more  efficaciously 
protected,  manufactories  were  founded,  and  new  trades  invited  from 
Italy.  Ami  de  Grandson,  Henri  de  Bottis,  the  Carthusians;  Aim6  de 
Menthonay,  during  the  course  of  tlieir  episcopacy,  laboured  with  sue 
cess  to  maintain  the  privileges  of  Geneva. 

Behold  a  poor  monk  who  belongs  to  the  order  of  Jacobins, — so 
grossly  ridiculed  by  Luther, — Adhemar  Fabri,  who  first  conceived  the 
idea  of  collecting  the  customs,  privileges,  laws,  ordinances,  and  usages 
of  the  city  into  a  code,  v/hich  he  published  in  1237;*  a  legal  monu- 
ment,  the  importance  of  which  has  been  exhibited  by  James  Fazy  in  his 
work  on  the  history  of  the  Genevan  republic. 

All  the  figures  portrayed  by  Mr.  Fazy  in  his  book  are  magnificent; 
but  the  finest,  without  contradiction,  is  that  of  Amedee  VIII,  who,  on 
ihe  banks  of  lake  Leman,  caused  lo  be  constructed,  at  Ripaille,  a  con- 
vent, to  which,  at  fifty-one  years  of  age,  he  retired  with  six  gentlemen, 
in  order  to  lead  a  tranquil  life,  remote  from  the  tumult  of  business.  It 
was  there,  that  one  day,  in  the  year  1536,  arrived  a  learned  man,  by 
name,  Eneas  Sylvius;  Amedee  received  him,  clad  in  his  robe  and  cowl 
of  gray  coarse  cloth,  and  with  his  pilgrim  staff  in  hand.f  It  was  from 
this  solitude,  that  the  Council  of  Bale,  in  1439,  withdrew  Amedee, 
in  order  to  elect  him  Pope,  in  place  of  Eugene  IX.  Amedee 
put  off  the  tiara  in  the  Council  of  Lousanne,  which  he  convoked,  find 
in  which,  to  restore  peace  to  the  church,  he  recognized  Nicholas  V.J 

Having  come  down  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  it  is  im- 
possible  not  to  admire  the  virtues,  with  which  the  prelates  of  Geneva 
shone  during  their  long  apostolate.  All  have  shown  themselves  wise, 
prudent,  tolerant,  enlightened,  devoted  to  the  country  and  its  interests. 

*  Fabri's  book  is  a  curious  monument  of  penal  legislation  at  that  epoch. 
Every  citizen,  striking  another,  without  effusion  of  blood,  was  condemned  to  an 
amende  of  three  sous;  if  the  blood  ran,  to  sixty  sous. 

The  Franchises  are  written  in  Latin,  and  deserve  to  be  studied  as  a  linguis- 
tic labour;  Mr.  Picot  has  given  some  specimens  of  this  Roman  language  at 
that  time  spoken  by  the  legislator. 

t  Memoires  historiques  sur  la  maison  royale  de  Savoie,  par  M.  le  Marquis  de 
Costa  de  Beauregard.     Turin:  1816,  t.  I,  p.  258. 

:}:  The  Pope  then  allowed  the  dukes  of  Savoy  to  nominate  to  the  ccnsi^torial 
benefices  in  their  States;  that  is,  to  the  archbishoprics,  bishoprics,  abbe  s,  and 
priories  of  Savoy  and  Piedmont.  The  principal  agent  in  the  election  of  Ame- 
dfie  VIII,  to  the  pontifical  throne  in  1439,  and  in  his  abdication  in  1443,  was 
Louis  Allemand  de  St.  Joire  en  Faucigny,  Archbishop  of  Aries.  Afterbnvi^rr 
been  Count  of  Lyons  and  President  of  the  Council  of  Bale,  he  was  bratified  ia 
1527,  by  a  bull  of  Clement  VIL    De  Costa,  Memoires,  etc..  t.  I,  p.  220. 


112  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

When  a  franchise  is  menaced,  it  is  a  bishop  who  flies  to  defend  it;  the 
bisliopis,  above  all  things,  a  citizen.  He  has  neither  fear  of  kings  nor  em- 
perors; he  defends  his  people,  and  if  lil^e  AUemand,  he  perishes  dis- 
charging  his  duty,  he  blesses  God,  and  dies  contented.  All  powers  find 
their  personification  in  the  bishop,  wiio  is  edile,  judge,  secular  prince 
and  priest.  As  edile,  he  takes  care  of  the  city,  whose  cleanliness  is  the 
admiration  of  strangers;  as  judge,  he  administers  justice  without  respect 
to  persons;  as  secular  prince,  he  endows  the  city  with  public  institu- 
tions, with  hospitals,  houses  of  charity,  bridges,  and  public  roads;  as 
priest,  he  visits  the  sick,  opens  his  palace  to  the  indigent,  his  purse  to 
poor  travelers,  and  takes  care  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan;  as  magis- 
trate, he  attends  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  causes  transgressors 
to  be  punished.  He  is  the  man  of  all  duties;  the  crosier  which  he  bears 
in  the  church,  was  given  him  by  the  people,  and  perhaps  it  was  an 
error  in  Martin  V.  to  have  changed  this  mode  of  election:  the  alliance 
of  the  church  and  state  had,  till  then,  been  so  fortunate  and  happy  \ 
This  blow  to  the  constitution  of  the  country,  was  one  of  the  grounds  of 
complaint  used  by  the  patriots  in  order  to  sever  Catholic  unity.  But 
ihe  evil  was  not  irreparable,  and  at  a  later  period,  the  patriots  them, 
selves  were  forced  to  regret  this  mild  sacerdotal  yoke,  when  they  con- 
trasted  it  with  the  despotism  of  Calvin. 

The  chapter,  desirous  to  revive  the  ancient  discipline,  elected  Urban 
de  Chivron  bishop  of  the  see,  then  vacant,  but  Sixtus  IV.  refused  the 
bull  of  institution,  and  nominated  cardinal  de  la  Rovere  to  the  See  of 
Geneva.  The  selection  was  a  happy  one.  La  Rovere  refused,  and 
John  de  Compois  was  named  by  the  Pope, 

John  de  Compois,  whose  nomination  had  terrified  anticipation,  knew 
how  to  win  hearts,  by  maintaining  the  franchises  of  the  republic*  The 
house  of  Savoy,  which  counted  on  a  pliable  and  docile  disposition,  was 
disappointed.  It  succeeded  in  removing  the  prelate.  Francis  of  Savoy 
was  his  successor,  and  Geneva  had  grounds  to  applaud  the  administra- 
tion of  this  bishop.  At  his  death  the  city  became  a  prey  to  new  in- 
trigues. The  chapter,  sustained  by  the  population,  elected  Charles  de 
Seyssel,  whom  Rome  refused  to  recognize.  The  Pope  nominated 
Campion,  Chancellor  of  Savoy,  to  govern  the  church  of  Geneva.  Cam- 
pion was  skillful  enough  to  triumph  over  popular  prejudices.  In  this 
prelate  the  Genevan  liberties  found  a  courageous  defender.  But  each 
day,  public  sentiment  was  becoming  still  more  hostile  to  the  papacy, 
the  intentions  of  which  were  calumniated.  The  priest,  chosen  by  the 
court  of  Roiiie,  was  obliged  to  combat  against  the  most  violent  preju- 
dices. The  protection,  extended  to  him  by  the  ducal  family,  was  in 
the  eyes  of  the  people  a  title  to  reprobation.  Geneva  accustomed  her- 
self to  behold,  in  her  bishops,  creatures  sold  to  the  interests  of  Savoy. 
The  duk«s,  greatly  incensed,  no  longer  cloaked  their  designs,  and 
openly  marched  to  the  conquest  of  the  canton.  What  was  termed 
their  pomp,  irritated  the  populace.  "When  in  the  summer,"  says  Bon- 
nivard,  "they  went  to  th«ir  country  seats,  they  caused  the  windows  to- 
be  thrown  open  in  order  to  enjoy  the  fresh  air,,  then  they  caused  their 

*  James  Fazy,,  p.  63. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIH.  113 

rents  to  be  brought,  which  were  for  each,  a  soldCj  and  a  vessel  of  Mai. 
voisie;  afterwards  they  retired."* 

Strange  tyrants,  to  whom  a  patriot,  like  Bonnivard,  seriously  makes 
it  a  reproach  to  open  the  windows  in  summer,  in  order  to  breathe  the 
fresh  air  of  the  mountains !  When  Calvin  shall  cause  blood  to  flow 
in  Geneva,  Bonnivard  will,  himself,  go  into  the  country  to  find  fresh 
air,  but  he  will  not  say  one  word  in  his  chronicles,  in  favour  of  the  vic- 
tims of  the  theocrat. 

The  republican  opinion  was  represented  by  men  of  mind,  who  had 
long  been  meditating  a  rupture  with  Rome.  These  were  Berthelier, 
Besan^on  Hugues,  Bonnivard,  the  two  Levrier.  Berthelier  was  a  true 
Teutonic  knight,  ready  to  die  for  any  generous  or  foolish  idea  which 
might  chance  to  traverse  his  brain;  cold  and  collected  amid  danger,  and 
when  it  was  passed,  plunging  M'ith  closed  eyes,  like  a  brainless  youth, 
into  the  midst  of  pleasure,  he  there  took  no  more  care  of  his  life  than 
on  the  battle-field. 

Bonfiivard  describes  him  to  the  life:  — 

"Berthelier  loved  liberty,  he  had  the  sense  to  know  it,  and  the  regu- 
lated  hardihood  to  assert  and  maintain  it,  had  he  the  fortune  to  secure 
it,  which  he  ever  tried  to  do;  and  inasmuch  as  he  found  the  wise  less  ar- 
dent in  this,  he  was  often  constrained  to  see  himself  accompanied  by 
fools,  and  to  accommodate  himself  to  them  in  many  things  in  order  to 
keep  them.  For  which,  he  was  a  little  blamed  by  persons  who  did 
not  perceive  or  understand  hi.-  intention,  as  when  he  attended  banquets, 
mummeries,  plays,  dances,  and  the  like,  and  even  sometimes  joined  in 
deriding  the  more  important  enemies  of  the  public  weal.  And  he  fre- 
quently, too,  defended  the  faults  of  young  persons,  against  that  justice 
which  sought  to  punish  them." 

Berthelier  had  traced  out  his  part,  before-hand.  This  part  was  to  be 
played  upon  the  public  square,  in  taverns,  if  necessary,  in  the  van  of 
combatants,  and  to  be  concluded  on  the  scaffold.  He  said  to  Bonni- 
vard: '*  My  gossip,  your  hand  here ! — from  love  for  the  liberties  of 
Geneva,  you  will  lose  your  benefice,  and  I,  my  head.^' 

This  gossip  was  the  prior  of  St.  Victor,  a  spirit  like  de  Rabelais,  of 
caustic  temper,  a  biting  writer,  and  a  mirthful  babbler." 

Besan^on  Hugues  had  made  his  fortune  by  commerce;  his  style  was 
figurative,  his  language  captivating;  the  college  would  have  made  him 
an  orator.  The  two  Levrier  had  the  reputation  of  distinojuished  law- 
yers. These  names,  and  some  others  besides,  such  as  Pecolat,  Ami 
Perrin,  Jean  de  Soex,  Jean  Louis  Versonnex,  were  known  to  the  peo- 
ple. They  were  supposed  to  entertain  noble  ideas.  The  duke  dis- 
trusted, and  the  bishop  feared  them.  To  resist  the  danger  .which 
menaced  them,  they  had  formed  an  association,  of  which  this  was  the 
motto, — '-Who  touches  one,  touches  the  rest."!  This  association  grew 
and  increased,  receiving  its  members  from  among  the  discontented,  until 
it  was  transformed  into  a  faction. — For  a  few  noble  characters  to  whom 
it  could  with  pride  refer,  it  numbered  a  host  of  members  bold  enough 
to  dare  every  thing,  and  even  crime  itself,  for  the  sake  of  triumph. 

*  Ruchat,  Histoir  ^  de  la  reformaUon  &u  Suisse, 
t  James  Fazv,  p.  lOD. 
10* 


114  LTFE    OF    JOWS    CALVriTr 

One  day,  John  Pecolat  was  dining  with  Louis  de  Gorrivod,  the  bishop 
of  Maui'ienne,  who  had  grounds  of  complaint  against  the  bishop  of 
Geneva. — Be  not  uneasy,  said  Pecolat,  non  videhit  dies  Fetri.^'  They 
Jaughed  much  at  the  prophecy.  Some  days  afterwards,  several  of  the 
servants  of  the  prelate  died  amid  horrible  convulsions,  from  having, 
eaten  of  pastry,  which  had  been  served  at  their  master's  table,  who, 
however,  himself  took  none  of  it.  The  poison  had  been  prepared  by 
some  Italian  hand;  it  killed  like  that  of  the  locust. 

The  saying  of  Pecolat  then  ran  the  course  of  the  taverns,  and  soon 
reached  the  prelate's  ears.  Pecolat  was  arrested,  put  to  the  torture,, 
and  confessed  the  crime.  The  process  had  the  appearance  of  a  secret 
vengeance.  The  bishop  committed  a  fault:  he  should  have,  with  bold 
front,  prosecuted  the  guilty  on  the  very  soil  of  Geneva^  and  not  in  a 
castle  out  of  the  city.  Berthelier,  accused  of  being  partieeps  criminis 
in  the  poisoning  of  the  bishop,,  had  left  Geneva  to  implore  the  protec- 
tion of  Fribourg.  Fribourg  intervened,  and  Pecolat  was  transported 
to  the  castle  de  I'lsle.  Brought  before  his  judges,  he  retracted  his. 
former  avowals.  Transferred  to  the  prison  of  the  bishop,  he  w^as  about 
to  be  put  to  the  torture  again,  when  he  seized  a  knife  and  cut  out  his 
tongue.     Judges  and  executioners  had  nothing  further  to  do. 

Bonnivard  then  canceived  a  bold  project,  which  was  to  rescue  Peco- 
lat from  the  hands  of  Genevan  justice,  by  having  him  summoned  be- 
fore  the  metropolitan  tribunal  of  Vienna.  The  Archbishop,  moved  to 
pity  at  the  sight  of  the  two  brothers  of  Pecolat,  who  kissed  his  robe, 
permits  them  to  cite  the  bishop  of  Geneva  before  the  court  of  Vienna. 
But  who  will  serve  the  process?  Bonnivard  finds  a  clerk,  who,  for  two 
crowns,  undertakes  this  mission,  for  the  next  morning  at  St.  Peter- s, 
where  the  duke  and  the  bishop  are  to  hear  mass;  but  when  the  mo- 
ment comes,  the  clerk  trembles  and  tries  to  escape,  when  Bonnivard 
draws  a  poignard  from  under  his  robe,  which  he  brandishes  before  his 
eyes,  while  with  his  left  hand  he  pushes  him  before  the  bishop,  ex- 
claiming: clerk  do  your  office.  And  the  clerk,  kissing  the  document, 
presented  it  to  the  bishop,  murmuring  as  he  did  so:  inhihetur  vobis, 
proul  in  copia.  We  were  expecting  a  different  denouement.  The 
bishop  had  the  right  to  have  Bonnivard  arrested,  but  he  was  allowed  to 
return  unmolested  to  his  abbey  of  St.  Victor. 

John  of  Savoy,  at  different  times  summoned  to  appear  at  Vienna, 
had  refused  to  obey:  he  was  excommunicated.  For  Catholicism,  it. 
was  an  occasion  of  bitter  grief,  to  see  the  condemnation  of  a  prelate,  to 
whom  the  patriots  could  make  no  other  reproach,  than  his  too  great  at- 
tachment to  the  ducal  house  of  Savoy. 

Events  were  hurrying  on.  One  morning,  the  citizens,  on  rising  from 
sleep,  beheld  fixed  upon  stakes,  in  front  of  the  bridge  de  VArve,  two* 
human  bodies  cut  into  quarters,  and  suspended  over  casks,  destined  to 
bear  them  away,  when  the  exposition  should  have  endured  the  usual 
time.  These- were  the  remains  of  two  young  men,  Navis  and  Blanch- 
et,  both  belonging  to  theparty  of  Pecolat.     Surprised,  while  on  their 

*  "Ko  will  not  see  the  days  of  Peter." 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIU.  115 

route  for  Piedmont,  they  had  confessed  a  project  to- make  way  with  the 
duke,  to  assassinate  the  bishop,  and  to  substitute  in  his  place  the  prior 
of  St.  Victor.  Berthelier  was  accused  as  an  accomplice.  Sentence 
of  death  had  been  pronounced  by  the  ducal  tribunal.  The  criminals 
could  only  be  tried  at  the  tribunal  of  the  bishop.  The  execution  took 
place  on  foreign  soil:  so  many  outrages,  which  excited  the  minds  of  the 
people.  The  path  of  blood  was  open.  By  the  aid  of  terror,  the 
princes  of  Savoy,  succeeded  in  raising  a  powerful  army,  and  taking 
possession  of  Geneva.  The  city  had  defended  itself  feebly.  Except 
for  the  inhabitants  of  Fribourg,  Geneva  would  have  lost  its  nationality: 
thus  again  did  Catholicism,  save  Helvetic  freedom;  M.  Spazier  does 
not  fear  to  avow  and  proclaim  this  truth.  "Jt  is,"  says  he,  "from  the 
Catholic  cantons,  that  the  independence  of  the  country  has  sprung, 
whilst  the  most  despotic  oligarchy  was  established  in  the  Calvinistic 
cantons.'"'* 

It  was  Berthelier  who  bad  brought  the  inhabitants  of  Fribourg  to  the 
aid  of  his  country.  The  duke  caused  him  to  be  Avatched,  in  order  to 
get  clear  of  him.  He  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Savoyards,  and  was^ 
thrown  into  prison.  Berthelier  knew  the  game  he  was  playing.  He 
had  written  on  his  dungeon  walls,  this  sentence  from  the  bible:  JSon 
omnis  moriar,  sed  vivam  et  narrabo  opera  Domini.  In  effect,  death 
was  waiting  for  him.  He  was  offered  pardon,  if  he  would  sue  for  it  to 
the  duke ;  he  refused.  He  was  condemned,  and  Dubois,  his  judge, 
read  to  him  the  sentence  of  death: 

"Inasmuch,  Philibert  Berthelier,  as  thou  hast,  on  this  occasion,  as 
on  many  others,  revolted  against  my  very  dreaded  prince  and  lord,  and 
thine  own,  rendering  thyself  culpable  of  the  crime  of  high  treason,  and 
of  many  other  crimes  which  deserve  death,  as  is  contained  in  thy  pro- 
cess; we  condemn  thee  to  have  thy  head  cut  off,  and  thy  body  hung  on 
the  gibbet  of  Champel,  thy  head  to  be  nailed  to  a  stake  near  the  river 
Arve,  and  thy  goods  to  be  confiscated." 

He  was  decapitated  before  the  castle  de  ITsle,  in  presence  of  some 
soldiers,  without  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  rescue  him. 
His  remains  were  paraded  through  the  city  in  a  cart.  The  executioner 
held  the  head  in  his  band,  and  exhibiting  it,  cried  out,  "this  is  the 
head  of  Berthelier,  the  traitor!" 

This  blood  caused  other  Bertheliers  to  spring  up,  ready  to  avenge  the 
death  of  him,  whom  they  regarded  as  a  martyr.  In  times  of  revolution 
the  knife  confers  nobility.  The  bishop  could  not  afterwards  live  in 
such  a  focus  of  hatred.  He  might  dread  the  poison  of  some  fanatic, 
w^ho  would  have  been  disavowed  by  his  own  faction.  He  resigned  his 
bishopric  to  Peter  de  la  Baume,  commendatory  of  the  abbeys  of  Suse 
and  St.  Claude.  On  the  11th  of  April,  1523,  Peter  de  la  Baume 
made  his  entry  into  Geneva,  mounted  on  a  mule,  magnificently  capari- 
soned. The  syndics,  the  councils  waited  for  him  at  the  bridge  de  1'- 
Arve,  where  the  keys  of  the  city  were  placed  in  his  hands.  He  entered, 
moving  beneath  a  .canopy,  ornamented  with  precious  stones.  After 
having,  at  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  sworn  to  protect  the  city  franchises,. 

♦  Tableau  de  rAllemagne  Actuelle,    Revue  du  Nord.  p.  436. 


116  "  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVTIf^ 

he  received,  as  a  present,  six  silver  plates  and  porrmgers.*  But  un- 
fortunately duke  Charles  III,  did  not  arrest  his  march.  The  patriots 
being  discouraged,  he  wished  to  encroach  on  the  Genevan  franchises. 
Then  the  extinguished  ashes  of  the  Eidgenoss  were  rekindled,  and' 
Amee  Levrier,  the  ancient  syndic,  came  forward  to  protest  against  the 
claim,  arrogated  by  the  duke,  to  be  final  judge  in  civil  causes.  Lev- 
rier, on  the  next  morning  was  seized  at  the  moment  he  came  forth  from 
the  church  of  St.  Peter,  bound  with  cords,  carried  to  Bonne,  within  the 
limits  of  Savoy,  and  decapitated.  While  proceeding  to  the  place  of 
punishment,  he  sang: 

Quid  mihi  mors  nocuit!  virtus  post  fata  viresoit! 
Nee  cruce,  nee  seevi  glaclio  perit  ilia  tyranni. 

The  party  of  the  Eidgenoss  revived  amid  blood.  Two  cantons  cam® 
forward  to  proffer  it  their  alliance:  Fribourg,  good  Catholic,  and  with- 
out thought  of  the  past;  Berne,  which  had  allowed  itself  to  be  gained 
by  the  reformation,  with  a  view  to  religious  propagandism. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1526,  the  alliance  of  the  three  cantons  was 
sworn  to,  solemnly,  at  the  foot  of  the  altars  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter, 
in  terms  as  follows  :  "We  promise  to  maintain  the  alliance  which  we 
have  contracted ;  may  God,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  all  the  Saints  of  para- 
dise be  our  aid." 

The  ducal  cause  was  lost. 

De  la  Baume  nobly  allied  himself  with  the  popular  cause  ;  and  to  fur- 
nish a  pledge  of  his  patriotism,  he  conferred  upon  the  syndics  and  coun*- 
cils  the  right  to  take  cognizance  of  civil  cases,  a  right  which  hitherto 
belonged  to  the  bishop  :  a  noble  act  of  disinterestedness,  for  which  ths 
Protestant  historian  has  neglected  to  give  credit  to  this  prelate,  who,  in 
exchange,  had  solicited  and  obtained  letters  of  citizenship,  as  a  private 
individual. 

"  He  was,"  says  Bonnivard,  "a  great  dissipator  of  goods,  in  all  things 
superfluous,  esteeming  it  a  sovereign  virtue  in  a  prelate,  to  have  hh 
table  loaded  with  large  dishes  of  meat  and  all  sorts  of  wines;  and 
when  there,  he  gave  himself  up  so  completely,  as  to  exceed  thirty-one 
courses." 

This  shaft  would  have  been  much  more  pointed,  had  not  Bonr.iv.ard 
often  seated  himself  at  this  table,  and  drank  far  otherwise  than  becams 
the  prior  of  St.  Victor.  The  bishop,  in  restoring  to  the  monk  the  pri- 
ory, of  which,  in  1519,  he  had  been  despoiled,  probably  thought  that 
charity  was  a  virtue  of  the  cloister  :  Bonnivard  undeceived  him.  You 
have  just  seen,  that  the  prior  could  find  no  other  reproach  against  Peter 
de  la  Baume  except  his  too  splendid  table  ;  but  he  took  good  care  to  con- 
ceal  the  fact,  that  the  crumbs  which  fell  from  this  table  belonged  to  the 
poor,  as  the  bread  and  fuel  in  the  kitchen  were  also  at  the  service  of 
such  as  were  hungry  or  cold.  He  has  not  told  us  that  the  prelate,  seve- 
ral times  each  month,  visited  the  prisons,  hospitals,  and  infirmaries ; 
that  he  loved  literature  and  those  who   cultivated  learning,  that  he  was 

*  Histoire  de  Geneve,  par  Picot,  t,  I,  p.  254. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN,  117 

meek  of  heart  and  prompt  to  forget  offences.  When  he  returned  to 
Geneva,  all  faith  was  not  extinct  in  the  members  of  his  flock  ;  he  would 
have  known  how  to  defend  his  rights  as  prince,  but  blood  nmst  be  shed, 
and  Peter  de  la  Baume  preferred  rather  to  yield;  before  every  thing,  he 
was  the  apostle  and  father  o[  the  Genevans.  He  might  have  fought, 
however ;  the  constitution  gave  him  the  right,  and  although  the  reform, 
ed  church  would  have  at  that  time  denied  this  right,  she  has  since  recog- 
nized it. 

"  Every  church,"  Fetzler  has  said,  "which  desires  to  perpetuate  itself 
has  need  of  unity ;  this  unity  can  exist  only  on  condition  that  it  is  up- 
held  by  the  civil  power.  The  two  churches,  the  Lutheran  and  the 
Calvinistic,  have  been  compelled  to  confess  that  the  prince  has  the 
right  of  sovereignty,  even  over  the  episcopal  government."*  Now,  we 
must  not  forget,  that  Peter  de  la  Baume  was,  at  the  same  time,  bishop 
and  prince  of  Geneva. 

In  his  exile,  the  bishop  consoled  himself  by  singing,  with  Boetius, 
his  favourite  poet : 

'^  If  the  world,  amid  its  incessant  metamorphoses,  changes  so  often, 
a  great  fool  is  he,  who  believes  in  the  stability  of  fortune,  and  in  the 
perpetuity  of  happiness !" 

Rata   si  constat  sua  forma  mundo, 
Si  tantas  variat  vices, 
Crede  fortunis   hominum  caducis, 
Bonis  crede  fugacibus.t 

Berne  profited  by  these  intestine  divisions,  in  order  to  introduce  the 
reformation.  In  Switzerland,  the  cannon  burned  those  cities  which 
the  preacher  could  not  convert.  Berne,  in  the  rear  of  her  armies,  had 
apostles,  who  had  met  with  the  Holy  Ghost  in  a  bar-room,  and  found 
the  titles  of  their  vocation  at  the  bottom  of  a  glass,  and  these  she  let 
loose  upon  the  conquered  cities,  in  order  to  rescue  souls.  William 
Farel  and  Anthony  Saunier  chanced  to  pass  through  Berne.  The 
senate  sent  for  them,  and  without  having  made  any  inquiry  into  their 
mission,  gave  them  letters  of  credit  for  Geneva.  To  this  city,,  already 
vexed  by  the  spirit  of  trouble,  they  brought  disorder.  Farel  and  Sau- 
nier  were  obliged  to  take  to  flight ;  for  the  people  were  desirous  to  throw 
them  into  the  Rhone.  Scarcely  had  they  made  their  escape,  -when,  at 
the  corners  of  the  streets,  was  seen  affixed  a  placard,  conceived  as^ 
follows  : 

"  Arrived  in  this  city,  a  man,  who  undertakes,  in  one  month,  to 
teach  how  to  read  and  write  in  French,  all  Avho  will  come,  male  and 
female,  little  and  great,  even  those  who  have  never  been  at  school. 
And  if,  in  the  said  month,  they  do  not  know  how  to  read  and  write,  he 
asks  nothing  for  his  trouble.  He  will  be  found  at  the  grand  hall  de 
Boitet,  near  Moulard,  at  the  sign  of  the  Golden  Cross,  where  much 
evil  is  remedied  for  nothing. 

FROMENT." 

*Fetzler,  cited  by  Hceninghaiis.     See,   also,  on   this  subject,  Hengrehngste 
(Dr.  W.)  in  der  Berlin,  evang.  Kirchen-Zeit,  18-19 
tBoetii  de  consolatione  philosophiee. 


118 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIH". 


This  advertisement,  whith  one  would  suppose  to  be  transcribed  from' 
some  Paris  journal  of  our  own  epoch,  was  truly  seductive.  The  sick 
and  ignorant  flocked  thither  in  crowds  ;  but  in  place  of  remedies  and 
lessons,  Fronient  distributed  to  his  visiters  long  tirades  against  the  Pope, 
who  represented  anti-christ ;  against  the  cardinals,  who  served  as  tail- 
bearers  to  satan  ;  against  the  priests  and  monks,  in  whom  the  seven 
capital  sins  dwelt,  as  in  their  ordinary  abode.  This  was  all  the  theolo- 
gy that  he  knew,  and  even  this  he  had  stolen  out  of  a  wretched  pam- 
phlet, written  in  Germany  and  translated  into  French.  The  city, 
thanks  to  these  preachers,  was  soon  transformed  into  a  real  school, 
where  every  one  who  knew  how  to  read,  thought  himself  as  much  en- 
titled to  dispute  as  if  he  had  taken  degrees.  Froment  had  imagined  an 
expedient  to  give  heart  to  the  ignorant  :  he  taught  that  whoever  read 
the  scriptures  for  the  purpose  of  searching  truth  therein,  was  sure  to  be 
illumined  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  this  was  another  advertisement,  calcu- 
lated to  procure  him  crowds  of  customers.  He  said  to  his  hearers  : 
"Prove  to  me  by  the  scriptures  that  I  am  wrong,  and  I  will  humbly 
acknowledge  my  error !"  A  thing  astonishing  !  Three  centuries  after, 
Pape,  a  Protestant,  in  verse  responded  to  the  schoolmaster  :  "In  your 
turn,  prove  to  me  by  scripture,  that  what  I  teach  is  false,  because  I  do 
not  think  as  you  do."* 

This  missionary  was  banished,  with  the  threat  of  three  strokes  of  the 
cord,  if  he  should  come  back;  but  the  city  was  lost  :  Luther's  theolo- 
gasters  had  just  made  descent  upon  it. 

The  bishop  believed  that  his  presence  at  Geneva  would  appease  the 
dissensions  which  threatened  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  church ;  but 
the  reformation  had  already  made  great  progress.  The  most  influential 
of  the  Eidgenoss, — as  Ami  Perrin,  Malbuisson,  the  Vandels,  Claude 
Roger,  Domaine  d'Arlod, — had  embraced  the  new  doctrine,  to  which 
they  looked  for  their  political  emancipation.  To  the  patriots,  the  refor- 
mation appeared  to  be  a  path  opened  by  Providence  for  breaking  to 
pieces  the  ducal  domination.  They  thronged  round  the  rostrum  of  Fa- 
rel,  seeking  in  the  minister's  sermons,  for  texts  against  the  house  of 
Savoy,  in  place  of  arguments  against  the  ancient  faith  of  Geneva. 
Revolution  was  growing  up,  and  this  time  it  beheld  in  the  bishop  an 
enemy  to  be  driven  away,  as  before  it  had  regarded  the  dukes  of  Savoy. 

Bishop  de  la  Baume  left  the  city.  Nothing  made  it  his  duty  to  ex- 
pose himself  to  martyrdom.  After  the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  it  is 
easy  to  accuse  a  bishop  of  pusillanimity.  But  who  is  not  aware,  that, 
in  times  of  revolution,  the  soul  often  is  not  more  mistress  of  its  Welshes, 
than  is  the  body  of  its  motions,  both,  unfortunately,  alike  belonging  to 
the  party  of  which  the  individual  is  the   slave  ?     John  of  Savoy,  his 


*"  Stellt  aus  dcr  Sclirift  mir  dnrdic  Fnlslihoit  mcinrr  Behauptung, 
Und  ich  nehnie  zurQck,  was  nicht  die  Pitifung  bestoht!" 

Also  Sprachst  du  und  siegtcst  dadurch,  hochherziger  Lutherl! 
Dir  nurfolgen  wir  nach,  hoffend  den  namlichen  Sisg. 
Stellt  aus  der  Schrift  uns  dar  die  Falschheit  dess  '  was  wir  anders 
Lehren,  als  Luther,  weil  wir  anders  es  sehen,  als  er! 

Papc,  Distichen,  in  der  a.  R.  Z.  n.  17K 


LIFE    or   JOHN   CALVIir,  119 

predecessor,  had  learned,  that,  for  certain  exalted  spirits,  poison  Is  an 
mfallible  remedy.  Peter  de  la  Baume,  without  wanting  courage,  could 
fly  the  peril.  He  withdrew  to  Rome,  where  the  Pope  presented  liim  a 
cardinal's  hat.*  With  him  was  extinguished  the  last  hope  of  Genevan 
Catliolicism.f 

Geneva  should  have  shown  herself  more  grateful  to  the  Catholic 
episcopacy. 

Still  a  w^ord  more  about  one  of  its  glories.  One  day,  a  poor  cleric 
entered  into  a  shoemaker's  shop,  and  asked  for  a  pair  of  shoes  :  but 
when  it  was  time  to  pay  the  price,  the  cleric  vainly  searched  his  pockets, 
he  had  just  given  his  purse  to  a  beggar  whom  he  met  on  the  bridge  de 
I'Arve.  '-'Brother,  be  not  disquieted,"  said  the  merchant,  ''you  will  pay 
me  when  you  shall  be  a  cardinal."  The  cleric  became  cardinal  and  bish- 
op of  Geneva.  This  was  de  Brogny;  who  did  not  forget  the  shoemaker, 
whom  he  appointed  his  steward,  and  to  whom  he  gave  a  chapel,  bear- 
ing the  title,  "the  chapel  of  the  shoemakers."  The  reformation  pros- 
trated the  statue  of  the  prelate.  It  should  have  remembered  that  the 
holy  bishop  had  been  the  friend  of  the  poor,  whom  he  searched  for 
even  in  their  garrets ;  that  at  eighty  years  of  age,  he  had  still  drunk 
nothing  but  water  ;  that  he  wanted  to  fast,  on  the  very  eve  of  his  death; 
that  he  had  collected  together,  at  his  lodgings, — for  his  house  was  not  a 
palace, — a  library  of  seven  hundred  volumes,  written  in  all  languages; 
and  that  he  was  the  first  to  conceive  the  idea  of  founding  an  academy, 
vv^iere  the  pupils  should  be  educated  at  the  expense  of  the  state.  J 

And  now  follow  us  :  you  are  about  to  behold  these  patriots, — whom 
we  have  caught  ourselves  admiring,  in  their  struggle  against  the  ducal 
house, — oblivious  of  the  faith  of  their  ancestors,  demolishing,  stone  by 
stone,  the  Catholic  edifice,  whither  so  often  they  had  fled  for  a  refuge 
from  oppression  ;  tearing  into  shreds  the  banners,  on  which  the  hands 
of  their  daughters  had  embroidered  the  name  of  Christ,  and  which  they 
had  borne  in  their  combats  against  the  enemies  of  Geneva;  and  driv- 
ing  away  those  priests,  those  monks  and  nuns,  whose  gold  had  served 
for  building  up  or  defending  the  walls  of  the  city.  But  God  will  have 
his  turn,  and  he  will  send  them  a  man,  who  will  oppress  them,  who 
will  trample  their  liberties  under  foot,  who  will  cause  their  blood  to 
flow,  and  laugh  alike  at  their  cries  and  tears. 

Despotism,  disorders,  and  misfortunes,  says  a  Protestant,  which  the 
reformation  must  necessarily  produce!  § 

*Memoircs  historiques,  &c.  par  M.  de  Costa,  p.  239.  t.  I. 

tThe  Abbe  Leonardo,  a  Piedmontese,  charged  by  Charles  I.  to  write  the 
history  of  the  house  of  Savoy,  had  amassed  numerous  materials  regarding  the 
history  of  the  churchof  Geneva.  It  is  said,  that  his  manuscripts  are  in  tho 
library  of  Turin. 

:j:Picot.  Histolre  de  Geneve,  t.  I.  p.  126. 

^Die  Periode  der  Reformation  war  gewisz  nicht  sine  Zeit  des  Friedens  und 
des  Glucks.  Lord  Fitz-William,  Briefe  des  Atticus.  In's  Deutsche  Ubersetzt 
Ton  Philipp  MUller.  1834.  p.  33. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

SISTER     JOANNA    DE    JUSSIE.— 1532-1636. 

The  Sister's  book.— Recital.— Morges  pillaged  by  the  Ref'ormers.— 'The  Ber* 
nese  at'Geneva. — Devastation  of  the  churcih  of  St.  Peter  ;-^Of  the  Oratory; — 
Of  St.  Victors  ;-^0f  St.  Lawrence.— ^Combat  in  the  streets  of  Geneva. — As- 
sassination of  Peter  Werli.— Punishment  of  Malbosson.-^Farel.— The  syn- 
dics wish  to  compel  the  Sisters  of  St.  Clair  to  assist  at  a  theological  dispu- 
tation.— The  Sisters  refuse,  and  are  driven  away. 

Now,  in  one  of  the  convents  of  Geneva,  there  dwelt  a  pious  worhan^ 
whose  mission  was  not  limited  to  praying  to  God,  consoling  the  afflict- 
ed, and  clothing  prisoners ;  the  Lord  reserved  for  her  another  part. 
Sister  Jeanne,  or  Joanna  de  Jussie,  Was  to  be  the  historian  of  the  re- 
formation  at  Geneva;  an  historian  'candid,  faithful,  and,  above  all,  dra- 
matic. For,  under  that  garb  of  coarse  cloth,  Pirovidence  had  placed 
the  heart  of  an  artist,  which  the  spectacle  of  Bernese  profanations 
against  the  material  representations  of  art,  moved  even  to  tears ;  and, 
gifted  with  a  woman's  imagination,  she  knew  how  to  transfer  all  the 
suffering  of  her  own  hearty  into  the  soUl  of  the  reader.  Let  Geneva 
search  through  her  library,  she  will  never  be  able  to  discover  there, 
pages  more  melting,  than  those  traced  by  the  pen  of  the  nun  of  Saints. 
Claire :  it  contains  no  book  which  it  can  oppose  to  the  sister's  recital.* 

As  regards  ourselves,  when  our  eyes  for  the  first  time  fell  upon  these 
pages,  so  fraught  with  grace  and   freshness,   we  were  ravished,  as  if  by 

*"The  Leaven  of  Calvinism,  or  the  commencement  of  the  heresy  of  Geneva : 
By  the  reverend  Sister  Joanna  de  Jussie,  at  that  time  nurt  of  St.  Clair,  at  Gene- 
va, and  after  leaving  Geneva,  Abbess  of  the  convent  of  Anyssi.  Chambery, 
by  the  brothars  Du  Four.     161 1.  ^ 

In  front  there  Is  a  dedication  to  prince  Victor  Ame,  prince  6f  Savoy  and 
Piedmont,  signed,  v.  e.  i.  ti.  d.  f.,  where  We  read : 

"  C'est  une  histoire  tragique  non  encore  tant  abysme^  dans  le  Ventre  de  I'an- 
ciennete,  que  les  picqueures  de  ces  viceraux  ennemis  de  la  Croix  Blanche  ne 
soient  encore  ouvertes  &^  jour,  et  que  le  ciel  ne  demailde  le  poil  du  dogue  et 
I'escrasement  du  scorpion  pour  nostre  guarison." 

Before  historical  criticism  yet  had  existence,  Sister  d0  Jussie  Was  considered 
a  visionary :  But  since  Plank,  in  his  fine  work,  Geschichte  des  protestantischen 
Lehrbegriffs,  Adolph  Menzel  in  his  Neuere  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  and 
M.  Galiffe  in  his  iVbfices  genealogiqueS,  have  emancipated  themselves  from 
the  spirit  of  party,  to  seek  the  truth;  the  recital  of  the  Sister  has  necessarily 
acquired  great  value. 

The  book  of  Sister  de  Jussie  has  often  been  reprinted,  but  horribly  disfigur- 
ed, of,  as  the  editors  say,  ornamented. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIW.  121 

one  of  those  sweet  concerts  with  which  Ariosto  holds  enchanted  the 
boatman  of  the  Arno,  and  we  are  of  opinion  that  we  should  produce 
them  in  all  their  purity,  without  changing  a  syllable,  without  mingling 
any  thing  profane  with  these  words  of  the  ancient  time;  that  we  should 
imitate  the  bird,  be  silent  and  listen  : 

La  novita  dal  loco  e  stanta  tanta 

Che  ho  fatto  come  angel  che  mutta  gabbia, 

Che  molti  giorni  resta  che  non  canta. 

......  "And  on  the  day  of  Sir,  St.  Francis,  1530,  a  Wednes- 
day, at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  at  Morges  arrived  the  purveyors  of 
the  Swiss,  to  take  lodgings  for  the  army,  and  when  they  had  suddenly 
descended,  they  withdrew  towards  the  lake,  and  seized  a  large  ship, 
which  was  loaded  with  goods  of  the  city,  to  at  least  the  worth  of  a 
thousand  golden  crowns,  which  were  to  be  transported  to  Thonon,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  lake,  but  which,  by  the  said  Swiss,  were  taken 
and  carried  to  Lausanne,  under  their  safeguard. 

"  At  the  said  Morges,  arrived  on  Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Friday, 
the  two  cantons  of  Berne  and  Fribourg,  and  caused  great  damage ;  for, 
after  having  left  their  own  country,  and  set  foot  on  that  of  Monseigneur, 
they  commenced  to  pillage,  rob,  and  ravage  the  poor  people,  and  they 
left  neither  grain,  wine,  meat,  nor  furniture  in  the  houses  and  castles  of 
the  nobles;  and  then  they  burned  every  thing,  which  was  no  small  loss. 
When  those  of  Berne  had  arrived  at  the  said  Morges,  a  part  of  them 
were  lodged  at  the  convent  of  the  Franciscans,  and  there  caused  several 
serious  and  unspeakable  evils  and  torments 

"  That  night,  the  Bernois,  like  wicked  heretics,  found  means  to  open 
the  choir  of  the  church,  and,  entering  therein,  kindled  a  large  fire  in 
the  middle  of  the  nave ;  then,  like  dogs,  run  mad,  and  out  of  their 
-senses,  they  proceeded  to  take  the  ciborium  in  which  reposed  the  most 
worthy  Sacrament  of  the  precious  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Redeemer, 
and  cast  the  whole  in  this  great  fire,  thus  trampling  under  foot  the 
price  of  our  reden)ption.  Moreover,  they  broke  to  pieces  the  very  rich 
picture  of  the  grand  altar,  burned  all  the  wooden  images,  broke  the 
noble  window  of  stained  glass,  behind  the  grand  altar,  which  was  most 
rich  and  beautiful,  and,  through  all  the  chapels,  where  there  were  carv- 
ed images  of  holy  men  and  women,  they  broke  and  destroyed  every 
thing. 

"  Not  yet  satisfied,  these  heretics  broke  into  the  sacristy,  and  into  all 
the  presses, — newly  made,  and  which  were  very  well  executed  for  the 
ornament  of  the  house  dedicated  to  God, — they  took  off  all  the  locks 
and  fastenings,  seized  upon  all  the  ornaments  which  they  could  find, 
and  carried  them  away,  together  with  the  convent  clock,  the  bedclothes 
and  linen  of  the  monks,  so  that  nothing  was  left  behind,  except  the 
empty  edifice. 

"  And  all  the  priests  whom  they  met  with,  vested  in  their  long  robe, 
they  stripped  it  off  them,  despoiled  and  beat  them.  With  regard  to  all 
the  images  which  they  found,  whether  painted  on  a  plain  surface,  or 
presented  in  relievo,  and  pictures  which  they  could  nqX  have  to  burn, 

11 


122  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIH. 

they  picked  out  the  eyes  with  the  points  of  their  pikes  and  swords,  and 
spit  upon  them,  in  order  to  deface  and  disfigure  them ;  and,  it  was  a 
strange  thing  to  see  them.  They  burned  all  the  books  in  parchment, 
as  well  singing  books  as  others 

"  On  Monday,  about  noon,  the  army  entered  Geneva;  they  brought 
nineteen  heavy  pieces  of  artillery,  which  they  placed,  partly  at  St. 
Gervais,  and  partly  at  Plant-palais,  near  a  little  church  called  the  Ora- 
tory. The  canton  of  Berne  was  lodged  along  the  streets  la  Riviere 
and  la  Corraterie,  as  far  as  the  bridge  of  Arve.  At  the  convent  of  St. 
Dominic  were  lodged  six  standard-bearers,  all  Lutherans,  and  the 
monks  were  forced  to  leave  the  convent ;  thirty-six  horses  were  quarter- 
ed at  the  convent  of  St.   Clair,  where  they  caused  great  expense. 

"  The  nuns  being  admonished,  that  they  were  in  great  peril,  found 
means  to  call  for  their  landlords  at  la  Treille,  and,  then,  all  the  sisters 
surrounding  them,  with  an  abundance   of  tears,  demanded  mercy,  Avith 

profound  humility,  recommending  themselves  to  them Then 

all  began  to  weep,  saying  :  "Good  ladies,  may  God  deign  to  comfort 
and  console  you,  as  his  handmaids,  for  we  cannot  protect  you,  if  they 
wish  to  injure  you."  Then  the  poor  sisters  Avere  half  dead  from  anxi- 
ety and  fear. 

"  When  the  heretics  were  in  the  city,  all  the  priests,  as  well  secular 
as  regular,  laid  aside  their  robes,    and  vested  themselves  in  garments  of 
lay-gentlemen,  so  that  they   could   not  be   distinguished  from  married 
men,  and  all  carried  the  device  of  war,  which  was  a  white  cross  worn 
on  the  breast  and  shoulders. 

"  On  the  Tuesday  following,  at  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
the  Lutherans  caused  the  cathedral  of  St.  Peter  to  be  opened,  and, 
having  entered,  they  began  to  ring  the  episcopal  bell,  as  rung  for  ser- 
mons, for  they  brought  with  them  their  accursed  preacher,  named  mas- 
ter William  Faret,  (Farel)  who  went  into  the  pulpit,  and  preached  in 
the  German  language.  His  auditors  leaped  upon  the  altars,  like  goats 
and  brute  beasts,  in  great  derision  of  the  representation  of  our  redemp- 
tion, of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  of  all  the  Saints. 

"  These  dogs,  who,  by  night,  kept  watch,  prostrated  the  altar  of  the 
Oratory,  and  broke  to  pieces  the  window  of  stained  glass,  on  which 
was  painted  the  picture  of  St.  Anthony,  abbot,  and  of  St.  Sebastian. 
They  also  broke  into  pieces  a  beautiful  stone  cross,  and  out  of  the  frag- 
ments of  this,  they  made  seats  to  sit  round  the  fire.  And  at  the  convent 
of  the  Augustinians,  they  destroyed  niany  beautiful  images ;  and,  at 
the  convent  of  the  Jacobins,  they  broke  many  noble  ones  of  stone.  .  .  . 

"  They  often  came  to  spy  round  the  convent  of  St.  Clair  :  but  oua 
Lord  filled  them  with  dread.  The  poor  nuns  kept  watch  during  the 
night,  praying  to  God  for  the  holy  faith  and  for  the  whole  world ;  and, 
after  matins,  all  of  them  took  the  discipline,  asking  mercy  from  God ; 
and  then,  with  candles  lighted,  they  recited,  some  of  them,  the  beauti- 
ful Benedicatur,  inclining  themselves  to  the  very  ground,  at  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ;  others,  kneeling,  said  the  Ave  henigne  Jesu,  and  others 
saluted  the  wounds  of  our  Lord,  and  the  tears  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
other  excellent  vocal  prayers.  And  every  day,  they  made  a  procession 
in  the  garden,  and  often  twice  each  day,  reciting  the  holy  litany.    They 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  123 

did  so  with  bare  feet,  over  the  white  frost,  to  obtain  mercy  for  the  poor 
\vorld. 

"In  the  month  of  April,  1532,  nearly  in  the  octave  of  the  Assump- 
tion  of  om-  Lady,  the  heretics  caused  the  bells  of  the  priory  of  St. 
Victor  to  be  taken  down,  and  then  proceeded  to  throw  down  the  stones, 

and  prostrate  the  monastery  to  its  very  foundations During 

this  same  month,  on  the  feast  of  the  decollation  of  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, they  pulled  down  the  small  and  very  beautiful  church  of  St.  Law- 
rence, and  also  the  church  of  St.  Margaret. 

"  In  the  month  of  October,  M.,  the  vicar  general,  by  name,  Amedee 
de  Gingin,  abbe  of  Bonmont,  being  informed  that  the  preacher,  master 
William  Farel,  was  preaching  at  his  lodgings,  sent  to  him  all  the 
canons,  in  order  to  dispute  against  the  heretics,  who  were  advised  to 
send  for  the  said  preacher. 

"And  he,  being  in  presence  of  the  official,  named  master  de  Vegi, 
was  questioned  who  had  sent  him,  and  for  what  purpose,  and  with  what 
authority.  The  poor,  pitiful  fellow  replied  that  he  had  been  sent  by 
God,  and  that  he  came  to  announce  his  word.  The  official  asked  him  : 
how  is  this  ?  and  you  show  no  evident  token  that  you  have  been  sent 
hy  God,  as  Moses  did  to  king  Pharaoh  :  and  as  to  preaching  to  us,  you 
bring  no  licence  from  our  very  reverend  prelate,  the  bishop  of  Geneva; 
and,  besides,  you  have  not  the  costume  usually  worn  by  those  who  are 
accustomed  to  announce  to  us  the  word  of  God,  and  you  wear  the  garb 

of  a  policeman  or  brigand? 

"  In  the  year  1533,  on  the  20th  of  March,  being  Friday  of  Passion 
week,  there  was  a  marvelous  tumult  at  Geneva,  because  the  heretics, 
on  that  day,  during  the  whole  morning,  were  making  a  crowd  and  as- 
sembly of  people  of  their  sect.  Whereupon  the  good  christians  assem- 
bled together  on  the  other  side,  at  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  with  Mes- 
seiurs,  the  canons,  and  entered  into  consultation,  as  to  what  had  best 
be  done.  The  people,  of  one  accord,  replied  :  We  will  ^o  at  once 
to  these  Lutherans,  who  are  collected  in  the  street  des  Allemands,  and 
we  shall  know  why  they  are  continually  holding  us  in  dread ;  we 
want  to  see  an  end  of  it,  and  we  shall  not  longer  suffer  such  an  infec- 
tion  in  this  city,  for  they  are  worse  than  the  Turks. 

«'  While  they  were  speaking  this,  two  wicked  profligates  came  there 
to  spy  the  christians,  and  placed  themselves  on  the  steps  of  the  church 
door,  and  one  of  them  could  not  contain  himself  from  saying  some 
villainous  words,  for  which,  soon,  many  others  drew  their  swords  to 
strike  him  ;  but  he  was  protected  by  the  syndics ;  notwithstanding 
their  protection,  he  was  thrown  to  the  earth,  and  trampled  under  foot, 
and  received  a  stroke  from  a  sword,  whereby  he  was  grievously  wound- 
ed, even  to  the  gross  effiision  of  blood.  His  companion,  seeing  him 
prostrate  on  the  ground,  took  to  flight,  and  recounted  the  whole  aff'air. 
But  the  good  christians  were  of  more  courage  than  before.  Some 
Catholics,  to  encourage  the  rest  more,  went  to  ring  the  large  bell  with 
great  alarm,  at  the  sound  of  which  all  the  city  was  up  in  arms.  Some 
went  to  St.  Peter's,  others,  to  the  grand  place  du  Mo^dard.  The  syn- 
dics, perceiving  that  they  could  not  restrain  the  people  from  going  out, 
caused  all  the  doors  of  the  church  to  be  shut,  and  then  ordered  a  large 


124  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

bundle  of  laurel  wood  to  be  brought,  and  gave  a  branch  to  each  of  the 
Catholics,  to  the  end  that  they  might  be  distinguished  from  the  evil-doers. 
Some  fixed  these  on  their  heads,  others  held  them  in  their  hands. 
When  all  had  this  device  of  the  laurel,  the  clergy  went  and  knelt 
down  before  the  main  altar,  in  great  devotion,  and  all  the  crowd,  also 
recommending  themselves  to  God,  with  abundance  of  tears,  began  to 
sing  the  Vexilla  Regis  prodeunt.  The  people,  being  arranged  in 
order  of  battle,  the  Messieurs  of  the  church  placed  themselves  at  their 
head ;  the  doors  were  then  thrown  open  by  the  syndics,  and  the  compa- 
ny defiled  by  the  street  du  Perron,  and  came  to  the  grand  place  du 
Moulard.  There,  was  already  assembled  a  large  company  of  men 
and  women,  well  armed  will  clubs,  and  resolute  as  the  others ;  in  all, 
there  were  there  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  exclusive  of  the 
women. 

"  Messieurs,  the  clergy,  wished  to  be  the  foremost  in  defending  their 
holy  spouse,  the  church.  They  were  seven  or  eight  score;  but  Messieurs 
the  syndics,  seeing  such  commotion,  were  quite  amazed;  and  fearing  th& 
effusion  of  blood,  they  endeavored  to  make  some  arrangement;  and  to 
do  this,  two  of  them  went  to  the  heretics  who  had  heavy  pieces  of  ar- 
tillery, saying  to  them,  that  they  did  not  wish  to  permit  the  shedding  of 
human  blood,  nor  that  brothers,  children  of  the  same  city,  neighbours, 
should  murder  each  other;  for  this  would  be  an  infamy  too  reprehen- 
sible. 

"  The  heretics,  feeling  well  that  they  were  not  sufficiently  strong  to 
resist  the  good  christians,  were  glad  of  this,  and  made  truce  for  another 
time. 

"  On  Holy  Thursday,  of  the  same  year,  these  Jews  assembled  together 
in  a  garden,  at  least  eighty  in  number,  with  several  women,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  liaving  their  Lord's  Supper,  and  eating  the  Pas'chal-Lamb.  A 
wicked  homicide  and  murderer,  to  represent  Jesus  Christ,  washes  the 
feet  of  the  rest,  and  then,  as  an  emblem  of  peace  and  uraion,  they  all, 
one  after  the  other,  eat  a  morsel  of  bread  and  cheese;  the  christians 
laughed  at  them. 

"  On  the  fourth  of  the  month  of  May,  which  was  the  Sunday,  Juhi. 
late,  the  heretics  assembled  in  the  grand  place  du  Moulard.  Where- 
upon, on  the  other  side,  the  christians  assembled  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  markets,  and  displayed  their  banners,,  exclaiming:  christians  good 
and  truel  assemble  here,  and  have  the  courage  to  maintain  the  holy 
faith.  The  canons  and  others  belonging  to  the  service  of  the  church, 
were  the  first  to  rally  around  the  banners. 

"  One  of  these  canons,  a  worthy  champion  of  the  faith,  messire  Peter 
Verb  (Werli,)  very  skillful,  armed  himself,  and  not  having  patience, 
could  not  wait  for  the  other  gentlemen  of  the  church,  but  issued  forth 
the  first  with  ardent  courage,  and  ran  towards  the  place  du  Moulard, 
crying  in  his  zeal:  courage  good  christians,  do  not  spare  this  rabble. 
But,  alas!  he  was  deceived,  and  found  himself  in  the  hands  of  his  ene- 
mies, .  .  .  who,  to  betray  him  better,  lured  him  aside  into  a  small 
street,  and  then  attacked  him.  ...  A  wicked  traitor  ran  his  sword 
through  his  body;  so  that  he  fell  dead,  a  blessed  martyr  sacrificed  to 
God. 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  125 

"The  women  on  their  part  collected  together,  saying,  if  our  husbands 
chance  to  get  into  contest  with  these  infidels,  let  us  enter  also  into  the 
war  and  kill  their  heretical  wives.  In  this  assembly,  there  were  at 
least  seven  hundred  children  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  fifteen 
years.  The  women  carried  stones  in  their  aprons,  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  children  were  armed  with  small  swords,  others  had  hatchets,  some 
carried  stones  in  their  bosoms,  and  in  their  hats  and  caps. 

"  At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  body  of  the  canon  Peter,  was 
borne  to  the  church  for  sepulture,  vested  in  his  canonical  costume. 
When  it  was  brought  forth  from  his  residence,  the  people  uttered  a 
piercing  cry,  weeping  and  mourning  the  death  of  the  innocent.  He 
was  borne  by  priests,  very  honorably  accompanied  by  the  vicar  general, 
hy  all  the  canons,  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  colleges,  and  of  the  church, 
with  the  crosses  of  the  seven  parishes ;  and  after  the  funeral  service,  he 
was  placed  in  the  earth  before  the  crucifix,  for  the  honor  of  which  he 
had  endured  death. 

"  In  the  year  1534,  on  the  first  day  of  March,  the  Lutherans  assem- 
bled at  the  convent  de  Rive,  and  went  to  swing  themselves  on  the  bell- 
rope;  causing  the  bell  to  ring  for  about  an  hour;  and  then,  whether  the 
christians  were  willing  or  not,  they  took  possession  of  the  church  for 
preaching ;  and  afterwards,  they  failed  not,  on  any  day,  not  even  on  fes- 
tivals and  Sundays,  to  assemble  thus  twice  a  day,  to  the  great  sorrow  of 
the  christians ;  but  these  began  to  grow  cowardly,  and  from  day  to  day, 
were  more  perverted,  and  no  christian  longer  dared  say  a  word,  that 
he  was  not  put  to  death. 

"  On  the  tenth  of  March,  a  great  young  thief  and  robber,  of  the 
Lutheran  sect,  was  executed,  and  he  was  exhorted  by  the  Franciscans 
for  his  reformation,  to  the  end  that  he  might  die  repentant  in  the  true 
faith  ;  but  he  was  taken  out  of  their  hands  while  on  the  v/ay,  and  was 
given  up  to  Faret  (Farel)  and  his  companion,  to  be  preached  to,  and 
he  died  in  their  heresy. 

*'  On  Friday,  this  accursed  Faret  commenced  to  baptise  an  infant, 
after  their  accustomed  fashion,  and  a  great  number  of  persons  assisted 
thereat,  and  even  some  good  christians,  in  order  to  see  their  mode." 

'*  And  on  quasimodo  Sunday,  this  pitiful  Faret  commenced  to  marry 
men  and  women  together,  according  to  their  form  and  tradition;  and 
they  have  no  solemnity  nor  devotion  on  such  occasions,  but  only  com- 
mand them  to  be  united,  and  increase  and  multiply,  and  they  say  some 
dissolute  words,  I  know  not  what ;  for  a  chaste  soul  has  a  horror  even 
to  think  of  them. 

"  On  the  feast  of  the  holy  cross,  which  fell  on  Sunday,  a  monk  of 
the  order  of  St.  Francis,  who  had  lived  six  years  in  religion,  threw  off  his 
habit,  in  presence  of  every  body,  after  the  sermon,  and  contemptuously 
trampled  it  under  his  feet,  an  occurrence  which  greatly  rejoiced  the 
heretics. 

"  On  the  eve  of  Pentecost,  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  the  heretics  cut 
off  the  heads  of  six  statues,  before  the  entrance  to  the  Franciscan  con- 
vent, and  threw  them  into  the  wells  of  St.  Glair. 

"  That  night,  they  tore  away  two  beautiful  angels  from  the  cemetery 
of  the  Magdalen,  and  cast  them  into  the  wells  of  St.  Clair. 
11* 


i^ 


126  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIiT. 

"On  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  the  Catholics  resumed  courage  to 
make  the  usual  procession  through  the  city.  Several  Lutheran  women^ 
wearing  velvet  hoods,  placed  themselves  at  the  windows,  to  the  end' 
that  they  might  be  seen  spinning  with   their  distaffs,  and  working  with 

their  needles It    is   said,  that,  on  the  morning  after   Easter^ 

many  of  them  wai>hed  and  ironed,  and  some  even  went  to  put  their  fine. 
iinens  in  the  Rhone. 

"  Also,  while  the  procession  was  moving  on,  some  persons  snatched 
the  distaff  from  a  fat  Lutheran  lady,  and  with  it  gave  her  a  smart  blov/ 
on  the  head,  then  threw  it  into  the  mud. 

"  After  St.  Anne's  day,  which  was  Sunday,  a  prohibition  was  made 
to  ring  the  bell  for  mass,,  lest  it  should  disturb  the  pitiful  preacher. 
And,  after  listening  to  this  cursed  sermon,  his  hearers  broke  to  pieces  seve- 
ral beautiful  images,  and  laid  utterly  prostrate  the  altar  of  the  chapel  of 
La  Royne  de  Cypre;  they  broke  the  statue  of  our  Lady,  which  was 
large  and  exceedingly  rich  and  beautiful,  cut  from  alabaster  stone. 

"  During  the  first  week  of  the  following  August,,  the  monastery  of 
St.  Victor  was  thoroughly  pillaged,  and  fifty  florins  were  given  to  some 
poor  labourers  to  take  off  the  roof  of  the  church,  for  the  purpose  of 
destroying  it  entirely,  together  with  the  priory.  I  do  not  know,  can- 
didly, where  it  was  said,  that  when  persons  passed  by  there,  they  heard 
the  poor  dead  complaining,  and  lamenting  audibly,  day  and  night;  for 
many  persons  were  there  buried. 

*'  On  the  17th  of  July,  1535,  at  Molard,  within  the  city,  the  sieur 
James  Malbosson  was  decapitated,  a  great  well-doer,  and  a  truly  good: 
Catholic.  When  he  was  at  the  place  of  his  martyrdom,  he  asked  li- 
cense to  speak,  and  went  on  to  say  :  'Gentlemen,  behold  me  here  about 
to  die,  purely  for  love  of  my  God,  for  I  have  never  committed  any  of- 
fence to  deserve  death,  and  had  I  wished  to  be  an  evangelist,  I  would, 
not  have  died  yet,  but  I  protest  that  I  die  in  the  faith  of  my  worthy  pre- 
decessors      I  confess   that  I  have  exerted  all  my  influence  and 

power  to  bring  back  my  prince,  Monsieur  de  Geneve,  into  the  city,  that 
by  his  means,  all  heresies  might  be  expelled  from  the  city.  ...  i 
entreat  my  christian  brethren  to  have  regard  for  my  wife,  and  to  tell  her. 
that  I  recommend  my  children  to  her,  and  that  she  should  give  my 
confessor  a  tessoon,*  and  that  she  should  satisfy  my  servants  and  all  to, 
whom  1  am  in  any  wise  indebted.' 

"  Then  a  rank  heretic  advanced,  and  said  to  him  :  *You  owe  me  a 
sum.'  H-3  replied  :  'I  do  not  remember  that  I  owe  you  a  single  sous; 
but  that  my  soul  may  be  embarrassed  by  nothing,  I  recommend  that  the 
s^id  sum  be  given  you  ;'  and  then  commending  his  soul  to  God,  he  had 
his  head  struck  off. 

"After  the  lapse  of  a  short  time,  on  the  head  which  avds  elevated  at 
Molard,  a  beautiful  dove,  white  as  snow,,  was  seen  descending  suddenly 
froiu  heaven,  at  the  beautiful  day-break,  and  coming,  it  flew  round  the 
head,  then  perching  on  it,  and  fluttering  its  wings  in  a  joyful  manner,  it 
afterwards  returned  to  heaven  suddenly 

*'  On  the  feast  of  St.  Dcnys,.  the  parochial  church  of  St.  Legier,  out- 

*An  old  coin*. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN,  127 

side  of  the  city,  was  unroofed,  and  afterwards  entirely  razed  and  de- 
stroyed, and  all  the  altars  were  broken  into  pieces  :  some  of  them  brought 
pieces  thereof  to  make  baths  in  their  houses. 

*'  On  Christmas  day,  the  Lutherans  had  no  solemnity,  but  clad  them- 
selves in  their  worst  garb,  as  for  work-days,  and  caused  no  white  bread 
to  be  baked,  because  the  christians  did  so;  and,  in  mockery,  they  said: 
'The  papists  are  keeping  festival ;  they  v;ill  eat  so  much  white  bread, 
that  they  will  burst.' 

"  In  the  month  of  April,  1535,  the  pitiful  preacher,  William  Faret, 
and  Peter  Verret  d'Orbe,  took  possession  and  residence  at  the  convent 
of  St.  Francis  :  and  inasmuch  as  they  were  near  to  the  convent  of  the 
poor  nuns  of  St.  Clair,  they  caused  to  these  a  great  deal  of  annoyance, 
by  means  of  their  adherents,  recommending  them  to  their  hearers  in 
their  sermons,  saying  that  they  were  poor  ignorant  women,  erring  in 
faith,  and  that  in  order  to  save  them,  they  ought  to  let  them  out  of  their 
prison,  and  that  every  one  ought  to  stone  them;  since  it  was  all  cor- 
ruption and  hypocrisy,  for  they  cause  it  to  be  believed  that  they  preserve 
virginity,  which  God  has  not  commanded,  inasm.uch  as  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  do  so,  and  they  are  feeding  those  hypocrites,  the  Francis- 
cans, with  good  partridges  and  fine  capons. 

"  On  Friday,  within  the  octave  of  Corpus  Christi,  at  five  o'clock 
at  night,  the  sisters  being  all  assembled  in  the  refectory,  for  their  colla- 
tion, the  syndics  came  and  said  to  their  portress,  that  they  had  come  to 
announce  to  the  ladies,  that  on  the  next  Sunday  they  must  all  be  pre- 
sent at  the  disputation  upon  different  articles,  which  Peter  James 
Bernard,  the  guardian  des  cordeliers,  would  maintain  on  his  life.  The 
mother  abbess  and  the  assistant  made  their  appearance  immediately, 
and  replied  to  the  syndics  :  'Gentlemen,  you  must  excuse  us,  for  we 
cannot  obey  this  summons,  having  vowed  perpetual  enclosure,  and  this 
vow  we  wish  to  keep.' 

"  The  syndics  replied  :  'We  have  nothing  to  do  with  your  ceremo. 
nies,  you  must  obey  the  commands  of  these  gentlemen  ;  good  people  ail 
are  summoned  to  this  disputation,  in  order  to  prove  the  truth  of  the 
gospel,  for  we  must  arrive  at  union  in  faith.' 

"  'And  how  is  this!'  said  the  mother  abbess  and  the  nssistant,  'it  is  not 
the  office  of  women  to  dispute,  for  this  is  not  enjoined  on  women,  and 
never  was  v/oman  called  upon  for  disputation  and  testimony;  and  for 
this  we  are  not  willing  to  commence.' 

"  Then  the  syndics  replied  to  them  :  'All  these  reasons  are  worth 
nothing,  you  shall  come  there  with  your  fathers, -willing  or  not.' 

*•  The  mother  assistant  said  to  them  :  'Gentlemen,  we  beseech  you 
in  the  name  of  God,  to  give  up  the  idea  of  forcing  us  to  this  thing.  .  .  . 
We  de  not  believe  that  you  are  the  syndics.' 

"  The  syndics  said  to  the  lady  assistant  :  'Do  not  think  to  sport  with 
us;  open  your  doois;  we  AviJl  enter  within,  and  then  you  will  see  ivho 
we  are.' 

"  'Very  well,'  answered  the  assistant,  'but  at  this  hour  you  cannot 
enter  within,  because  our  sisters  are  at  complins  of  the  divine  office, 
and  we  also  wish  to  go  there,  wishing  you  good  evening.' 

"  The  syndics  responded  to  the  lady  assistant  :   'These  sisters  are  not 


128  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

all  of  your  sentiments,  for  some  of  them  you  keep  within  by  force,  and 
these  will  soon  yield  to  the  truth  of  the   gospel.' 

"  'Gentlemen,'  said  the  sisters,  'we  have  come  here,  not  from  con- 
straint, but  to  do  penance,  and  to  pray  for  the  world  ;  and  we  are  not 
hypocrites,  as  you  say,  but  pure  virgins.' 

"  'Then,'  responded  one  of  the  syndics:  'you  are  sadly  fallen  from 
the  truth,  for  God  has  not  commanded  so  many  rules,  which  men  have 
devised,  to  deceive  the  world;  and  under  the  titles  of  religion,  they  are 
the  ministers  of  the  devil.' 

"  'How  now,'  said  the  mother  assistant,  'do  you,  who  call  yourselves 
evangelists,  find  in  the  gospel  that  you  are  to  speak  evil  of  others?' 

"  The  syndic  said  :  'I  have  been  a  robber,  a  brigand,  a  lover  of  luxu- 
ry, ignorant  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  until  now.' 

"  The  mother  assistant  replied  :  'AH  these  works  are  wicked,  and 
contrary  to  the  divine  commands ;  you  do  very  well  to  amend.' 

'"Lady  assistant,' said  the  syndic,  'you  are  very  arrogant;  but  if 
you  make  us  angry,  you  will  repent  it.' 

"  'Gentlemen,'  said  the  mother  assistant,  'you  can  only  torture  my 
body;  it  is  this  which,  for  the  love  of  God,  I  most  desire.' 

"  On  Sunday,  within  the  octave  of  the  Visitation,  the  syndics  came, 
with  their  pitiful  preacher,  whose  name  is  Farel,  and  Peter  Verret, 
and  a  Franciscan  friar,  who  more  resembled  a  devil  than  a  man,  and  it 
was  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  nuns  were  about  to  take  their 
breakfast ;   and  they  called  themselves  our  fathers  and  good  friends. 

"  The  syndic  said  :  'We  are  the  lords  of  justice,  we  desire  to 
enter.' 

"  The  mother  assistant  replied  :  'Gentlemen,  my  heart  tells  me  that 
you  bring  with  you  your  diabolical  preachers,  whom,  in  no  wise,  we 
wish  to  hear.' 

"  The  syndic  answered  :  'We  are  good  people,  and  we  are  not  re- 
sorting to  any  tricks,  and  we  come  for  your  consolation;  and  therefore 
open  your  doors.' 

"  'Gentlemen,'  rejoined  the  mother  assistant,  'now,  declare,  if  you 
please,  the  motive  for  which  you  desire  to  get  inside.' 

'•  The  syndic  replied  :  'By  the  Lord,  we  will  enter,  and  if  you  will 
not  open,  we  will  break  dow^n  your  doors.' 

"  On  seeing  this,  the  mother  abbess,  and  the  other  sisters  said  ;  'It  is 
better  for  us  to  open  the  doors,  for  fear  they  do  us  other  harm.' 

"  Afterw^ards,  they  went  straight  to  the  chapter,  and  the  syndic  said : 
♦Mother  abbess,  cause  all  your  sisters  to  be  assembled  here.' 

"  All  the  sisters  being  collected,  the  younger  ones  were  placed  before 
this  accursed  Farel,  Silence  was  commanded,  and  Farel  began  hisdis- 
course  :  'Maria  ahiit  in  montajia,  saying  that  Mary  had  not  led  a  solita- 
ry life,  but  was  diligent  in  assisting  and  doing  service  to  her  cousin,  and 
on  this  passage,  he  degraded  the  holy  cloister  and  religion,  the  state  of 
holiness,  of  chastity  and  virginity,  in  a  vituperative  manner  that  pierced 
the  hearts  of  the  poor  nuns.  Then  ihe  mother  assistant,  perceiving 
that  the  seducers  were  chatting  with  and  flattering  the  younger  sisters, 
arose  amidst  the  more  ancient,  saying  :  'Sir  syndic,  since  your  people 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  129 

do  not  keep  silence,  I  shall  not  keep  it  either,  but  I  shall  know  what 
they  are  there  saying  to  my  sisters;'  and  she  went  and  placed  herself 
between  the  young  sisters  and  these  gallants  ;  on  this  they  were  indig- 
nant, saying,  what  devil  of  a  woman  is  this  :  lady  assistant,  have  you 
a  devil,  or  are  you  crazy  ?  Return  to  your  place.  No,  I  will  not  do 
so,  she  said,  except  these  gentry  be  removed  from  near  my  sisters. 

"  The  syndics  being  troubled,  furiously  commanded  that  the  lady 
assistant  should  be  turned  out. 

''-  Then,  a  preacher  resumed  his  deceitful  discourse  about  the  tie  of 
marriage  and  liberty,  and  Avhen  he  spoke  of  eternal  corruption,  the 
gisters  commenced  to  exclaim  ;  'it  is  a  falsehood,'  and  they  spit  in  con- 
tempt against  him.  .  .  .  The  mother  abbess,  who  w^as  outside,  could 
not  restrain  herself;  she  came  to  the  preacher,  and,  striking  with  her 
two  fists  against  the  partition  wall,  with  great  force  she  exclaimed  : 
'Pitiful  and  accursed  man'  you  entirely  lose  your  deceitful  words;  you 
w^ill  gain  nothing  by  them  here.' 

"  Now,  the  heretics,  perceiving  that  they  gained  no  advantage,  but 
only  great  reproaches,  withdrew,  and  in  descending  the  steps,  the  ac- 
cursed  Franciscan,  quite  covered  with  scars,  was  hideous  to  be  seen,, 
and  not  being  able  to  descend,  was  lagging  behind ;  and  one  of  the 
sisters  going  after  him,  struck  him  between  the  shoulders  with  both 
hands,  saying :  'pitiful  apostate,  hasten,  and  take  thyself  from  my 
presence.'  .   .   . 

"  On  the  day  of  Sir,  St.  Bartholomew,  apostle,  there  came  large  com- 
panies, well  armed,  having  clubs  and  all  sorts  of  weapons,  and  quite 
deliberately  they  came  to  strike  at  the  great  door  of  the  convent  of  St. 
Clair.     The  poor  brother   Convers,    with   good  intentions,  opened  the 

door then  the  lieutenant  proceeded  to  say  :    'Now,  there,  good 

ladies,  you  are  very  blind,  not  to  know  the  truth,  and  to  be  so  obstinate 
in  your  errors,  but  I  enjoin  on  you,  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  of  the 
city,  not  to  say  any  office,  either  high  or  low,  and  never  again  to  hear 
mass.' 

"  The  mother  assistant,  inspired  by  our  Lord,  answered  :  Gentle- 
men, I  am  of  opinion  that  we  should  demand  permission  and  safe  con- 
duct from  the  city  authorities,  and  then  abandon  the  city.' 

"  'Well,  then,'  said  the  syndic,  'my  good  ladies,  fix  the  day  on  which 
you  wish  to  depart,  and  tell  us  how  you  think  of  doing  so.'  'Certes,' 
responded  the  mother  assistant,  'let  it  be  to-morrow  morninsj,  at  break 
of  day,  and  do  you  please  grant  us  only  our  garments  and  mantles,  to 
protect  us  from  the  cold,  and  to  each  one  a  coif,  that  we  may  be  able 
to  have  a  change  for  washing.     'We  are  agreed,'  replied  the  syndic. 

"After  midnight,  the  sisters  all  assembled  in  the  infirmary,  around 
the  mother  abbess,  who  was  very  feeble,  sick,  and  old,  who  blessed 
them  all  devoutly,  with  tears,  saying  :  'My  children,  be  of  firm  cour- 
age and  obedient  to  the  mother  assistant,  whom  I  pray  and  beseech  to 
take  charge  over  you.'  The  mother  assistant  encouraged  them,  saying: 
'My  dear  mother  and  sisters,  let  us  have  good  hope  in  God,  and  think 
only  of  saving  our  souls.  Place  yourselves  in  good  order  and  devotion, 
ready  to  set  out  when  these  people  shall  come;  and  place  yourselves 
two  and  two,  holding  each  other  by  the  hand  firmly,  and  quite  near 
each  other,  that  none  may  separate  you.' 


130 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


'•'  Behold,  the  others  now  arrive  :  seeing  which,  the  mother  assistant 
threw  herself  on  her  knees  before  the  syndic,  saying  ;  'Gentlemen,  we 
have  determined  to  go  forth  in  silence,  without  saying  a  word  to  any' 
one;  please  you  to  give  strict  orders  to  all  persons  that  no  one  be  bold 
enough  to  speaiv  to  us,  to  touch,  or  approach  us,  whatever  may  be  his 
quality  or  condition.' 

''  'Certes,  lady  assistant,'  replied  the  syndic,  'you  give  us  very  good 
advice,  and  it  shall  be  executed,  for  we  will  conduct  you,  with  the 
guard  of  the  city,  which  consists  of  about  three  hundred  men,  well 
armed;  and  I  will  myself  go  and  make  the  publication.'  He  went 
and  commanded,  under  penalty  of  having  the  head  cut  off  on  the  in- 
stant, and  without  mercy,  that  no  one  should  say  a  word,  either  good  or 
bad,  on  the  departure  of  the  poor  nuns  of  St.  Clair,  whereupon  the 
good  creatures  came  near  losing  strength,  from  grief  and  sorrow. 

"  When  the  convent  door  was  thrown  open,  several  of  the  sisters 
were  stricken  with  fear ;  but  the  mother  assistant  took  courage,  and 
said  ;  'Onward,  my  sisters,  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  have  our 
Lord  in  your  hearts,  and  do  you,  sir  syndic,  keep  good  faith  and 
loyalty.' 

"  The  syndic,  seeing  that  several  were  unable  to  proceed,  caused 
them  to  be  aided  by  strong  men,  to  support  them.  And  then  before,  and 
by  their  side,  there  marched  at  least  three  hundred  archers,  well  armed, 
to  guard  the  syndic,  which  was  well  thought  of;  for,  w^hen  the  wicked 
persons  of  the  city,  who  had  determined  on  the  night  following,  to  rob 
the  convent  and  violate  the  inmates,  perceived  their  departure,  they  col- 
lected together  hastily,  to  the  number  of  five  hundred,  and  placed  them- 
selves in  the  street  St.  Antoine,  through  which  the  sisters  had  to  pass, 
and  one  of  them  drew  near  to  a  poor  simple  nun,  (whom  the  mother 
assistant  had  placed  near  herself,  that  she  might  not  be  led  off  on  one 
side  or  the  other,)  and  whispering  in  her  ear,  he  said  :  'Sister  Jacquemine, 
come  along  with  me,  I  will  treat  you  as  my  own  sister.'  The  mother 
assistant  responded;  'Ha!  you  wicked  boy,  you  have  told  a  lie:' 
then  calling  out  to  the  syndic  :  'See  here,  how  poorly  you  are  obeyed, 
make  this  youth  withdraw  to  the  rear,  from  our  path.'  Saying  this, 
she  stood  firm,  and  when  the  syndic  beheld  this  crowd  of  rabble,  by 
the  divine  permission,  he  was  greatly  stirred  with  indignation,  and  with 
a  furious  and  horrible  voice,  he  swore  by  the  blood  of  his  followers, 
saying  :  'If  a  man  stirs,  he  shall  have  his  head  struck  off  on  the  in- 
stant.' Then  he  addressed  his  archers  :  'Gentle  companions,  be  bold, 
and  do  your  duty,  if  need  be;'  whereupon,  by  the  divine  will,  the 
mob  recoiled,  alarmed,  and  gnashing  their  teeth  with  anger. 

"  And  they  arrived  at  the  bridge,  and  all  the  company  bid  farewell 
to  the  sisters,  saying  :  'Now  adieu,  good  ladies.'  And  when  all  were 
upon  the  bridge,  the  syndic  struck  his  hands  together,  saying  :  'It  is  all 
done ;  there  is  now  no  remedy,  and  we  must  speak  no  more  of  this 
affair." 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

CA.LV1N    AT    GENEVA.— FAREL. VIRET. — -1536. 

Calvin's  arrival  at  Geneva.— He  is  discovered  by  Viret.— Farel's  adjuration.-^ 
Calvin  consents  to  remain.— Character  of  the  three  reformers:  Farel,  Virct 
and  Calvin.-— 'Preparations  for  the  conference  of  Lausanne. — Shifts  and 
tricks  of  the  reformation.— Its  outrages  against  the  Papacy. 

It  was  amid  these  civil  disorders,  that  a  carriage  of  slender  pretensions 
drew  up,  in  the  month  of  August,  1536,  before  a  taverniin  Geneva, 
from  which  was  seen  to  descend  a  young  man  of  about  twenty-seven 
years  of  age,  simply  clad,  with  a  pale  countenance,  beard  cut  a  Id, 
Francois  premier,  and  with  an  eye  black  and  brilliant;*  this  was  Cal- 
vin, who  only  thought  of  passing  one  night  in  the  city.  The  stranger 
was  to  rise  early  the  next  morning  and  take  the  road  to  Bale;!  but  he 
was  discovered:  Viret  had  observed  him,  and  Farel  come  to  seek  him 
at  the  hotel. 

Farel  had  somewhat  indisposed  the  population  by  meins  of  his  im- 
petuosity. At  the  least  noise,  he  was  seen  to  appear,  and  throw  him- 
self  into  the  midst  of  the  dispute,  seize  the  monk  who  was  passing,  as 
if  he  were  his  prey,  and  in  open  day-light,  commence  a  controversy  ex- 
tremely choleric,  and  replete  with  abuse.  The  crowd  assembled,  struck 
the  monk,  and  pursued  him  even  to  the  neighboring  tavern,  whither  the 
unhappy  man  had  fled  for  refuge  against  popular  fury.  But  Farel  ran, 
urging  the  multitude  on  like  a  wild  beast,  until  the  syndics  had  to  in- 
terfere to  appease  the  mob,  and  protect  the  prisoner. 

The  authorities  w^-re  disquieted,  because  of  the  authority  exercised 
by  Farel  over  the  people.  They  began  to  perceive  that  Geneva  had 
given  herself  a  master,  more  intolerant  than  the  counts  and  vidomnes, 
and  who  had  only  snatched  his  crozier  from  the  bishop,  and  their  sword 
from  the  canons,  in  order  to  gird  on  the  belt,  and  strike  with  stock  and 
edge  at  the  Catholics  and  the  reformed. 

Farel,  under  pretext  of  publishing  a  religious  formulary,  had  drawn 
up  a  confession  of  faith,  in  which  he  had  elevated  to  the  power  of  a 
dogma,  the  excommunication  at  which  Luther  had  laughed  so  heartily. 

"We  hold,"  said  he,  "the  discipline  of  excommunication  to  be  a  holy 
and  salutary  thing  among  the  faithful,  as  for  good  reason  it  has  been 

*Life  of  Calvin,  for  the  use  of  Protestant  schools,  by  E,  Haag,  in  18mo. 
1840,  p.  80. 

t  Ilac  celeriter  transire  statueram,  ut  non  longior  quam  unius  noctis  mora  in 
ttrbe  mihi  foret. — Praef.  ad  Psal. 


132  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Instituted  by  our  Lord.  It  is  to  the  end  that  the  wicked,  by  their 
damnable  conversation  may  not  corrupt  the  good,  or  dishonor  our  Lord, 
and  also,  that  having  shame,  they  may  return  to  penance;  and,  how- 
ever, we  understand  that  it  is  expedient,  according  to  God's  ordinance, 
that  all  manifest  idolators,  blasphemers,  murderers,  robbers,  the  jech- 
erous,  false  witnesses,  the  seditious,  the  quarrelsome,  detractors,  strikers, 
drunkards,  spendthrifts,  after  having  been  admonished,  if  they  do  not 
amend,  should  be  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  the  faithful,  until  they 
shall  have  known  repentance." 

The  Roman  church  was  not  so  severe.  In  her  holy  justice,  she  did 
not  confound  "the  drunkard  and  the  murderer,  the  quarrelsome  and 
the  thief." 

At  this  moment  Luther  had  left  Wittenberg.  Let  him  come  to 
Geneva,  chanting  his  German  stanza  of  four  lines,  which  the  students 
of  Heidelberg  love  to  trill;*  and  the  guard  which  excites  factions  at  the 
gate  of  castle  de  I'lsle  will  arrest  him,  and,  on  the  morrow,  Farel 
will  drive  him  away,  as  a  drunkard  or  debauchee,  from  the  territory 
of  Geneva.^  It  is  Farel,  who  murmured  between  Jiis  teeth:  "it  is 
better  to  obey  God  than  men,'  when  the  lance  of  a  Catholic  soldier 
threatened  to  punish  him  for  his  outrage  on  the  image  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament  in  the  great  street  de  VAigle.  It  is  he,  who  shed  tears 
for  the  fate  of  all  those  marplots,  whom  the  authorities  drove  out  of 
Paris,  because,  at  the  same  time,  they  outraged  the  divine  and  human 
laws  which  governed  the  country. 

Moreover,  this  formulary  was  not  the  only  outrage  committed  by 
Farel  against  the  liberties  of  the  city. 

He  had  organized  a  band  of  Iconoclasts,  who,  quite  inspired  by  his 
spirit,  made  war  upon  beads,  medals,  crucifixes,  and  images.  Say  not 
to  these  Vandals  that  this  crucifix  is  a  family  heritage,  that  this  medal 
is  a  dief  (Cccuvre;  to  preserve  this  little  statue  of  the  Virgin,  invoke  not 
the  name  of  the  Florentine  artist,  who  had  made  it  a  marvelous  work 
of  beauty;  to  save  this  picture,  appeal  not  to  Erasmus,  who,  with  such 
eloquence  has  pleaded  the  cause  of  matter,  inspired  with  the  very  breath 
of  life,  by  the  painter's  genius;  if  you  would  protect  them,  repeat 
not  the  words  of  Luther,  thundered  forth  in  the  pulpit  of  Wittenberg, 
against  Carlstadt,  the  illuminated:  Farel  does  not  understand  aesthetics, 
and  cannot  comprehend  art  as  an  element  of  civilization.  He  would 
not  give  a  single  hair  of  his  badly  combed  beard,  for  a  Virgin  of  Cima- 
bue.f  In  Erasmus,  be  .admires  nothing  but  his  satirical  laugh  at  the 
monks;  and  in  Luther,  his  father,  he  will  imitate  nothing  but  his  intol- 

*Morgen]<Gth  leugt  nicht 

Dicke  Magd  treugt  nicht 

Ists  nicht  Regen,  so  ist  Wind, 

1st  die  Magd  nicht  fett,  so  ist  ein  Kind. 
Luther,  on  the  sixteenth  chapter,  second  verse  of  St.  Matthew. — At  Heidel- 
berg, the  students  changed  Kind  into  Rind,  the  German  beefsteak. 

t  Small,  of  poor  appearance,  with  complexion  pale,  and  bronzed  by  the  sun, 
with  two  or  three  tufts  of  red  and  badly  combed  beard  upon  his  chin :  such 
was  the  man  who  came  to  take  possession  of  the  streets  and  public  squares  of 
Neufchatel.— TAtf  Chronicler,  n.  9,  p.  79 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  133 

erance  against  rebellious  intelligence.  On  entering  Geneva  he  had 
read  the  motto:  Post  tenebras  spero  lucem*  which  was  found  upon  the 
seals,  upon  the  money  of  the  city,  and  he  has  effaced  the  hope  and 
written:  Post  tenebras  lucem.  The  light,  is  that  brought  by  himself, 
which  follows  and  precedes  him,  which  plays  upon  his  lips,  inundates 
his  heart  and  robes,  and  envelopes  his  three  tufts  of  red  beard. 

It  is  this  light  which  now  inspires  him,  in  his  interview  with  Calvin, 
if  we  are  to  credit  the  historians  of  the  reformation. 

Calvin,  they  say,  had  no  intention  to  stop  at  Geneva.  He  did  not 
wish  to  ally  himself  with  any  church,  but  to  visit  all  in  succession,  and 
colport  the  new  gospel,  to  spread  it  every  wherein  proportion  as  should 
be  required  by  the  spirit  of  the  people.  Farel  had  not  been  able  to 
overcome  the  obstinacy  of  his  compatriot.  His  prayers  and  exhorta- 
tions had  been  in  vain;  Calvin  resisted.  It  was  then  that  Farel  be- 
came impassioned,  worked  himself  up  to  anger,  and  cried  out  in  the 
language  of  the  prophet:  "If  tliou  dost  not  yield,  I  denounce  thee  to 
the  Omnipotent;  may  God  cause  his  malediction  lo  fall  on  thy  head.''"t 
M.  Paul  Henry  here  compares  the  voice  of  Farel  to  that  which  issued 
from  the  clouds  over  the  road  to  Damascus,  and  struck  to  the  earth 
Saul  the  sinner.  J 

Calvin  believed  that  he  was  listening  to  the  voice  of  God,  as  he  says 
in  his  preface  to  the  psalms.  '•'  Master  William  Farel  retains  me  at 
Geneva,  not  so  much  by  counsel  and  exhortation  as  by  a  frightful  adju- 
ration, as  if  God  from  on  high  had  extended  his  hand  to  arrest  me. 
When  he  perceived  that  he  gained  nothing  by  entreaties,  he  resorted 
even  to  imprecations,  that  it  might  please  God  to  disturb  my  repose, 
and  tlie  tranquillity  of  study  which  I  sought,  if,  in  such  great  necessity, 
I  should  retire  and  refuse  my  aid  and  assistance.  Which  word  so  fright- 
ened and  terrified  me,  that  I  desisted  from  the  journey  which  I  had  un- 
dertaken, in  such  sort,  however,  that  feeling  my  bashfulness  and 
timidity,  I  was  unwilling  to  oblige  myself  to  exercise  any  definite  office. "§ 

Perhaps,  Calvin  had  not  divined  Farel. 


*The  device  of  the  republic  of  Geneva:  Post  tenebras  spero  lucem,  existed 
before  the  reformation:  the  letter  written  to  Calvin  to  induce  his  return,  dated 
October  22nd,  1540;  coin  struck  in  1561,  still  exhibit  it;  so  that  the  moderni 
device:  Post  Tenebras  Lux,  was  introduced  after  this  event.  Sencbier.  Catal. 
rais.  des  Mss.  p.  289. — Picot  is  not  of  this  opinion.  *'The  device,  Post  Tene- 
bras Lux,  already  belonged,  says  he,  to  the  city  in  the  time  of  its  bishops,  as 
can  be  ascertained  by  the  examination  of  various  coins,  seals  &c.  of  a  period 
anterior  to  the  reformation;  this  contradicts  the  opinion  of  certain  authors,  who 
think  that  it  had  been  adopted  because  of  the  reformation,  and  that  previously 
was  used  the  motto :  Post  tenebras  spero  lucem,  or  Post  tenebras  lucem  through 
a  sort  of  presentiment  or  desire  of  the  reformation." — Hist,  de  Geneve,  t.  III. 
p.  415. 

t  Studia  tua  praBtextenti  denuntio  omnipotentis  Dei  nomine  futurum,  ut  nisi 
in  opus  Dei  incumbas  nobiscum,  tibi  non  tamchristum  quam  teipsum  quceren- 
ti  Dominus  maledicat. — Beza. 

:j:  Wie  die  Stimmen  vor  Damascus  die  Seele  Pauli  durchdonnorten,  so  trafen 
diese  Worte  Calvin's  Gewissen. — Paul  Henry,  p.  162,  1. 1. 

i  Calvin's  preface  to  the  psalms. 

12 


134 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


On  the  Monday  after  the  feast  of  St.  George,  in  the  year  1527,  Zwin- 
gle  wrote  to  Fr.  Kolb  of  Berne: 

'*  My  dear,  proceed  gently  in  the  work,  and  without  too  much  pre- 
cipitation. At  first,  throw  to  the  bear  a  single  sour  pear  amongst  the 
sweet  ones,  then  throw  two,  then  three;  if  he  eats  them,  cast  him  hands 
full,  sweet  and  sour.  This  done,  empty  your  sack,  and  spread  around 
hard  pears,  soft  pears,  sound  pears,  and  rotten  pears.  You  will  see 
him  devour  and  swallow  them."* 

Now,  Farel  had  thrown  to  the  bear  of  Geneva  too  many  sour  pears; 
the  bear  had  perceived  this,  and  growled;  when  luckily  Calvin  appear- 
ed, in  order  to  feed  him  on  pears  sour  and  sweet. 

The  pear  and  the  bear  perform  a  great  part  in  the  drama  of  the  re- 
formation. The  eye  of  its  historians  has  loved  better  to  contemplate 
heaven  than  to  plunge  into  the  ditch,  in  order  to  explain  worldly  events, 
the  revolutions  of  doctrines,  and  transformations  of  symbols. 

Had  Farel  remained  alone  at  Geneva,  the  citizens  would  have  been 
weary  of  the  fantastic  despotism,  the  feverish  intolerance,  and  furious  ca- 
prices of  their  apostle.  Calvin  came  to  his  aid.  Perhaps,  he  knew 
how  to  dissimulate  the  desire  he  had  to  remain  at  Geneva,  says  an  his- 
torian of  the  reformation;!  in  that  case,  was  not  the  adjuration  a  mere 
comedy? 

It  is  necessary  to  understand  well  these  two  organizations,  produced, 
both,  beneath  the  sun  of  France,  but  so  very  different:  Farel,  the  south- 
erner, ardent,  irrascible,  exalted,  but  whose  wrath  was  calmed  by  one 
night's  sleep:  who  kept  nothing  on  his  heart,  but  who  was  forgetful,  as 
generally  is  the  case  with  violent  temperaments: — Calvin,  child  of  the 
north,  who  is  rarely  moved,  studies  his  hates,  calculates  his  anger;  is  im- 
penetrable to  every  other  eye  but  that  of  God,  and  who,  after  having 
said  to  the  Lord  in  his  evening  prayers:  forgive  us  oui  oHences  as  we 
forgive  others;  seats  himself  tranquilly  to  write  some  pages  of  his  pam- 
phlet, (de  puniendis  hcBreticis)  concerning  the  punishment  of  heretics: — 
Farel,  who,  in  the  streets  and  public  places  is  sure  to  reign  unrivaled,  by 
his  voice  resembling  thunder,  his  epileptic  gestures  and  his  mimicry  of  the 
tripod: — Calvin,  never  so  powerful  as  when  he  is  shut  up  in  his  cabinet 
of  study,  there  to  prepare  sentences,  which  "  by  their  brevity  immedi- 
aiately  engrave  themselves  in  the  mind  of  the  reader:" — Farel,  capa- 
ble by  a  word  or  gesture,  to  create  a  revolt,  but  unable  to  direct  the 
storm  which  he  has  produced: — Calvin  who  has  not  received  from  hea- 
ven the  gift  of  moving  masses,  but  the  power  to  mould  them  into  obedi- 
ence, and  to  lead  them  in  the  leash: — Farel,  good  to  knead  the  clay: — 
Calvin  to  animate  it  with  the  breath  of  life. ± 


*  Tschudi  Mss.  quoted  by  M.  Roisselet  de  Sauclieres.    History  of  Protes- 
tantism in  France. 
fGregorio  Leti.  Historia  Ginevrina.  t.  Ill,  p.  40. 

^  Gallica  mirata  est  Calvinum  Ecclesia  nuper 

Quo  nemo  docuit  doctius. 
Est  quoque  te  nuper  mirata,  Farello,  tonanlem     ' 

Quo  nemo  toauit  fortius. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  135 

Viret  resembled  neither  of  these.  An  orator,  with  words  of  honey, 
he  charms  without  ever  moving,  and  l«ts  fall  from  his  lips  a  dew  of 
sweet  words,  which  intoxicate  his  reformed  audience.  When  Farel, 
with  eye  inflamed,  contemplates  heaven  while  pouring  forth  impreca- 
tions against  Rome  and  its  priests,  the  people,  transported  with  wrath, 
are  ready,  on  leaving  the  temple,  to  arm  themselves  and  march  against 
the  modern  Babylon,  But  as  soon  as  Viret  mounts  the  pulpit  all  these 
great  storms,  raised  by  the  voice  of  him,  who  is  styled  the  St.  Bernard 
of  the  reformation,  are  appeased,  and  the  souls  which  he  holds  under 
the  spell  of  his  looks,  think  no  longer  of  this  world,  but  belong  to  ano- 
ther land.  Without  Calvin,  the  triumphs  of  these  two  orators  would 
have  been  transitory.  On  the  route  to  Rome,  to  which  Farel  would 
have  marched,  the  modern  crusaders  would  have  soon  been  arrested; 
for  their  leader  would  not  have  passed  by  the  first  church,  without  en- 
tering, in  order  to  break  to  pieces  the  tabernacle.  Viret,  would  have 
made  out  of  the  people,  whom  he  indoctrinated,  a  host  of  false  mystics, 
who  would  have  ended  by  plunging  into  the  abyss  of  ridiculous  extacies 
after  the  fashion  of  the  Gnostics  and  the  Albigenses.  To  aid,  and  give 
fertility  to  their  preaching,  there  was  need  of  Calvin  to  seize  the  thun- 
ders of  Farel,  and  the  perfumes  of  Viret,  in  order  to  form  out  of  them, 
by  the  aid  of  fatalism,  one  of  the  most  seductive  errors  of  any 
which  had   ever  existed. 

As  no  revolution  can  live  or  be  perpetuated,  except  by  the  influence 
of  some  grand  idea;  Farel  might,  at  Geneva,  have  well  represented 
Munzer,  and,  like  the  miner,  called  forth  labourers  armed  with  hammers 
and  torches;  but  never  by  means  of  discussion  formed  a  doctrine;  still 
less  could  he  have  elevated  this  doctrine  into  a  creed  and  a  sect.  Farel  al- 
ways felt  a  fever,  and  fever  is  an  anormal,  or  disordered  state.  Viret, 
with  his  temperance  of  thought,  could  not  gather  what  the  ardent  breath 
of  Farel  sowed  upon  the  way  of  the  gospel.  To  them  both,  there  was 
need  of  a  logician:  Calvin  was  the  reasoning  serpent,  who  envelopes 
his  enemy  in  his  folds,  and  floods  him  with  his  poison,  when  he  cannot 
strangle  him. 

Farel  a^d  Viret  had  therefore  felt  all  the  importance  of  such  an  aux- 
iliary; and  to  the  fugitive  of  Noyon,  only  a  glance  at  Geneva  was  neces« 
^ary  to  enable  him  to  understand  that  the  work  of  the  reformation  was 
there  in  great  peril,  if  its  existence  and  success  depended  upon  such 
workmen. 

Hence,  Calvin  consented  to  renounce  his  wandering  life,  and  to  remain 
at  Geneva.  From  that  day,  he  belongs  to  the  AUobrogian  church,  in 
quality  of  preacher,  and  to  the  commune,  in  that  of  reader  in  theology. 

Et  miratur  adhuc  fundenten  mella  Viretum 

Quo  nemo  fatur  duleius. 
Scilicet  aut  tribus  his  servabere  testibus  olim, 

Aut  interibis  Gallia. — Beza,  Icon. 

Excellebat  quadam  animi  magnitudine  Farcllus,  cujus  vel  audire  absque  ti- 
snore  tonitrua,  vel  ardentissime  preces  percipere  nemo  posset,  quin  in  ipsum 
pane  caelum  subveheretur.  Viretus  facundiae  suavitate  sic  excellebat  ut  au- 
ditores  ab  ipsius  ore  necessario  penderent,  Bcza,  Vita  Calvini.  An.  1541. — An- 
cillon.  Melanges  crit.  t.  L  p.  404. 


136  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIW. 

To  discharge  these  duties,  he  received  six  crowns  au  soleil  d'or.^ 
His  name  is  for  the  first  time  found  in  the  archives  of  the  republic, 
on  the  fifth  of  September,  153G,  thus  designated: — Calvin,  or  Cauvin, 
the  Frenchman,  isle  Gallus.j 

From  this  period,  an  unalterable  friendship  united  Farel,  Calvin  and 
Viret.  Calvin  was  unable  to  forget  that  Farel,  who  might  for  some 
time  longer  have  played  the  first  part  at  Geneva,  had  yielded  the  place  to 
him;  it  was  an  act  of  devotedness,  however  interested  it  may  have  been. 
Also,  to  reward  him,  he  dedicated  to  him,  his  commentary  on  the  epis- 
tle to  Titus,  which  he  prefaced  by  some  words  of  eulogy.  "  I  do  not 
think  that  ever  there  have  been  two  friends,  who  have  lived  together  in 
such  great  intimacy,  in  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  the  world,  as  we 
have  done  in  our  ministry.  I  have  here  discharged  the  office  of  pastor 
"with  you  two,  and  so  far  from  there  having  been  the  slightest  appear- 
ance of  envy,  it  seemed  to  me  that  you  and  I  were  but  one.  We 
have  been  afterwards  separated  as  to  places.  And  as  to  you,  Master 
Wm.  Fare!,  the  church  of  Neufchatel,  which  you  have  delivered  from 
the  tyranny  of  the  papacy  and  conquered  to  Christ,  has  called  you;  and 
as  to  you,  M.  Peter  Viret,  the  church  of  Lausanne  holds  you  on  like 
condition.  But,  however,  each  of  you  so  well  guards  the  place  intrust- 
ed to  hirn,  that  by  our  union,  the  children  of  God,  drawing  together  in 
the  fold  of  Jesus  Christ,  are  even  united  in  his  body." 

Farel  had  divined  that  Geneva  could  not  have  two  masters;  that  on 
the  least  dispute  of  flesh  or  spirit,  Calvin  would  have  broken  him  into 
pieces,  as  Luther  had  done  with  Carlstadt,  and  that  he  must  not  sport 
with  a  theologian  who  had  neither  tear  in  his  eye,  nor  pity  in  his  heart, 
and  who  would  pass  by  his  enemy  mortally  wounded,  without  pouring  a 
drop  of  oil  into  the  wounds  of  the  dying  man.  Calvin,  in  revenge,  par- 
doned Master  William  Farel,  for  those  writings  in  which  he  threw 
doubt  upon  the  resurrection  of  bodies.  J 

A  theological  disputation  was  in  progress  of  preparation  at  Lausanne, 
and  Farel,  as  formerly  was  done  by  Carlstadt  at  Leipsic,  desired  that  a  per- 
.sonageof  high  worth  should  assist  as  judge  of  the  lists.  The  clergy  ofLau- 
sanne  opposed  this  religious  tournament,  which,  like  all  those  celebra- 
ted in  Germany,  could  but  little  advance  the  reign  of  truth.  This  was 
the  opinion  of  Melancthon,  who  thought  that  God  should  be  sought 
only  in  a  sweet  and  peaceful  silence.  It  was  not  that  Catholicism 
dreaded  the  arena  and  the  sun-light;  its  word  had  been  sufficiently  splen- 
did  at  Leipsic;  but  it  had  learned  to  know  its  enemies.  How  was  it  possi- 
ble to  dispute  with  an  adversary,  who  only  studied  upon  the  school  bench- 
es, in  order  to  learn  from  the  students  their  angry  vocabulary?  Ai  each  dis- 

*  Registers,  Feb.  13,  1537.  f  ^enebier. — Life  of  Calvin,  by  Haag. 

:}:  We  have  of  Farel :  1st.  Theses  published  at  Bale:  2clly.  Summary  of  the 
Christian  Religion:  3dly.  De  oratione  Dominica:  4th\y.  Conference  with  Guv 
Furbity:  othly.  Epistle  to  the  Duke  of  Lorraine:  6thly.  Reply  to  Caroli : 
Tthly.  Treatise  on  Purgatory:  Bthly.  The  Sword:  9thiy.  Treatise  on  the 
Lord's  Supper:  lOthly.  The  true  use  of  the  Cross. 

Viret  is  known  by  his  commentary  on  the  gospel  of  our  Lord,  according  to 
St.  John.  Fol.  Gen.  1553,  published  under  the  name  of  Firm»  Chlorus.  Senb. 
Gen.  lit.  t.  I,  p.  156. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  it  was  said :  the  learning  of  Calvin,  the  vehemence 
of  Farel,  the  eloquence  of  Viret. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  137 

initatlon,  the  reformation  opened  the  scriptures,  and  used  the  inspired  book 
as  a  tripod,  from  which  to  pour  forth  denunciations  against  the  'prostitute 
of  Babylon.'  It  rebuilt,  stone  by  stone,  the  unchaste  city,  in  order  to  ex- 
hibit the  Antichrist,  foretold  by  the  prophets,  seated  amidst  golden 
flames.  If  you  convicted  it  of  falsehood,  and  proved  to  it  that  it  had  not 
an  understanding  of  the  divine  books,  it  grew  irritated  and  summoned 
to  its  aid  all  the  saints  of  paradise;  so  that  on  that  day,  the  world,  to  its 
great  astonishment  learned,  that  Cyprian,  Lactantius,  Bernard,  Jerome, 
Augustine,  were  Lutherans,  Zwinglians,  Bucerians,  (Ecolampadians, 
Cariostadians.  Then,  should  you  take,  one  by  one,  the  texts  of  our 
writers,  and  should  you  demonstrate  that  their  words  have  been  curtail- 
ed, mutilated,  falsified,  do  you  think  that  the  reformation  will  shut  its 
mouth;  not  at  all.  It  begins  to  proclaim  the  magnificent  nothingness 
of  human  authority,  and  returns  again  to  scripture.  To  what  purpose 
then,  shall  we  open  our  heavens  and  cause  thence  to  descend  our  Catho- 
lic glories,  under  the  Pope's  tiara,  the  doctor's  robe,  the  bishop's  palli- 
um, or  the  monk's  coarse  garb?  Should  you  seek  to  confine  it  in  its  circle 
ofPopilius,  it  knows  how  to  find  issue  and  escape  you.  Instead  of  heaven, 
it  is  hell  thai  it  opens,  in  order,  like  Luther,  to  hurl  into  it  pell-mell, 
all  those  great  shades  which  just  now  it  had  invoked,  and  to  burn  there- 
in, amid  eternal  flames,  all  our  fathers,  who  had  the  misfortune  not  to  be- 
lieve the  things  which  they  only  commenced  to  teach  yesterday.  Our 
bishop  of  Lausanne  was  therefore  right:  the  announced  conference 
would,  at  most,  serve  only  to  expose  the  Catholic  faith  and  its  repre- 
sentatives to  the  gross  insults  of  Farel. 

The  reformation  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  undergone  no  change 
in  this.  At  the  present  moment,  when  too  strongly  urged,  it  replies  like 
M.  Cunningham,  Esq.,  of  Lainslaw,  by  a  volume  in  which  the  author 
demonstrates: 

*'  That  the  church  of  Rome  is  the  apostate,  and,  the  Pope  the  man 
of  sin,  and  the  son  of  perdition,  spoken  of  by  St.  Paul,  in  his  prophe- 
cies, second  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians."* 

What  then,  is  demanded  of  Sir  W.  Cunningham,  is  Gregory  the  six- 
teenth, the  Antichrist  foretold  by  St,  Paul? 

And  the  honorable  Esquire  of  Lainslaw,  answers: 
"  Yes,  Gregory  XVI,  is  the  Antichrist  of  Daniel." 
And   then  M.  Cunningham  does,  what  was  done  by  his  ancestors  of 
the  reformation;  he  foretells  the  speedy  downfall  of  the  papacy. f 

^  One  vol.  12mo.  of  141  pages.     London,  Cadel!,  Hatchard  &  Nisbett,  1840. 

t  Napier,  in  his  discovery  vf  all  the  secrets  of  the  Apocahjpse,  wrote  towards 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century:  "  Moreover,  the  recommendable  commence- 
ment of  this  jubilee  seems  to  prognosticate  that  Rome  will  be  destroyed  with 
all  its  dominion  before  the  end  of  said  jubilee,  terminating  1639." 

Some  years  later,  in  The  accomplishment  of  the  prophecies,  Dumoulin  assigns  a 
more  remote  epoch  for  the  fall  of  Antichrist.  "  The  persecution  of  the  church 
under  the  Popes,"  he  says.  "  is  to  finish  in  the  year  1689.  This  term  expired,  op- 
pressed virtue  will  suddenly  revive.  At  that  time  all  nations  will  be  greatly 
moved.  During  this  commotion,  fright  and  dissention  of  nations,  a  tenlth  part 
of  the  men  of  the  Roman  church  will  be  killed." — Sec  chapter  xxv.  concern- 
ing Antichrist. 

12* 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE    DISPUTATION    OF    LAUSANNE. 1536. 

Means  employed  by  the  reformation  for  the  conversion  of  Catholic  Switzer- 
land.— Pillage  of  the  churches. — Exile  of  the  priests. — Sale  of  the  property 
of  the  proscribed. — Conduct  of  Berne. — Disputation  of  Lausanne. — Theses 
of  Farel. — The  Catholic  Doctors. — Invectives  of  Viret  and  Farel  against  the 
Papacy. — Misery  of  our  priests. — Calvin  .speaks. — Idea  of  liis  reasoning. 

To  those  populations,  which,  for  centuries,  had  found  repose  in  their 
faith,  the  reformation  came  to  bring  a  new  gospel,  the  only  one,  the 
only  true  one  to  be  followed,  if  men  would  be  saved. 

This  gospel  was  written  in  a  language  unintelligible  to  the  greater 
number  of  intellects,  and  the  meaning  of  which  the  reformation  only 
w^as  able  to  comprehend. 

It  was  unwilling  that  men  should  believe  in  a  gospel  expounded  by 
the  same  signs  visible  for  ages. 

It  was  necessary,  under  pain  of  death,  to  believe  the  reformation, 
although  it  was  born  but  yesterday. 

Behold  how  it  proceeded  in  Germany,  to  convince  incredulous  souls. 
It  drove  the  Catholic  ministers  from  the  churches,  and,  mounting 
the  pulpit,  taught  the  people  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  then  it  installed  itself  in  the  presbytery  to  eat 
the  priest's  bread ;  and,  when  drunk  Avith  wine  and  meats,  it  came 
forth  to  violate  the  sanctuary,  and  steal  the  sacred  vessels,  which  it  sold 
to  the  highest  bidder — to  him  who  offered  most. 

This  accomplished,  it  said :  On  such  a  day,  divine  justice  passed 
through  such  a  village,  and  the  hearts  were  converted  to  the  Lord ; 
blessed  be  God,  for  ever  and  ever ! 

The  preachers  joined  their  hands,  and  said  :   Amen. 
The  princes,  who  had  received  in  holocaust,  the  spolia  opima  of  the 
clergy,  sold  them  in  order  to  distribute  the  proceeds  among  their  courte- 
sans, as  was  done  by  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse. 

Afterwards,  days  and  ages  rolled  on,  and  reformation  historians  ap- 
peared, to  repeat :  Glory  to  God !  the  Antichrist  has  been  vanquished, 
and  nations  have  seen  the  light. 

If  the  despoiled  bishop,  the  exiled  priest,  and  the  banished  monk, 
made  their  plaints  resound,  then  arose  the  voices  of  these  ministers, 
princes,  courtesans,  nobles,  and  in  one  concert  cried  :    Cursed! 

We  here   appeal  to   all  persons   of  good  faith  !     Let  them  tell  us 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIBC.  139 

whether  the  conversion  of  Switzerland  was   effected  in   a  different 
manner ! 

Yverdun,  when  on  the  point  of  being  taken  by  assault,  asked  to 
capitulate.     Behold  on  what  condition  the  capitulation  w^as  accorded  : 

"  That  the  soldiers  should  surrender  at  discretion;  that  strangers  should 
be  searched  and  pillaged,  in  such  sort  that  they  might  be  even  stripped  of 
their  pantaloons  and  shirts  ;  that  the  city  should  be  deprived  of  its  rights 
and  titles,  its  artillery,  its  cuirasses,  and  other  arms  ;  that  the  inhabitants 
should  pay  a  high  ransom,  and  give  up  to  the  Bernese  all  the  arms  and 
effects  which  they  had  saved,  so  that  none  should  keep  any  thing  but  a 
knife  for  cutting  bread."* 

The  city  being  taken,  the  Bernese  convoked  the  clergy,  and  com- 
manded them,  under  pain  of  exile,  to  give  up  saying  mass.  The  clergy 
refused  :  all  the  Catholic  images  were  thrown  into  the  fire ;  and  John 
Le  Comte,  as.sisted  by  two  professors,  went  to  the  tavern,  to  search  for 
certain  debauchee  monks,  imposed  hands  on  them,  and  said  :  'You 
have  the  Holy  Ghost ;  go,  and  teach  the  nations.'  And  on  that  day, 
the  new  church  counted  three  new  priests. f 

.A.fterwards,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1536,  J  the  holy  synod  assembled, 
and  forbade  going  to  mass  and  to  confession,  under  a  fine  of  ten  silver 
florins  for  a  man,  and  five  for  a  woman  :  a  distinction  Avhich  we  can- 
not comprehend,  unless  the  soul  of  one  has  not  been  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  like  the  soul  of  the  other. 

"  The  confederates,"  observes  a  contemporary  writer,  ''advanced, 
pillaging,  sacking,  making  war,  as  was  then  done.  The  Bernese,  who 
but  a  brief  time  since  had  given  up  the  mass  for  the  sermon,  insulted 
the  cross  and  pictures,  and  carried  desolation  into  the  convents.  At 
Morges,  they  were  lodged  in  great  numbers  in  the  house  of  the  Freres 
Mineurs,  and  having  caused  the  church  to  be  opened,  they  lighted  a 
large  fire  in  it,  into  which  they  threw  the  ciborium,  the  pictures  and 
statues.  Afterwards  came  the  turn  of  the  castles.  That  of  M.  De 
Vufflens,  that  of  Allamand,  that  of  Perroy,  that  of  Begnins,  a  house 
of  the  castellan  of  Noyon,  were  all  burned ;  they  also  put  fire  to  the 
castle  at  Rolle,  which  was  of  remarkable  beauty.  Arrived  at 
Geneva,  on  the  7th  of  October,  the  Bernese  went  every  where, 
breaking  the  crosses,  abusing  the  monks  and  priests,  who  no  longer 
dared  go  to  the  church  ofiices,  except  with  their  soutans  under  their 
mms.   § 

When  the  word,  the  sword,  or  the  cannon,  were  useless  for  the  re- 
duction of  a  canton,  Zurich  and  Berne  tried  to  famish  it,  by  taking  pos- 
session of  all  the  roads  and  passes,  rolling  large  blocks  of  stone  into 
the  main  routes,  and  even  burning  the  grass  which  nourished  the  cattle. 

The  smaller  cantons,  taking  counsel  only  from  desperation,  armed 
themselves  to  combat  their  enemy,  after  having  hurled  at  them  this  mag- 
nificent defiance  :  j| 

"  Inasmuch  as,  for  a  long  time,    each  of  us  has  been  ready  for  w^hat 

♦Chronicle  of  Settler,  p.  87.  tMemoirs  of  Le  Comte. 

3:Ruchat,  t.  VI.  iThe  Chronicler,  Journal  of  Romand  Helvetia.     No.  2. 

Simon  Fontaine.     Catholic  History. 


140  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

is  just  and  reasonable,  and  given  more  than  sufficient  proof  of  this; 
and  you,  contrary  to  the  alliances  and  agreements,  confirmed  by  your 
faith  and  oath;  contrary  to  the  public  peace,  contrary  to  discipline  and 
christian  concord,  contrary  to  faith,  to  charity,  and  to  the  amity  of  the 
confederated;  contrary  even  to  natural  right,  and  to  all  equity;  excite 
our  own  subjects  to  rebel  against  us  :  so  that  already,  they  falsify  faith, 
and  are  perjured,  in  refusing  our  jurisdiction  in  the  captainry  of  St. 
Gal,  and  in  the  provostry  of  the  valley  of  the  Rhine,  and  in  several  other 
places,  whom  you  defend,  and  make  them  disagree  with  us,  by  your 
frauds  and  cunning ;  that,  in  this  peril,  you  may  remove  and  drive  u» 
from  our  ancient  and  certain  Catholic  faith,  because  you  say  that  we 
are  not  willing  to  hear  the  word  of  God,  nor  permit  that  in  our  territo- 
ry the  Old  and  New  Testament  should  be  read,  and  accuse  us,  as  if 
we  are  people  without  religion,  malignant  persons,  traitors  and  disturbers. 
Inasmuch  as  we,  not  willing  to  unite  and  adhere  to  your  disguised  and 
counterfeited  faith,  are  denied  by  you  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  access 
to  the  public  markets,  that  by  this  means  you  may  cause  us  to  perish 
hy  famine,  not  only  ruining  and  destroying  ourselves,  but  even  the  poor 
innocent  children,  who  are  still  in  the  wombs  of  their  mothers.  Final- 
ly, inasmuch  as  every  thing  is  denied,  and  we  are  aided  by  no  person  to 
cause  right  and  justice  to  be  done  in  our  regard,  and  as  now,  for  so  long 
a  time,  we  have  endured  this  your  violent  oppression,  your  pride  and 
iniquity,  without  seeing  any  prospect  of  an  end  of  these  things ; 
we  are  constrained  to  complain  of  you  to  God,  to  his  Holy 
Mother,  to  the  whole  heavenly  court,  and  to  all  those  who  have  respect 
for  right  and  justice;  we  consult  together  and  determine,  if  it  pleases 
God  to  grant  us  grace,  power,  and  strength,  to  avenge  this  wrong,  which 
you  have  done  to  us,  by  the  strong  arm.  And  this  we  make  known, 
by  these  presents,  to  you,  to  your  allies  and  adherents,  wishing  thus  to 
guarantee  our  own  honor  and  that  of  our  allies,  towards  you;  in  faith 
and  testimony  of  which  we  have  caused  to  be  affixed  to  these  presents, 
the  seal  of  our  confederates,  the  Tigurians,  in  the  name  of  all.  Done, 
Wednesday,  fourth  of  October,  1531." 

While  reading  the  history  of  the  establishment  of  the  reformation  in 
Switzerland,  a  person  believes  himself  transported  into  Sicily,  under 
the  proconsulship  of  Verres.  Be  felon  or  apostate,  and  you  shall  ob- 
tain, as  did  M.  Senarchans,  the  priory  of  Perroy,  for  two  thousand  five 
hundred  florins, — the  price  of  the  lead  only  in  the   edifice. 

For  six  thousand  five  hundred  Bernese  livres,  you  shall,  like  Johnde 
Watteville,  the  advocate,  secure  the  lands  of  Villars-le-Moine  and 
Clavelayre, — the  price  of  the  trees. 

For  three  thousand  Swiss  livres,  like  John  Tribolet  of  Berne,  bailiff 
of  Grandson,  you  shall  have  the  convent  de  la  Lance,  with  all  its  de- 
pendencies,— the  value  of  the  roofs  only.* 

Two  poor  villages  of  the  principality  of  Neufchatel,  Landeron 
and  Cressier,  show  to  the  preachers  who  come  to  try  their  faith,  the 
cemetery  where  their  fathers  sleep,  and  protest  that,  at  the  day  of  judg- 

•See  Charles  L.  de  Haller*s  history  of  the  Protestant  reformation  in  Western 
Switzerland,  1839,  in  12mo. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  141 

ment,  they  desire  to  rise  with  their  ancestors,  confessing  the  same  God  : 
then  Jensch,  governor  of  Haut  Cret,  prostrates  ail  the  visible  signs  of 
Catholic  worsliip,*  and  in  order  to  establish  the  reign  of  the  gospel  in 
these  rebellious  mountains,  the  seigniors  of  Berne  command  the  coun- 
cil to  drive  away  the  pastor,  or  at  least  to  deprive  him  of  his  benefice; 
in  other  words,  to  make  him  perish  by  starvation. 

One  day,  during  the  siege  of  Yverdun,  Viret  comes  to  Lausanne,  and 
asks  permission  to  preach  the  word  of  God.  They  reply  to  him  ,  "There 
is  the  convent  of  the  Cordeliers,  and  that  of  St.  Francis,  choose  for  your- 
self." Viret  mounts  the  pulpit  of  the  Cordeliers,  and,  during  two 
hours,  declaims  against  the  Roman  clergy,  and  the  monastic  orders. 
The  fathers  have  recourse  to  the  council,  and  made  their  complaint  in 
these  terms  :  "■  This  church  is  ours;  it  was  founded  by  means  of  the 
alms  collected  by  our  brethren,  whose  bones  repose  in  the  neighbour- 
ing cloister ;  by  the  liberality  of  pious  souls  we  have  been  able  to  erect 
this  pulpit  :  why,  then,  have  you  opened  the  church  and  pulpit  to  the 
pretended  reformed  preacher  ?" 

This  council  had,  that  very  year,  proclaimed  liberty  of  conscience,! 
and  what  could  it  answer  to  this  plaint  of  the  Cordelier  fathers  ? 

The  seigniors  of  Berne  protected  Viret  :  had  they  repelled  him,  he 
would  have  revenged  himself  against  the  franchises  of  Lausanne.  So 
that  the  Catholic  bourgoisie  sacrificed  its  faith  to  save  its  liberties. 

The  reformation  reigned  at  Geneva,  but  reigned  over  ruins ;  once 
mistress  of  our  churches,  from  which  it  had  expelled  the  priests,  it  said 
to  the  inhabitants  :  "  Embrace  :  the  peace  of  God  has  come  to  visit 
you."  Some  vestiges  of  Catholicity  still  remained,  but  it  was  only  in  the 
surrounding  villages.  The  stranger  easily  recognised  them  by  the  cross 
which  surmounted  the  spire,  or  by  the  little  wooden  statue  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  placed  at  the  corner  of  some  hedge.  The  priests  continued  to 
break  the  word  of  God  to  their  flocks,  and  to  some  pious  souls  from 
Geneva,  w^hom  Farel  had  been  unable  to  seduce.  On  Sunday,  at  early 
dawn,  they  left  their  dwellings,  looking  round  them,  like  the  highway 
robber,  double  bolting  the  doors  of  their  houses,  concealing  themselves 
in  large  robes,  and  murmuring  some  prayers  to  their  guardian  angels. 
The  village  altar  was  prepared :  it  arose,  ornamented  with  flowers, 
gathered  by  pious  hands.  The  priest  commenced  mass.  The  mass 
finished,  each  one  again  sought  his  habitation. 

One  day,  a  band  of  archers,  armed  with  lances,  invaded  the  cabins 
of  the  Catholics,  seized  the  pastors  and  their  assistants,  and  drove  be- 
fore them  this  whole  flock  of  the  children  of  Christ.  The  council  was 
assembled,   the  ministers    being   present :   Bonnivard,   the   unfrocked 

*Ruchat,  t.VI. 

tCouncil  General  of  Lutrv,  April  9th,  Palm  Sunday:  1st.  That  no  one 
should  take  measures  to  procure  the  coming  of  a  minister  to  preach,  under 
penalty  of  tenlivres. 

2ci.  That  if  one  came  by  chance,  they  should  not  go  to  hear  him,  and  should 
let  him  pass  without  committing  any  outrage  agninst  him. 

3d.  That  no  one  should  procure  the  destruction  of  images,  or  the  mutila- 
jtion  of  statues,  either  in  the  church  or  in  other  places,  or  do  any  injury  to 
the  church,  under  penalty  of  the  same  fine. — Mss.  de  Lutry,  fol.  37.  B. 


142  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

monk,  Farel,  the  renegade,  and  Coraud,  the  protegee  of  Margaret  of 
Navarre.  They  asked  the  Catholics  if  they  were  willing  to  renounce 
"  the  papism,  their  idolatrous  mass,  in  which  they  eat  their  God  in 
flour,"  and  to  serve  the  Lord  in  spirit  and  truth ;  that  is,  after  the  Genevan 
fashion?  Then  an  old  priest  spoke  :  "Very  honorable  seigniors,"  said 
he,  "how  do  you  wish  that  we  should  abandon  our  faitii  of  fifteen  cen- 
turies ?  You  are  masters,  but  you  ought  not  to  forget  that  we  have 
been  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ ;  ten  years  ago,  you  were 
Catholics  yourselves,  and  you  did  not  pass  over  to  the  reformation  in  a 
single  day,  therefore  allow  us  time  for  reflection." 

The  first  syndic  caused  them  to  enter  an  adjoining  room,  and  the 
council  commenced  its  deliberations  :  Bonnivard  was  of  opinion,  that 
some  days  should  be  allowed  "the  papists ;"  but  Farel  cried  out :  "Do 
you  wish  to  oppose  the  work  of  God  ?"  They  accorded  the  priests  one 
month's  respite ;  "and  at  the  end  of  that  time,"  says  the  historian, 
"these  good  ecclesiastics  having  nothing  to  oppose  to  the  arguments  of 
the  reformation  doctors,  submitted,  and  ceased  to  say  mass."'* 

He  was  mistaken.  Pious  ladies  came  to  bring  bread  to  these  priests, 
who  were  despairing  of  Providence,  and  fearing  to  die  of  famine ;  and 
almost  all  of  them  began  again  to  celebrate  the  holy  sacrifice. 

Then  the  archers  reappear,  the  council  is  assembled,  and  the  delin- 
quents  are  condemned  either  to  exile  or  to  prison.  The  recital  finishes 
there.  Perhaps  God  sent  his  angel  to  console  these  faithful  souls  amid 
tlieir  chains,  or  in  the  land  of  their  exile. 

Farel  was  not  satisfied.  The  peasants,  after  their  priests  had  been 
banished,  and  their  churches  closed,  had  erected  in  their  interior  do- 
mestic sanctuary,  little  chapels,  where  was  seen  the  picture  of  Christ, 
of  the  Virgin,  or  of  the  patron  saint.  Farel,  the  Iconoclast,  sends 
armed  men,  who  seize  the  culprits,  drag  them  to  the  presbytery,  where 
they  are  condemed  to  prison,  or,  as  Ruchat,  in  his  reformation  style, 
says  :   "only  to  banishment." 

"  For,"  he  adds,  "war  was  declared  and  waged  against  images ;  if 
menaces,  if  exhortations  were  useless,  they  employed  the  prison  or  ex- 
ile, but  never  more  rigorous  chastisements. "f  We  well  said,  that  we 
were  in  Sicily,  under  the  reign  of  Verres.  Farel  no  longer  dared  show 
himself  in  the  country,  unless  accompanied  by  numerous  archers. :|: 

Berne  had  desired  that  Catholicism  should  be  extinguished  like  a 
lamp,  noiselessly.  It  relied  on  the  word  of  its  ministers,  who  were 
exercised  in  disputation,  and  to  every  complaint  uttered  by  a  priest's 
voice,  it  replied  :  let  us  dispute.  The  priests  said  :  We  do  not  shun 
the  combat ;  see  if  Catholicity  feared  to  measure  arms  at  Leipsic,  at 
Augsburg,  at  Worms,  even  with  your  stoutest  champions.  Your  own 
judges  of  the  lists,  for  instance  Melancthon,  have  borne  witness  to  the 
light  of  our  doctors.  The  disciple  of  your  great  Luther  has  done  more 
still.  After  all  these  contests,  he  has  modified  his  opinions  in  regard 
to  different  points  agitated  in  our  discussions.  To-day,  he  inclines  to 
recognize  the  authority  of  our  bishops,    whom   Viret  treats  as  falsifica- 

•Ruchat,  t.  V.  p.  605:  MMS.  Chouet,  p.  39-40.  Spon.  t.  II.  p.  9-10. 
tRuchat,  t.  V.  p.  603.  $I(i.  p,  709. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  143 

tors  of  the  scriptures;  and  the  primacy  of  the  Pope,  whom  you  continue 
to  call  the  Antichrist.  By  the  voice  of  your  masters,  you  have  appeal- 
ed to  a  general  council,  where  you  would  be  heard  freely  ;  the  papacy 
is  quite  ready ;  the  council  is  about  to  be  assembled  :  your  doctors  shall 
there  speak  with  entire  liberty.  In  the  mean  time,  the  wishes  of  the 
people  are  not  doubtful.  Lausanne  has  twice  explained  herself  in  her 
resolution  of  June  the  sixth,  1536,  which,  in  formal  terms,  declares,  that 
nothing  shall  be  changed  in  the  form  of  worship  ;  and  even  the  voice 
of  the  emperor,  has  made  itself  heard,  in  his  letter  of  the  fifth  of  July, 
1536,  addressed  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  canton.* 

But  neither  the  protest  of  the  canons  of  Lausanne,  the  formal  wish  of 
the  people,  nor  the  order  of  the  emperor  was  heeded.  Berne  was  hurried, 
it  did  not  wish  that  the  emblems  of  Catholicity,  standing  in  the  towns 
subject  to  it,  should  rem.ain  as  a  reproach  for  its  felonies.  It  was  neces- 
sary to  prevent  the  very  stones  from  crying  out  against  it  for  its  apostacy. 

On  the  first  of  October,  1536,  the  large  bell  of  the  cathedral  an- 
nounced the  opening  of  the  discussion.!  Scaffolding  had  been  erected 
in  the  church.  The  Bernese  deputation  did  not  arrive.  Fare!,  impa- 
tient, wished  to  harangue  the  people,  and  made  a  discourse  to  prepare 
the  assistants  "for  hearing  the  word  of  God."  He  was  under  the  spell 
of  Calvin's  eye.  His  language  was  sufficiently  calm.  He  asked 
prayers  for  the  afflicted  poor.  **  And  do  you,  my  brethren,"  said  he, 
"visit  ihem,  console  them,  for  you  must  make  your  pilgrimages  :  it  is 
God's  images  whom  you  must  visit,  bearing  bread  and  candles ;  giving 
them  nourishment,  light,  and  encouragement.} 

These  poor  afflicted  persons  were  the  Genevan  priests,  whom  he 
drove  off,  whom  he  cast  into  dungeons,  whom  he  exiled,  and  doomed 
to  starvation. 

On  the  next  morning  came  the  Bernese  deputation  ;  J.  J.  de  Watte- 
ville,  ancient  Avocat,  Jost  de  Diesbach,  Hans  Schlufft,  George  Hubel- 
mann,  Sebastien  Noegeli ;  afterwards,  the  judges  of  the  discussion; 
Peter  Giron,  secretary  of  the  council  of  Berne,  Nicholas  de  Watteville, 
Messire  Peter  Fabri,  doctor  of  law,  canon  of  the  cathedral  of  Lau- 
sanne, Messire  Girard  Grand,  doctor  of  law,  and  counselor  of  the  city. 

Berne  had  been  careful  to  cause  the  order  to  be  affixed  to  the  doors 
of  all  the  Catholic  churches  of  the  canton,  commanding  all  ecclesias- 
tics to  assist  at  the  dispute,  under  penalty  of  fine  and  interdict.  § 

Every  where,  those  churches,  within  the  influence  of  the  Bernese 
government,  hastened  to  conceal  their  statues,  to  put  in  security  their 
chalices,  sacred  vessels  and  ornaments  of  the  altar  ;  so  much  did  they 
fear  thoseVeformers  who  were  running  to  assist  at  the  conference.  || 

Farel  had  composed  ten  theses  in  Latin  and  French,  which  he  pro- 
posed sustaining,  with  the  aid  of  Viret,  Calvin,  and  Caroli,  a  doctor  in 
theology,  and  formerly  prior  of  the  Sorbonne. 

The  Catholic  doctors,  who   had  voluntarily  taken  upon  themselves 

*Caroli  V.  imperatoris,  cpistola  ad  Lausannenses  ne  disputationem  de  rcli 
gione  in  sua  urbe  institutam,  fieri  sinant. 
=rCharI^s  de  Haller.—Ruchat.  ^Ruchat,  t  V. 

lEuchat,  t.  V.  gMss.  de  Lausanne,  p.  515. 


144  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

* 

the  charge  of  responding  to  the  ministers,  were  men  of  but  little  theoi- 
logical  worth  ;  Michod,  dean  of  Vevey,  Ferdinand  Loys,  captain  of 
the  youth  of  Lausanne,  Drogy,  vicar  of  Merges,  Mimard,  a  practised 
scholastic,  and  the  physician,  Blancherose,  who  supported  nearly  the 
whole  weight  of  the  discussion.* 

The  canons,  having  been  summoned,  either  preserved  silence  or  ap- 
pealed to  the  general  council. 

"  We  believe  well,"  Viret,  exclaimed,  "if  they  ordered  a  delay  for 
you  to  receive  money  and  to  feed  your  bellies,  until  the  council  shall 
come,  that  you  would  be  but  little  satisfied." 

It  is  impossible  to  imagine  the  vulgarity  of  the  arguments  employed 
by  the  reformation  :  a  scholar  Avould  not  demean  himself  to  collect 
them. 

The  Catholic  doctor  who  defended  the  primacy  of  the  Pope,  had  let 
drop  the  words.  Holy  See  :  this  expression,  consecrated  in  the  world 
itself,  was  a  good  fortune  for  Viret. 

"  The  Pope,"  said  he,  "cannot  have  the  authority  or  power  of  St.  Pe- 
ter, without  discharging  the  office  which  he  discharged.  To  do  as  St. 
Peter  did,  it  would  be  necessary  to  run  hither  and  thither  for  the  salvation 
of  souls  ;  to  preach  the  gospel,  as  was  done  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles. In  this  sense,  we  do  not  destroy  the  Apostolic  See,  for  the 
Apostles  were  never  seated,  they  had  no  See  when  they  were  wander- 
ing and  running  incessantly  hither  and  thither." 

The  reformed  cenacle  received  with  flattering  murmurs,  this  silly 
tirade. 

Another  time,  Mimard  contrasted  the  reformation  with  itself,  and 
brought  Luther  and  Farel,  Viret  and  Erasmus,  into  contradiction ;  Fa- 
re! interrupts  the  orator  : 

"  When  have  you  seen  us  battling  for  Erasmus  ?  We  do  not  carry 
these  bucklers  against  such  adversaries;  we  must  have  one  more  cer- 
tain, and  one  who  speaks  frankly,  and  without  variation.  Have  we 
brought  Luther  for  our  defence  ?  It  is  Jesus  Christ  who  is  our  Master. 
But  have  you  read  Luther's  book  de  Missa  ahroganda  (concerning  the 
abrogation  of  the  mass,)  and  how  he  treats  the  canon,  and  what  he  has 
since  said,  showing  how  all  you  priests  are  guilty  of  making  the  people 
commit  the  sin  of  idolatry,  in  causing  them  to  adore  bread  for  God,  and 
as  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  V 

A  singular  work,  that  treatise  de  Missa  ahroganda,  which  Farel 
here  brings  into  the  discussion,  an3  of  which,  according  to  Luther's 
avowal,  all  the  arguments  belong  to  the  devil  If 

Not  one  of  those  poor  peasants,  grouped  around  the  speakers,  who^ 
words  they  most  assuredly  could  not  comprehend,  imagined  that  they 
wished  here  to  make  the  demon,  in  flesh  and  bone,  play  the  part  which 
already  he  had  performed  in  Saxony.  Behold  Farel,  in  his  turn,  after 
the  fashion  of  Luther,  investing  with  the  cap  of  a  doctor  in  theology, 
the  head  of  the  prince  of  darkness,  whom  since  he  has  so  often  lodged 

*Actcs,  p.  25, 
tSee,  in  the  author's  Life  of  Luther,  the  chapter  with  this  title:  Conference 
toith  the  Devil. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  145 

in  the  bodies  of  the  Popes.  And,  moreover,  it  cannot  he  denied,  that  it  is 
here  the  father  of  lies,  who  speaks  by  Farel's  mouth  :  for  never  did 
Lutlier  reproach  the  "papists"  with  "cnusing  bread  to  be  adored  for 
God,"  since  he  believed  in  the  real  presence  himself. 

On  that  same  day,  the  canons  again  protested  against  the  violence 
exercised  against  them,  in  forcing  them  to  assist  at  the  discussion,  and 
Blancherose  declared,  that  "the  priests  were  full  one  hundred  in  num- 
ber, and  that,  if  the  discussion  continue,  they  would  have  to  sell  their 
garments  and  hats  to  pay  their  expenses."* 

Until  then,  Farel  had  used  his  word  as  a  buckler  to  parry  the  thrusts 
of  his  adversaries;  whether  it  was,  that  he  dreaded  the  eye  of  Calvin, 
which  was  kept  constantly  fixed  on  the  orator,  or  that  the  moderation 
of  the  Catholic  theologians  repressed  in  him  the  temptations  of  the 
flesh,  we  know  not ;   but  the  flesh  conquered. 

They  M^ere  disputing  on  the  Eucharist,  and  the  Catholic  disputant 
was  showing  his  hearers,  that  golden  chain  of  patriarchs,  of  doctors, 
fathers,  bishops,  and  popes,  of  which  the  first  link  was  riveted  to  the 
very  chair  of  Peter,  and  the  last  to  the  see  of  Paul  III. 

Farel  becomes  furious  :  "Who  are  you,  then,"  demands  he  of  the 
orator  and  his  splendid  figures  ?  "Who  are  you  ?  The  adorer  of  others 
than  God ;  poor  idolators,  bending  yourselves  before  dead  images,  which 
have  no  life  nor  feeling ;  and  you  are  content  with  the  law  and  ordi- 
nance of  the  ribald  of  Rome,  of  the  Pope,  who  has  seduced  the  earth, 
and  made  princes  drunk  with  the  wine  of  his  debaucheries. 

"  Your  oblation,  for  which  you  declaim  so  much,  if  it  be  not  consecrat- 
ed by  a  priest,  and  in  a  dedicated  place,  and  on  a  holy  altar,  with  linen 
coif  and  shirt  over  the  robe,  and  a  robe  Avith  two  sleeves,  perforated 
and  accoutered,  with  a  sacred  goblet  also,  corporals  and  other  things 
requisite,  all  is  lost  and  spoiled. "f 

Now,  previously  to  mounting  the  pulpit,  the  very  eve  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  discussion,  Farel  had  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and 
exclaimed :  "  Holy  Spirit,  descend  upon  our  lips,  and  there  place 
words  of  moderation  and  wisdom." 

Do  you  find  that  the  Holy  Ghost  left  his  celestial  abode  ? 

We  do  not  think  so ;  for  he  would  have  told  Farel  not  to  repeat  this 
foolish  argument  against  the  worship  of  images,  of  which  Andreas  Carl- 
stadt,  who  sold  pastry  in  Germany,  had  ceased  to  make  use,  from  the 
moment  they  quoted  against  him  these  verses,  written  before  the  re- 
formation : 

Effigiem  Christi  cum  transis  prorsus  honora; 
Non  tamen  effigiem  sed  quem  designat  adora; 
Nee  Deus  est,  nee  homo,  praesens  quam  cerno,  figure, 
Sed  Deus  est  et  homo  quem  sacra  figurat  imago. f 

The  insolent  words  of  Farel,   which  had  a  singular  odour  of  tht 

•Ruchat.  t.  VI.  tRuchat,  p.  70. 

^Jod.  Coccii  Thesaur.  Catholic,  t,  I.  lib.   6.  art.   xv.  fol.  664. — Cretsern^ 
ia  cruce. 

13 


145  LiFE    OF    JOHN    CALVJN, 

Street,  his  disdain  for  the  doctors  of  our  church,  which  he  seemeid  never 
to  have  studied,  moved  Calvin,  who  asked  permission  to  speak  : 

"No,"  exclaimed  he,  "I  do  not  despise  the  ancients;  those  who 
make  pretence  to  respect  them,  do  not  hold  them  in  such  reverence  as 
we  do ;  and  deign  not  to  spend  the  time  in  perusing  them  which  we 
willingly  employ  therein." 

Taking  up  again  the  question  about  the  Lord's  Supper,  he  commenc- 
ed quoting,  but  mutilating  and  disfiguring  them  : — Tertuliian,  who 
gives  to  Jesus  Christ  only  an  imaginary  body;* 

— St.  Augustine,  in  his  twenty-third  epistle,  and  in  his  homilies  on  St. 
John,  and  in  his  letter  to  Dardanus,  who  teaches  the  dogma  of  the  ap- 
pearance. 

A  strange  argument  in  the  mouth  of  a  man,  Avho  proceeded  from  the 
Holy  Ghost  only,  and  whose  Eucharistic  doctrine  resembled  neither 
that  of  Zwingle  nor  that  of  Luther  If 

He  speaks  of  a  substance  which  nourishes  and  vivifies  us ;  of  a  mys- 
tery, which  surpasses  the  elevation  of  our  senses  and  the  whole  order 
of  nature.  Nobody  comprehends  him.  An  age  later,  a  Protestant 
avows  that  Calvin,  in  his  definition  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  is  incom- 
prehensible 4 

The  uncoloured  words  of  Calvin  produced  no  effect  upon  the  multi- 
tude. No  one  present  felt  himself  moved.  Viret  reappeared  once 
more,  and  this  time  he  thrcAV  aside  the  doctor's  cap,  and  stood  forth  the 
bar-room  orator.  The  people,  who  listened  to  him,  gathered  together 
round  the  pillars  of  the  church,  still  bore  on  their  faces  the  traces  of 
the  double  scourge  which  had  just  desolated  Switzerland,  viz  :  pesti- 
lence and  famine.  The  priests,  who  also  had  suffered  from  famine,  had 
been  obliged  to  sell  their  garments  and  hats  to  pay  their  inn-keepers. 
To  Viret  images  were  necessary.  There  were  some  miserable  things, 
which  were  paraded  in  every  book,  against  the  papacy.  He  took  these 
by  handsfull,  and  cast  them  before  his  auditory.  Viret  had  changed 
his  nature.     Listen  to  him  : 


*In  our  days,  the  youngest  student  of  theology  could  have  cited  this  text  of 
Tertuliian,  de.  resurrectione:  "Caro  corpore  et  sanguine  Christi  vescitur  ut  ct 
anima  Deo  sagiuetur." 

And  this  text  of  St.  Augustine,  in  his  sermon  to  the  neophytes:  "Hoc  acci- 
pite  in  pane  quod  pepcndit  in  cruce,  hoc  accipite  in  calice  quod  manavit  de 
latere  Christi." 

Texts,  moreover,  which  Luther  considers  less  clear  than  the  texts  from  the 
scriptures,  which,  said  he,  leap  into  the  eyes. 

Consult  on  this  subject,  The  Antiquity  of  the  orthodox  doctrine,  where  our  faith 
is  seen  declared  by  the  scriptures,  by  councils,  and  by  a  chronological  style  in 
epochs  of  ten  years,  from  the  times  of  the  apostles  to  our  own,  by  master  Jean 
Febvre,  pries^,  theologian.  Rouen,  in  8vo.  1634. 

And  the  conversion  of  Sieur  Martin,  former  minister,  containing  three  trea- 
tises :  1st.  The  faith  of  the  primitive  church  opposed  tojthat  of  the'pretended 
reformation;  2d.  Treatise  concerning  the  disorders  of  the  pretended  reformed 
churches;  3d.  Method  of  controversy.     Paris:  1650;  in  8vo. 

tPelisson,  treatise  of  the  Eucharist:  in  12mo.  Paris:  John  Anisson.  1694. 

^Confession  of  Faith,  art.  36,  Journal  des  savans,  August,  1694,  p.  520; 
Rotterdam:  1698. 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIlf.  147 

"The  priests,  instead  of  teaching  the  people  the  word  of  God, 
place  before  them  preachers  of  wood  and  stone,  that  is  to  say,  images; 
in  the  meantime,  they  sleep,  make  good  cheer,  are  very  careless,  and 
the  images  are  their  vicars  and  labom-ers,  who  do  the  business  of  their 
masters,  and  they  cost  nothing  to  feed  :  the  people  are  rendered  stupid, 
and  kiss  the  wood  and  stone,  ....  and  the  goods  which  should  be 
distributed  to  the  poor,  who  are  the  true  images  of  God,  are  lost  and 
badly  expended,  in  clothing  the  wood  and  stone."* 

But  how  happened  it  that  Calvin  did  not  rise  to  impose  silence  on  Vi- 
ret  ?  Viret  had  before  him  that  scholar  of  Noyon,  whom  the  priests 
had  fed,  reared,  supported,  and  instructed  in  letters.  And,  perhaps,  in 
searching  well  in  his  valise,  Calvin  might  have  found  somo  fine  gar- 
ments, which  the  good  abbe  Hangest  had  presented  to  him. 

Farel  was  unable  to  leave  with  Viret  the  palm  of  falsehood  and  in- 
salt.  Viret  had  attacked  the  clergy ;  Farel  only  waited  for  a  propi- 
tious moment,  to  blaspheme  against  the  papacy.  Images  for  images  ; 
his,  falling  on  a  more  elevated  head,  were  to  produce  still  more  effect. 
The  question  regarded  fasting.  "  And  you  can  all  be  witnesses,  if  you 
are  more  urged  by  incontinence,  after  having  eaten  a  littk  meat  in  the 
I'ineyard,  or  well  spiced  fish  in  the  tavern  ?  Avoiding  to  speak  of  fat, 
?arge  bellies,  and  double  chins,  how  are  they  continent,  when  they  are 
well  stuffed  with  fish  ?  To  which  it  is  necessary  to  add,  that  this  law 
has  been  made  by  the  popes,  to  hide  their  gluttony ;  for  the  city  of 
Rome,  full  of  gormandizing,  singularly  seeks  its  delicacies  in  fish. 

"  It  suffices  not  that  a  poor  labourer  has  carried  his  hens  to  St.  Loup; 
having  deprived  his  children  of  the  eggs,  in  order  to  go  to  confess,  he 
must  give  the  cheese  to  the  beggars,  linen  and  wool  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
ham  to  St.  Anthony,  as  the  beggars  and  bearers  of  scraps  give  to  be 
understood :  he  gives,  moreover,  grain,  wine,  and  all  things  to  these 
eaters  of  the  Pope,  who  have  devoured  you.  When  a  little  milk  shall 
remain  to  you,  the  cruelty  of  the  Pope  and  his  emissaries,  who  have 
taken  and  carried  away  every  thing,  and  given  you  nothing,  does  not 
permit  you  to  put  it  into  your  pot  with  your  peas,  that  you  may  cook 
them  without  oil,  but  you  must  eat  your  peas  with  salt  and  water,  and 
nothing  else."t 

At  that  time,  the  exterior  world  was  a  thing  unknown  to  the  poor 
labourer,  as  well  as  to  the  vine-dresser  of  the  yaijs  de  Vaud,  to  whom 
Farel  addressed  himself:  if  one  of  them  had  been'  acquainted  with  the 
recent  writings  of  Luther,  he  could  have  mounted  the  rostrum,  and,  ad- 
dressing die  orator,  have  said  : 

"  Master  WiUiam,  do  not  take  such  pity  on  the  sickly  fellows,  who 
have  not  asked  thee  either  for  bread  or  hen,  but  weep  rather  over  those 
rustici5  of  Thuringia,  touching  whom  thy  master  has  written  :  to  the 
peasant  give  straw ;  if  he  murmurs,  give  him  a  switching :  if  he  cries 
too  loud,  make  a  ball  whistle :  dost  thou  understand,  master  Wil- 
liam ?"i 

*Ruchat,  t.  VI.  p.  67.  tRuchat,  t.  VI.  p.  226.  acts  of  the  discussion. 

|An.  Joh.  RUhel:  de  Wette,  p.  669;  Menzel,  Neure  Geschichte  der  Deut- 
schen,  t.  I.  p.  216-217. 


148  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Is  it  not  astonishing,  that,  after  such  an  appeal  to  revolt,  the  peas- 
ants of  Lausanne  did  not  rush  on  their  priests  and  their  seigniors  ? 
We  were  expecting  some  scene  of  bloodshed.  Behold  the  response  of 
the  peasants  to  the  provocation  of  the  reformation  : 

Lucry,  Villette,  St.  Saphorin,  league*  together  to  preserve  their  re- 
ligion, their  priests,  their  churches,  and  j'their  images.  Then,  the  coun- 
cil of  Berne  consults  how  it  may  find  means  to  make  an  end  of  "the 
papism. "t  The  bailiff  of  Lausanne,  followed  by  footmen  and  archers, 
overruns  the  country,  destroying  chapels,  overturning  altars,  and  pros- 
trating crosses.  On  the  second  of  November,  1535,  he  enters  Lutry 
with  cries,  a  has  Us  papistes!  down  w'Uli  ike  pajyists!  His  soldiers 
had  passed  a  cord  round  the  neck  of  a  wooden  image  of  Christ,  an  im- 
age venerated  for  centuries,  when  the  council  of  the  commune  beseech- 
es the  bailiff  to  spare  the  sign  of  our  redemption,  which  the  inhabitants 
promised  to  take  away.  "And  the  bailiffV  says  Ruchat,  "had  the 
goodness  to  accord  to  them  what  they  demanded."  J 

We  were  mistaken.  We  thought  we  were  in  Sicily  under  the  pro- 
consulship  of  Verres,  in  a  pagan  country;  we  were  in  France,  in  the 
year  of  grace  1793,  under  the  reign  of  Chaumette  or  of  Hebert. 

When,  in  all  Lausanne,  there  did  not  remain  one  altar,  one  holy- 
water  pot,  one  image  of  wood,  of  stone,  or  of  bronze,  the  reformation 
proclaimed  that  the  country  was  converted ;  there  were  still  indeed 
some  priests,  some  monks,  some  nuns ;  but,  to  reduce  these,  they  had 
at  their  service,  famine,  the  lash,  the  prison,  the  cord,  and  Farel, 
the  spy. 

To  Ncegeli,  bailifi'  of  Thonon,  he  wrote  : 

"  Grace,  and  peace,  and  the  mercy  of  God,  our  good  Father.  If  you 
wish  to  escape  great  troubles,  you  must  have  an  eye  on  the  priests,  for 
all  evil  comes  from  them.  It  is  necessary  that  the  priests  should  not 
mingle  with  the  people,  nor  teach  them,  nor  administer  the  sacraments. 
You  must  watch  them,  and  especially  the  large  wolves,  w^ho  have  most 
seduced  the  poor  people. "§ 

Now,  these  large  wolves,  in  the  style  o.f  the  reformer,  were  Ardutius, 
Adhemar  Fabri,  La  Baume,  who  gave  bread  to  those  who  were  hungry, 
drink  to  those  who  were  thirsty,  a  garment  to  those  who  were  naked ; 
also,  John  of  Savoy,  who,  at  Geneva,  had  established  the  hospital  for 
foundlings,  the  abbe  Hangest,  who,  out  of  his  own  purse,  had  paid  for 
the  first  Latin  grammar  used  by  Calvin. 

In  the  middle  ages,  at  Caen,  they  were  wont  to  raise  a  hue  and  cry 
over  every  malefactor,  living  or  dead.  One  day,  a  poor  workmaii 
came  to  cry  over  the  tomb  of  William  the  Conqueror  ;  the  prince,  sleep- 

*Mss.  de  Lutry,   p.  07.  fRuchat,  t.  VI.  p.  .334.. 

:|:Tlie  intolerance  of  the  Bernese  is  acknowledg-ed  by  all  reformers  of  goorl 
faith.  If,  says  M.  Druey,  member  of  Canton  de  Vaud,  you  open  the  ecclesi- 
astical ordincinccs  of  1758,  which  are  a  collection  of  all  the  writings  of  tlie 
government  of  Borne,  since  1536,  on  the  points  regarding  religion,  you  per- 
coive  lliat  every  thing  respecting  religion  was  decreed,  regulated,  ordained, 
by  the  govermnont.—Accou7ii  rendered  of  the  debates  of  the  grnnd  council,  iu 
1839.  p.  7. 

^Epist.  Farclli,  incd.   No.  xxxiii. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIJf.  149 

inp-  in  the  earth,  did  not  hear  the  workman's  voice,  but  his  son  heard  it, 
who  caused  to  be  restored  a  few  feet  of  wood-land,  at  Asselin,  which 
the  monarch  had  taken  from  the  poor  man.  Behold  what  happened  to 
a  descendant  of  this  physician,  Blancherose,  who  had  sustained  the 
cause  of  his  God,  in  the  disputation  of  Lausanne.  He  was  at  Caen, 
towards  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  a  book  of  the  reforma- 
tion fell  into  his  hands;  he  opened  and  read  :  "There  is  not  one  cha- 
racter of  divinity  in  the  scriptures  which  may  not  be  eluded  by  the  pro- 
fane ;  there  is  not  one  which  can  furnish  a  proof;  and  considered  alto- 
gether, they  could  not  all  amount  to  a  demonstration.* 
He  closed  the  book,  and  asked  :  "Whose  book  is  this  ?" 
*'  It  is  Jurieu's,  a  Protestant  minister's,"  responded  a  voice. 
"  My  ancestor  was  right,  then,"  said  Blancherose,  "when,  in  1536, 
he  maintained, — that  it  is  impossible  for  the  simple  to  convince  them- 
selves of  the  divinity  of  the  scriptures,  by  the  scriptures  themselves; 
and  that  the  principle  of  faith  reposes  on  the  evidence  of  testimony." 

*Saurin,  examen   of  the    Theology   of  M.  Jurieu.     For  the  discussion   of 
Lausanne,  consult,  first,  Ruchat's  History  of  the  Reformation,  in  ]2mo.  t.  VI. 
secondly,  De  Haller's  History  of  the  religious  revolution  in  Western  Switzer- 
land, in"l2mo.;  1839. 
10^ 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE      ANABAPTISTS.       1537 1538. 

Hermann  and  Eenoit,  Anabaptists,  come  to  Geneva,  in  order  to  dispute  witlsi 
the  ministers. — Conferences  with  the  Syndics. — Dispute  with  Calvin. — Tho 
Anabaptists  cannot  defend  their  doctrines. — They  are  driven  away. — Perse- 
cutions against  the  Catholics. — Calvin's  catechism. — The  people  swear  to 
the  new  formulary. — Caroli  attacks  the  Genevan  ministers. — He  is  cited  be- 
fore the  synod  of  Berne, — and  condemned. — Violence  of  Calvin  against  Ca- 
roli.— Luther  outraged. 

Whilst  Farel  and  Calvin,  supported  by  the  council  of  Berne^ 
were  forcing  the  clergy  of  Lausanne  to  take  part  in  a  religious  disputa- 
tion, two  men,  exiled  from  Germany,  were  traveling  on  foot,  with  a 
bible  under  their  arm.  These  were  Hermann  of  Liege  and  Andrew 
Benoit  of  Flanders,  who  had  directed  their  steps  to  Geneva  in  order  to 
confer  with  the  doctors  of  the  new  church.  They  had  never  studied 
theology,  any  more  than  Farel;  but  they  had  read  the  old  and  new  tes- 
tament, of  which,  in  case  of  need,  they  could  tell  the  number  of  letters. 
And  one  day  their  eyes  had  chanced  to  fall  on  this  verse: 
"Go,  whoever  shall  believe  and  be  baptised,  shall  be  saved;"  and 
their  eyes,  they  said,  were  opened,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  had  illumined 
them,  and  they  had  understood  the  sense  of  this  commandment,  and 
caused  themselves  to  be  re-baplised. 

Our  two  Anabaptists  saluted  the  city  of  Geneva,  and  its  sacred  motto: 
post  tenebras  lux;  it  was  the  light  which  they  now  brought  to  their  new 
hosts.  They  presented  themselves,  vested  in  black,  with  their  bibles 
under  their  arms,  at  the  council  hall  of  the  city,  demanding  to  speak 
with  the  syndic.  The  syndic  came,  who  asked  them  this  question: 
"What  do  you  want?" 

Brother,  said  one  of  them,  we  want  to  dispute  with  your  ministers^ 
to  correct  them,  for  they  are  teaching  error. 

The  syndic  answered; — What  doctrine  do  you  bring  us?  we  are  the 
children  of  God;  God  has  enlightened  us:  you  must  have  perceived  on  en- 
tering Geneva,  that  the  city  has  broken  to  pieces  all  the  emblems  of 
the  papism. 

"  It  is  true,"  said  brother  Hermann,  "  and  we  have  returned  thanks 
to  God;  but  the  old  man  still  subsists  in  you;  the  original  stain  still  re- 
mains impressed  on  your  foreheads;  it  must  be  washed  off  in  a  second 
baptism;  the  first  which  you  have  received  was  not  efficacious,  for  you  did 
not  believe  in  Christ,  dead  and  resuscitated  for  our  sins.  We  wish  to 
dispute  with  your  masters." 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  151 

"  But,"  said  the  syndic,  "  master  William  Farel  and  master  John 
Calvin  are  at  this  time  at  Lausanne,  where  their  word  is  spreading  the 
fruits  of  life;  on  their  return  you  shall  dispute  with  them." 

"  We  will  wait,"  said  the  Anabaptists,  who  by  prayer,  made  prepa- 
ration to  combat  the  Genevan  doctors. 

"  Now,"  says  Michael  Roset,  "  the  city  began  to  be  infected  with 
Anabaptism;"  some  of  the  members  of  the  council  inclined  towards  the 
doctrine  of  Munzer  and  the  error  of  Arius.* 

The  conference  of  Lausanne  having  been  concluded,  Farel  and  Cal- 
vin returned  to  Geneva,  and  found  the  city  quite  in  agitation,  because 
oi'  the  arrival  of  the  new  apostles.  The  council  was  assembled,  and 
caused  the  two  ministers  to  be  called,  to  be  made  acquainted  with  the 
proposals  of  Hermann  and  Benoit.  The  council  asked  advice  of  the 
doctors.     Farel  answered: — we  will  disput3. 

They  fixed  the  day.  The  convent  de  Rive  was  designated  as  the 
place  of  the  tournament.  The  duel  lasted  almost  an  entire  week. — 
What  occurred  there?  We  are  ignorant  of  this;  for  protestantism  has 
not,  as  at  Lausanne,  drawn  up  the  proceedings  of  the  dispute;  only  wo 
know  that  the  council  summoned  Farel  and  Calvin  into  its  presence, 
and  enjoined  on  them  to  renounce  these  "  contests  for  the  future,  as 
more  fit  to  shake  the  faith  than  to  confirm  it."t  This  was  not  the  doc- 
trine maintained  by  Farel  at  Lausanne.  The  ministers  had  to  submit. 
In  their  turn,  Hermann  and  Benoit  v.^ere  summoned  before  the  magis- 
trates, who  ordered  them  to  retract,  if  they  desired  to  continue  residing 
in  Geneva. 

"  Show  us  in  what  we  have  sinned,"  said  Hermann  to  the  syndic. 

"  We  have  come  from  distant  countries  to   hiring  the  light  to  this 

city.     They  told  us  that  you  would  listen  to  us,  that  you  would  treat  us 

as  you  have  been  treated  by  the  papists  who  allowed  you  to  speak  at 

Lausanne,  at  Moudon,  at  Gruyere,  at  Berne." 

'•'  But,"  resumed  the  syndic,  "  have  you  not  disputed  with  Farel  and 
Calvin?" 

"  Yes.  brother,  and  we  have  convicted  them  of  teaching  the  doctrine 
of  falsehood. — When  we  quoted  the  gospel  to  them,  Messire  William 
and  Master  John  appealed  from  it  to  the  church.  They  did  like  (Eco- 
lampadius,  who,  in  full  senate,  alleged  to  us  St.  Cyprian  in  his  epistle 
to  Fidus;  Origen  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans;  St.  Augustine  against 
the  Donatists,  concerning  baptism.:]:  We  do  not  recognise  any  authori- 
ty but  that  of  scripture;  this  is  our  rock,  our  fort,  whence  we  defy  satan 
and  all  his  sons.  Now,  you  know  that  Luther  has  declared  that  the 
scriptures  contain  no  text  to  convict  us  of  error. §  Hear,  while  there 
is  still  time,  the  voice  of  God  who  speaks  by  our  lips." 

*  We  must  not  be  astomshod,  says  Jacques  Andre,  minister  and  chancellor 
of  the  university  of  Thuringia,  if  many  Calvinists  in  Poland,  Transvlvania  and 
Hungary  have  become  Arians,  and  others  Mahometans,  by  pursuing  the  road 
opened  to  them  by  the  doctrines  of  their  master  Calvin.  Hist,  do  Ccena, 
Aug.  fol.  455. 

t  Spon.  t.  I,  p.  275.  I  Gastius,  lib.  i.  p.  134. 

§  Luth.  Serm.  contra  Anabapt. 


152 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


They  were  about  trying  a  new  discussion,  Avhen  the  syndic  drew  out 
of  a  little  drawer,  a  paper  sealed  with  the  city  seal,  probably  prepared 
by  Farel  and  Calvin,  and  which  enclosed  against  the  Anabaptists  an  or- 
der of  perpetual  banishment,  with  a  menace  of  extreme  punishment  if 
they  attempted  to  re-enter  the  states  of  the  republic. 

The  Anabaptists  yielded  to  force,  and  left  Geneva,  where  their  doc- 
trines had  already  gained  many  of  the  inhabitants.  In  passing  by  the 
hotel  de  ville,  one  of  them  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  read  this  Latin  in- 
scription: 

"Quum  anno  domini  M.  D.  xxxv,  profligata  Romani  antichristi  ty- 
rannide,  abrogatisque  ejus  superstitionibus,  sacro-sancta  christi  religio 
hie  in  suam  puritatem,  ecclesia  in  meliorem  ordinem  singulari  Dei  ben- 
eficio  apposita,  et  simul  pulsis,  fugatis  hostibus,  urbs  ipsa  in  suam  liber- 
tatem  non  sine  insigni  miraculo  restituta  fuerit;  senatus  populusque 
genevensis  monumentum  hoc  perpetuae  memoriae  causa  fieri  atque  hoc 
loco  erigi  curavit,  quonam  erga  Deum  gratitudinem  ad  posteros  testan- 
tam  faceret." 

''As  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1535, — the  tyranny  of  the  Roman  An- 
ti-christ  having  been  dissolved,  its  superstitions  abrogated, — the  most 
holy  religion  of  Christ  was  here  restored  to  its  purity;  the  church,  by  a 
singular  blessing  of  God,  placed  in  a  better  condition;  and  the  enemies 
having  been  beaten  and  put  to  flight,  the  city  itself,  not  without  a  sig- 
nal miracle,  was  restored  to  its  liberties;  the  Genevan  senate  and  peo- 
ple have  taken  care  that  this  monument  should  be  made  for  a  perpetu- 
al memorial,  and  erected  in  this  place,  by  which  their  gratitude  to 
God  should  be  witnessed  to  posterity." 

Thus  did  Farel  and  Calvin,  who  had  come  to  Geneva  to  cause  free 
examination  to  triumph,  stifle  it  on  the  first  manifestation  of  dissent. 
The  people  did  not  imitate  the  intolerance  of  their  ministers.  They 
did  not  insult  the  Anabaptists,  on  beholding  them  depart.  Some  Eidge- 
noss,  collected  together  according  to  custom  in  a  tavern  around  their 
cans  of  Strasbourg  beer,  laughed  loudly  at  the  city  authorities,  whom 
they  represented  as  a  church  council,  and  at  the  cowardice  of  their  two 
popes,  Farel  and  Calvin,  who  had  appeared  to  resuscitate  the  letter  of 
scripture,  but  imprisoned  it  again  after  the  contest  of  Lausanne.  Their 
conduct  was  reported  to  Calvin,  by  some  merchants  of  the  city  whose 
business  had  suffered  by  the  war  of  Genevan  independence,  and  who 
were  desirous  to  revive  it  at  whatever  cost,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  the 
principle  proclaimed  by  the  reformation.  These  merchants  gave  to 
the  Eidgenoss  the  name  of  libertines. 

Calvin,  in  his  correspondence  with  his  friends,  adopted  this  injurious 
appellation.  Dating  from  this  day,  whoever,  seated  in  a  tavern,  at- 
tempted to  discuss  some  point  of  the  dogma  of  Farel  or  Calvin,  or  to 
laugh  at  these  doctors,  their  garments,  eloquence  or  pantomime  in  the 
pulpit,  was  treated  as  a  libertine;  an  insult  destined  soon  to  be  made 
important,  and  by  which  they  were  to  blast  every  individual  who 
should  play  at  dice,  who  should  not  have  extinguished  his  lamp  after 
the  signal,  who  should  drink  during  the  hours  of  religious  service,  who 
should  dance  on  Sundays,  who  should  criticise  the  acts  of  the  synod,  or 
keep  an  image  in  his  habitation. 


LTFE    OF    lOHN    CALVIN.  163 

The  reformation  at  Geneva  was  desirous  to  resemble  that  of  Witten- 
berg.    Were  not  both  born  from  the  same  principle? 

The  city  council  would  have  been  much  puzzled  to  recite  its  act  of 
faith.  It  contained  in  its  bosom,  Catholics,  Anabaptists,  Lutherans, 
and  above  all  Indifferen lists,  who  held  to  no  confession,  and  were 
equally  ready  to  adopt  that  of  Augsburg,  the  work  of  Melancthon,  that 
of  Zurich,  the  inspiration  of  Zwingle,  or  that  of  the  Helvetic  church: 
lying  inspirations,  ridiculous  symbols,  which  admirably  contradicted 
each  other  on  capital  points,  and  pretended  in  the  name  of  free  exam- 
ination, to  restrain  free  investigation.  Calvin  had  comprehended  the 
importance  of  unity  in  faith,  and  the  necessity  of  a  symbol  common  to 
all  those  who  rejected  Catholicism.  In  concert  with  Farel,  he  had 
just  finished  .a  formulary,*  which  he  was  to  propose  to  the  church  of 
Geneva,  and  which,  in  1536,  appeared  under  this  title: 

*•  The  Confession  of  Faith,  which  all  the  citizens  and  inhabitants  of 
Geneva,  and  subjects,  ought  to  swear  to  keep  and  hold." 

This  exomologesis  possessed  a  great  merit,  viz:  brevity;  it  contained 
only  twenty-one  articles,  which  could,  in  some  hours,  be  committed  to 
memory. 

The  eighteenth  indicated  the  marks,  by  which  the  church  of  Christ 
could  be  known: 

"  We  understand  that  the  right  mark  for  well  discerning  the  church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  is,  when  his  gospel  is  there  purely  and  faithfully  pre- 
sented and  preserved." 

If  M.  Cheneviere  be  a  christian,  it  is  necessary  to  tear  the  formulary 
to  pieces,  and  replace  on  the  city  gate  the  ancient  motto:  post  I.enebras 
spero  lucem;  for  Calvin  has  not  discovered  the  light;  he  left  Geneva  in 
its  ancient  darkness,  with  its  Christ,  Son  of  the  living  God,  '-'oriental 
words,  according  to  M.  Cheneviere,    such  as  are  found  in  Homer. "f 

Calvin's  formulary  was  an  attempt  upon  liberty  of  conscience,  and 
at  first  provoked  bitter  complaints.  Gsneva  was  at  that  time  divided 
into  different  religious  factions.  A  portion  of  the  people,  that  part, 
whose  impassioned  struggle  has  been  bo  adiviirably  described  by  the 
Sister  de  Jussie,  was  still  Catholic  in  heart  and  soul.     These  had  been 


*  The  first  Swiss  confession  bears  date,  1530;  the  second,  1532;  tho  third, 
1536;  the  fourth  was,  by  common  accord,  decreed  between  the  Swiss  and 
Genevese;  the  fifth,  drawn  up  bv  Bullinger  in  1566  was  approved  by  the  Pro- 
testant churches  of  Switzerland,  France,  England,  Scotland,  Huhgiry  and  Po- 
land. They  give,  as  a  motive  for  this  Exomologesis  "  the  necessity  to  enclose 
in  a  few  pages  the  doctrine  and  economy  of  our  churches:"  Brevi  hac  exposi- 
tione  conamur  complecti  ....  doc.trinani  aconomlamque  ecclesiarum  iioslrarum. 
However,  the  two  tirst  confessions,  ol  1532  and  1536,  have  live  printed  pag.s; 
that  of  1554  has  from  five  to  six,  and  that  of  Bullinger,  1566,  at  least  sixty  pages. 
In  the  translation  of  this,  published  by  Berne,  the  preface  of  Bullinger  was 
adroitly  suppressed. — De  la  religion  du  coeur,  by  the  Abbe  deBaudry,  in  12mo. 
p.  30,  and  the  following  pages. 

tM.  Cheneviere,  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  Geneva,  published  some 
years  since,  a  little  book  against  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  has  been 
gloriously  refuted  by  one  of  the  leaders  of  Methodism.  M.  Cheneviere  is  the 
author  of  different  little  works,  theological  essays,  causes  regarding  theology, 
&c.,  in  which  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity  is  boldly  denied. 


154 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIf. 


robbed  of  their  symbol,  their  churches,  their  altars,  but  they  cherished 
in  the  deptlis  of  their  hearts  the  ancient  doctrines,  rendered  still  more 
dear,  because  of  the  tears  and  the  blood  which  they  had  cost.  In  the 
council  and  among  the  nobles,  Anabaptism  counted  some  disciples, 
whom  the  brutal  exile  of  Hermann  and  Benoit  had  indisposed  against 
the  intolerance  of  Calvin.  The  Eidgenoss,  who  had  so  dearly  pur- 
chased the  liberty  of  their  country,  could  not  comprehend  that  a  city, 
which  had  driven  away  its  bishops  and  its  dukes,  should  have  invited 
strangers  to  regulate  its  worship  and  its  faith.  The  Catholics,  as  in 
the  time  of  the  persecutions  of  the  primitive  church,  concealed  them- 
selves in  their  dwellings,  devoutly  reading  the  prayer-books  which  their 
enemies  had  been  unable  to  tear  from  them,  and  praying  to  God  to  en- 
lighten the  hearts  of  the  magistrates.  The  Anabaptists  did  not  dare 
confess  the-r  belief,  and  to  prove  themselves  reformed,  declaimed  against 
"the  papism."  The  Eidgenoss  only  had  courage:  for  the  most  part 
young,  they  did  not,  at  their  tavern  suppers,  spare  either  the  cowardice 
of  the  members  of  the  council,  the  dogmatic  intolerance  of  the  minis- 
ters, or  the  morals  of  the  foreign  preachers.  Calvin  must  needs  re- 
press these  sparks  of  trouble.  To  show  his  zeal,  he  persecuted  the 
Catholics,  and  caused  search  to  be  made,  even  in  the  domestic  sanctua- 
ry, for  some  innocent  images,  the  sole  remains  of  the  religion  of  fifteen 
centuries. 

"Behold,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Daniel,  "the  images  overturned,  the 
altars  prostrate:  the  rest  w^iil  soon  follow,  and,  God  aiding,  the  idol 
shall  be  expelled  from  every  heart.  If  all  these  torpid  souls,  slaves  of 
their  bellies,  who  bray  amongst  you  from  the  midst  of  their  darkness, 
had  as  much  heart  ,as  knowledge,  workmen  would  not  be  wanting  to 
us.     We  have  more  need  of  ministers  than  of  temples.* 

Calvin  pursued  books,  after  having  vanquished  images.  They  took 
away  from  the  Catholics  that  book  of  the  hours,  by  the  aid  of  which 
they  deceived  their  persecutors,  and  could  assist  at  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass,  follow  the  priest  at  the  altar,  and  unite  their  prayers  with  his  ; 
they  took  away  the  canticles  in  metre  which  they  sang  at  night  on  re- 
tiring to  bed;  also  the  prayers  engraved  on  some  loose  leaves,  where, 
amid  pious  emblems,  the  Virgin  Mary  appeared.  There  remained  to 
them,  for  spiritual  consolation  and  food,  that  little  book  for  children, 
under  the  name  of  the  Catechism,  a  simpe  epitome  of  the  faith  of  the 
church,  from  St.  Peter  down  to  Paul  III.  written  in  the  vulgar  tongue  : 
this  was  snatched  from  them,  and  Calvin  tried  to  translate  it  into  Latin, 
and  to  corrupt  it  by  the  introduction  of  his  doctrine.  This  is  a  glory, 
claimed  by  the  admirers  of  Farel  for  the  pastor  of  Neufchatel,  and 
which  Calvin's  disciples  desire  their  master  to  share  with  master  Wil- 
liam, but  which  Calvin  will  give  up  to  nobody. f  This  catechism  ap- 
peared at  Bale,  in  1538.J 

*Oct.  MSS.  de  Zurich. 

tin  Calvin's  letters  to  tlie  church  of  Frise  in  1545,  we  find  : — cum  ante  an- 
nos  septem  edita  a  me  esset  brevis  religionis  summa  sub  eatcchismi  nomine. 

\  Catechismus,  sive  christianse  religionis  institutio,  communibus  renatae  hu- 
per  in   evangelio  Gcnevensis   ecclcsiae  suifragiis  recepta,  et  vulgari  quidem 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  155 

h  is  found,  generally,  printed  after  the  confession  of  Farel;  exscripta 
e  catecliismo;  its  literary  form  is  entirely  changed;  it  is  no  longer  that 
little  book,  put  by  the  Catholic  church  into  the  hands  of  childhood, 
■wiiere  dogma  is  defined  wiih  an  admirable  brevity,  a  candour  of  terms, 
which  supposes  in  him  who  receives  or  recites  it  the  faith  of  a  centena- 
ry; but  tlie  proud  achievement  of  a  theologian,  destined  for  a  vain  intel- 
ligence, and  in  part  extracted  from  the  Christian  Institutes.  The  re- 
formed minister  could  no  longer  say  as  did  our  village  priest:  "Let  little 
children  come  to  me;"  for  they  M'ouid  not  comprehend  a  tittle  of  the 
language  of  Calvin. 

The  Catholics  obeyed,  delivered  up  their  books,  left  the  city,  or  at- 
tached themselves  to  the  reformation  party,  when  interest  spoke  in  their 
ears  more  loudly  than  conscience.  Calvin  found  the  Eidgenoss  more 
formidable  enemies;  he  attacked  them  from  the  pulpit,  insulted  them  in 
their  faith,  their  morals,  and  their  habits;  represented  them  as  de- 
bauchees, drunkards,  blasphemers  of  the  holy  name  of  God,  and  as 
thieves  who  desired  the  ruin  of  the  gospel.  Farel  was  still  more  vio- 
lent: he  denounced  them  to  the  Lord's  wraih,  played  the  part  of  one  in- 
spired, and  wrote  upon  the  walls  of  the  temple  the  sentence  of  the  lib- 
ertines.  The  Eidgenoss  laughed  at  all  this  noise,  counting,  for  their 
defence  before  the  people,  upon  the  services  which  they  had  rendered  to 
the  republic;  upon  their  hatred  of  the  house  of  Savoy;  upon  the  patri- 
otism,  of  which  they  had  given  so  many  proofs.  When  persons  came 
to  relate  to  them  the  insults  which  Calvin  had  heaped  upon  them  from 
the  pulpit,  they  threw  off  their  coats,  or  unbuttoned  their  vests,  to  show 
the  wounds  which  they  had  received  while  defending  popular  liberty, 
and  they  said  :  "Go,  then,  and  ask  Messire  William  and  blaster  John, 
to  exhibit  as  much,  and  we  will  believe  in  them."  Although  the  hour 
indicated  by  the  regulations  had  passed,  they  did  not  leave  the  tavern 
bar-rooms,  but  continued  to  drink,  to  laugh,  to  make  sport  of  the  min- 
isters. Calvin  had  devoted  friends,  who  gave  him  an  account  of  these 
things.  It  was  necessary  to  put  an  end  to  them,  by  causing  the  coun- 
cil  to  accept  the  confession  of  faith  as  a  law  of  the  state. 

The  council  for  a  long  time  hesitated;  but  after  a  lively  struggle  it 
yielded  to  the  voice  of  the  minister.  In  a  republic,  which  had  the  hap. 
piness  to  receive  the  light  of  the  gospel,  Calvin  had  to  cause  the  inter- 
position of  the  divinity,  offended  by  the  insolence  of  the  libertines,  and 
by  the  spectacle  of  intestine  divisions.  The  council  accepted  the  for- 
mulary, which  the  people,  the  year  following,  on  July  20th,*  swore 
faithfully  to  hold  and  observe.  The  theocracy  was  therefore  constituted 
at  Geneva;  not  a  Catholic  theocracy,  with  the  red  robes  of  cardinals 
and  the  tiara  of  the  Pope,  but  a  college  theocracy,  with  a  lawyer's  cap, 


prius  idiomate,  nunc  vero  latine,  quo  de  fidei  illius  sinceritate  passim  aliis 
etiam  ecclesiis  constet,  in  lucem  edita,  Joanne  Calvino  autore,  Basileoe,  in 
officina  Roberti  Winter,  an.  1538,  mense  martio, — See  the  twenty-seventh 
.chapter  of  this  work. 

♦Senebier.    29th. 


156 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


mean  and  intolerant.*  The  vanquished  knew  henceforward  what  they 
had  to  believe. 

Then  Geneva  had  its  inquisition,  as  well  as  Venice;  an  inquisition 
of  the  lower  story,  formed  of  apostate  monks,  married  celibates,  foreign 
felons,  who,  under  the  triple  inspiration  of  hunger,  envy,  and  iniquity, 
made  persecution  a  trade,  went  into  the  taverns,  into  the  asylums  of  the 
discontented,  and  collected,  vhen  they  did  not  invent,  seditious  propo- 
sitions. They  considered  seditious:  ralleries  asiainst  the  figure  of  the 
two  ministers,  pleasantries  with  regard  to  their  garments  and  toilette, 
sarc-isms  against  the  grand  gestures  of  Farel  in  the  pulpit,  and  the  mum- 
my  attitude,  habitual  to  Calvin.  The  Eidgenoss,  for  the  most  part, 
childicn  of  good  families,  attacked  forms  especially,  and  mercilessly 
amused  themselves  at  the  badly  combed  beard  of  Messire  William,  and 
the  rasped  doublet  of  Master  John  of  Noyon. 

The  two  ministers  came  before  the  council  of  two  hundred,  to  cause 
the  regulations  of  the  municipal  police  to  be  put  in  execution,  as  intro- 
duced into  the  legislation  of  the  country  since  the  reformation.  They 
exacted,  that,  at  the  fall  of  night,  the  Cahareis  should  be  closed  ;  that 
the  taverns  should  remain  shut  during  the  whole  time  of  divine  service; 
that  games  of  dice  and  cards  should  be  prohibited  ;  that  village  dances 
should  be  forbidden  ;  that,  by  uenalties  of  fine  and  imprisonment,  they 
should  repress  all  kinds  of  blasphemy,  swearing,  or  gross  conversations. 
Certes,  we  should  applaud  this  rigour  of  morals,  for  which  the  reforma- 
tion would  claim  honor  to  its  apostles,  if  Calvin,  in  his  disputes  with 
the  Catholics,  at  this  very  moment,  had  not  shown  the  example  of  an 
intemperance  of  style,  of  which  our  language  would  be  able  to  furnish 
but  a  feeble  conception. 

Caroli,  that  minister  whom  we  found  at  the  disputation  of  Lausanne, 
frightened,  as  he  says  himself,  by  the  danger  which  menaced  the  gospel, 
had,  to  the  churches  of  Switzerland,  denounced  the  venom  of  Arianism 
hidden  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  Institutes.  Calvin  was 
moved,  and  appealed  to  the  synod  of  Berne,  where  both  appeared  and 
disputed.  Caroli  refused  to  recognize  Calvin  as  a  christian,  because 
his  adversary  did  not  bear  upon  his  forehead  the  sign  of  the  Trinity. 
Calvin  was  obliged  to  profess  his  faith  in  one  God,  F'ather,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  but  not  such  as  He  is  defined  in  the  Athanasian  Creed, 
*'which,"  .said  he,  "the  church  of  God  had  never  received."!  Caroli 
pursued  his  antagonist,  and  asked  him  which  was  the  church  of  Gody 
that  had  not  received  the  Athanasian  Creed,  and  the  ark  wherein, 
during  so  many  centuries,  the  new  formulary  had  been  preserved.    The 

*Senatui  nostro  fuimus  autores  Sacramenti  istius  exigendi. — Tanta  igitur 
necessitate  adacti  senatum  ea  de  re  nostrum  appellavimus,  et  oblata  confes- 
sionis  formula  impcnse  rogavimus,  ut  ne  dare  Domino  gloriam  in  profitenda 
ejus  veritatc  gravaretur.  jEquum  esse  ut  in  actione  tarn  sancta  populo  suo 
praeirent,  cui  SB  omnis  virtutis  exemplar  esse  oportere  noverat.  Quae  erat 
postulati  nostri  aequitas,  facile  impetravimus,  ut  plebs  decuriatim  convocata  in 
confessionemistam  juraret.  Cujus  in  prsestando  juramento  non  minor  fuitalacri- 
tas  quam  in  dicendo  senatus  diligentia. — Prajf.  ad  catech. 

tNos,  in  unius  fidem  jurasse  non  Athanasii,  cujus  symbolura  nulla  unquam 
legitima  ecclesia  approbasset. 


LIFE    OF   JOHlf    CALVIN.  167 

argument  was  pressing,  and  we  are  not  told  that  the  finger  of  Calvin 
pointed  out  to  Caroli  a  legitimate  communion  w^hich  had  rejected  the 
Athanasian  Creed.  But  the  dispute  being  ended,  Calvin,  who  gives  an 
incorrect  report  of  the  texts,  contents  himself  with  saying,  that  "the 
insolent  brute  made  great  gesticulations,  swelled  his  voice,  and  bellow- 
ed like  an  ox."* 

Calvin,  fearing  that  his  judges,  whose  creed  did  not  altogether  resem- 
ble  the  Genevan  formulary,  should  incline  for  Caroli,  had  been  obliged 
to  recognize  the  Helvetic  confession  of  1536,  as  christian ;  "for,"  he 
said,  "it  is  not  we  who  shall  ever  teach  that  every  one,  not  thinking 
with  us,  is  to  be  held  a  heretic"!  Berne,  attached  to  some  of  the 
ceremonies  of  the  ancient  religion,  which  it  had  retained,  was  ravished 
by  this  concession  of  the  church  of  Geneva.  The  synod  was  numerous. 
In  it  were  counted  one  hundred  ministers  of  Berne,  twenty  from  Neu- 
chatel,  and  three  from  Geneva,  almost  all,  apostate  priests,  unfrocked 
monks,  or  celibates  allied  to  some  incestuous  nun ;  a  priesthood  re- 
cruited from  the  taverns,  on  the  public  places,  or  from  the  dormitories 
of  convents.  With  the  exception  of  the  Genevan  ministers,  one  would 
have  been  puzzled  to  select  in  this  singular  council,  three  or  four  fathers 
who  understood  the  Latin  language ;  such  an  assembly  might  easily  be 
seduced.  It  felt  itself  much  moved  with  joy,  when,  at  the  moment  of 
counting  votes,  Calvin  recited  his  confession,  and  exclaimed  that  Caroli 
had  no  more  faith  than  a  dog  or  a  hog.  J  Caroli  smiled,  shrugged  his 
shoulders,  and  said'''in  a  low  tone,  in  German,  to  his  neighbours  : 
"  Happily,  Luther  gives  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  the  hogs  and  dogs."§ 

Caroli  was  condemned  and  obliged  to  leave  Switzerland ;  but  the 
sight  of  that  cenacle  of  priests,  made  in  a  day,  lending  ear  to  a  discus- 
sion of  matters,  which,  without  a  particular  illumination  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  none  could  comprehend ;  their  smiles  at  the  noise  of  insults 
which  distilled  from  the  lips  of  Calvin  ;  their  magnificent  disdain  for 
the  great  lights  of  Christianity ;  their  versatile  word,  which  was  no 
longer  to-day,  what  it  had  been  at  Lausanne ;  had  saddened  him  to  the 
very  heart.  He  had  arrived  at  Berne  heterodox,  he  left  it  Catholic. 
Then  the  reformation  forgot  that  Caroli  had  supported  a  part  of  the 
burden  of  discussion  at  Lausanne  ;  that  it  had  applauded  the  science  of 
the  doctor,  his  luminous  word,  his  knowledge  of  the  holy  books  ;  and 
the  world  learned,  from  the  mouth  of  his  ancient  colleagues,  that  Caroli 

*Hier  erkenne  die  Wuth  dieses  Thiers,  quoted  by  Paul  Henry,  nnd  extract- 
ed from  the  manuscripts  of  Geneva. — Letter  of  Calvin  to  Bullingcr.  A  Pro- 
testant biographer  of  Calvin  has  done  Caroli  more  justice,  for  he  lauds  his 
eloquence  and  fme  manners. — Nicht  nur  sein  schon  zlemlich  ansehnlichcs 
Alter,  sondern  auch  sein  beredtes,  einschmeichelndes  Betragen  inachte  auf 
vicle  Gemuther  Eindruck. — Calvin's  Lcben.     12.     Leipzig.  1798.  p.  47. 

tTantum  nolebamus  hoc  tyrannidis  exemplum  in  ecclcsiam  induci,  ut  is 
hsereticus  haberetur,  qui  non  ad  alterius  proescriptum  loqueretur. — MSS.  Gen. 
30  Aug.,  1537. 

:j:"Und  beschuldigte  Caroli,  dasz  ernicht  mehr  Glauben  habe,  als  einHund, 
oder  ein  Ferkel."     Kirchhofer,  t.  L  p,  226. 

4Da  D.  Martin  Luther  gefragt   wird,  ob   auch   in   ienem  Leben  und  Him- 
melreich  wUrden  Hunde  und  andere  Thicrc  scyn? — antwortet  er  und  sprach :  ja 
freilich.  Joh.  Aurifaber  in  Luther's  Tisch  Reden  fol.  503,  b.  504.  a.  c. 
14 


158  LIFI    or   JOHN    CALVIM. 

"was  a  man  of  darkness,  of  gross  ignorance,  a  felon  priest;  and  Calvin 
sang,  for  it  was  a  real  hymn,  Calvin  sang  the  fall  of  Caroli  : 

"  The  sycophant  has  been  driven  away  by  the  council,  and  we  have 
been  absolved,  not  only  of  the  crime  charged  against  us,  but  even  of 
every  suspicion  of  error.  Let  Caroli,  then,  deck  himself  with  the  name 
of  Athanasius  !  There  is  no  great  harm,  that  the  world  should  take 
him  for  a  sacrilegious  Athanasius,  a  debauchee,  a  homicide,  quite  cover- 
ed with  the  blood  of  the  blessed  :  and  we  would  be  able,  if  necessary, 
to  prove  the  truth  of  what  we  state."* 

Would  not  a  person  say,  that  these  words  have  been  stolen  from  Lu- 
ther's letter  to  the  archbishop  of  Mayence  ?  Calvin  has  forgotten  only 
one  word,  which,  at  that  time,  summed  up  all  that  hatred  could  inspire 
as  most  offensive — papist.  When  the  Latin  or  German  language, 
squeezed,  tormented,  tortured,  fell  powerless,  it  exhaled  the  cry  of 
papist !  which  the  writer  quite  joyfully  seized  upon,  to  cast  in  the  face 
of  the  Catholic,  and  the  combat  was  over. 

But  let  the  shade  of  Caroli  console  itself!  Calvin,  by  the  bedside  of 
the  sick  Farel,t  suffers  piercing  pains  "at  the  sight  of  all  the  blood 
which  they  were  about  to  shed,  in  order  to  establish  the  reign  of  the 
gospel  which  he  had  brought  to  Switzerland;  the  blood,  not  of  revolted 
peasants,  as  in  Franconia,  but  of  pious  souls,  of  holy  intelligences." 
He  desired  the  glorification  of  his  Eucharistic  dogma,  and,  when  he 
wrote  these  melancholy  prophecies  to  his  friend  Bucer,  he  had  under 
his  eye,  the  dissident  churches  of  Germany  and  thc^rand,  figure  of  Lu- 
ther, their  apostle.  He  well  perceived  that,  to  secure  the  triumph  of 
his  symbolism,  he  would  not  have  to  deal  only  with  the  German  popu- 
lations, who  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  monk  of  Witterfberg,  but  with 
the  Saxon  monk  himself,  who,  on  the  first  sign  of  revolt,  would  break 
him  to  pieces,  as  he  had  done  all  the  writers  whom  revolt  had  in- 
duced to  oppose  him.  Hence,  from  the  first  debut  of  his  apostolate, 
Calvin  seeks  to  ruin  Martin  in  the  estimation  of  his  friends,  by  attacking 
his  character.  The  reformation,  in  contest  with  the  reformation,  is  a 
curious  spectacle  presented  to  the  view  of  Catholicism.  Our  monks, 
Tetzel  and  Hochstraet,  for  example,  speak  of  Luther  in  terms  less  vio- 
lent ;  it  is  true,  they  attack  him  boldly,  but  do  not  hide  themselves,  as 
Calvin  did  in  a  confidential  letter  to  his  friend  Bucer. 

"If  Luther  can,  in  the  same  embrace,  bind  us  and  our  confession, 
my  heart  will  be  overwhelmed  with  joy  ;  but  there  is  no  one  but  him- 
self in  the  church  of  God What  are  we  to  think  of  Luther  ? 

In  truth,  I  know  not  :  I  believe  that  he  is  a  pious  man ;  I  would  wish 
only  that  they  are  mistaken   in    representing  him  as  they  do,  (and  the 

*Sycophanta  illc  Senatus  consulto  in  exilium  actus  est,  nos  plane  absoluti, 
non  a  criminc  modo  sed  ab  omni  qnoque  suspicione.  Quanquam  vero  se  Atha- 
nasii.  titulo  nunc  venditet  qui  po3nas  luat  dcfensas  lidei :  nullum  tamen  fore 
perJculum  videtur  ut  orbis  pro  Athannsio,  socrilegum,  scortatorem,  homicidam 
mncioTum  multorum  sanguine  made/item  agnoscat.  Qufilem  dum  istum  prsedi- 
camus,  ni.liil  dicimus  quam  quod  solidis  testimoniis  revincere  sumus  parati. — 
Epist.  Grynaeo. 

tQui  majori  teedio  conficitur  quam  in  pectus  illud  ferreum  cadere  posse  ar- 
bitrabar.— Cal.  Vireto.  MSS.  Gen.  23,  Ap.  1537. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  159 

testimony  is  that  of  his  friends,)  as  foolishly  obstinate;  and  his  conduct 
is  well  calculated  to  accredit  these  suspicions.  They  inform  me  that  he 
boasts  of  having  compelled  all  the  churches  of  Wittenberg  to  recognize 
his  lying  doctrine ;  strange  vanity  !  If  he  be  tormented  by  so  great  a 
desire  of  glory,  all  serious  hope  of  peace  in  the  truth  of  the  Lord  must 
be  renounced;  with  him  there  are  not  only  pride  and  wickedness,  but 
ignorance  and  hallucination  the  most  gross.*  How  absurd  was  he  at 
first  with  his  bread,  which  is  the  true  body  !  If  now  he  believes  that  the 
body  of  Christ  is  enveloped  in  the  material  substance,  it  is  a  monstrous 
error.  Ah  !  if  they  wish  to  inculcate  such  absurd  doctrines  to  our 
Swiss,  what  a  beautiful  path  to  concord  do  they  prepare  !  If,  therefore, 
thou  hast  over  Martin  any  influence,  labour  to  chain  to  Christ,  rather 
than  to  the  doctor,  all  those  souls  with  whom  he  has  so  unfortunately 
contended  :  let  Martin  at  length  give  a  hand  to  the  truth  which  he  has 
manifestly  betrayed.  As  to  myself,  I  can  well  render  testimony,  that, 
from  the  day  on  which  I  first  tasted  the  word  of  truth,  I  have  not  been 
abandoned  by  God,  to  the  point  of  not  comprehending  the  nature  of 
the  sacraments  and  the  sense  of  the  Eucharistic  institution." 

Bucer,  in  his  endeavour  to  reconcile  Luther  with  Calvin,  strangely 
deceived  himself !  He  thought  to  gain  Calvin,  by  flattering  him  with 
sweet  Avords.  The  Genevan  returned  him  music  for  music,  and  wrote 
to  him  :  Admoneste,  corrige,  do  all  that  thy  paternal  goodness  shall 
inspire  for  thy  son; t  but  he  was  then  returning  from  exile,  and  had 
need  of  protectors.  At  a  later  period,  his  tone  is  much  changed: 
he  writes  to  Peter  Martyr  concerning  Bucer  :  "A  servile  soul,  who,  to 
soften  the  ferocity  of  Luther,  and  the  like  of  him,  knew  not  what  terms 
to  employ. "t 

Do  you  remember  Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms  ?  There,  are  present 
before  him,  crowns  of  all  sorts,  of  electors,  kings,  and  emperors.  Luther, 
however,  does  not  lower  either  eye  or  voice ;  he  looks  boldly  at  his 
judges,  speaks  to  them  as  to  his  peers,  and  says  :  "If  my  doctrine  come 
from  God,  it  will  live  ;  if  it  come  not  from  God,  it  will  die."  Now, 
at  this  epoch,  Catholics  called  this  noise  of  words,  haughtiness  ;  the  re- 
formed called  it  greatness  of  soul.  Behold  a  judge  who  will  make  us 
agree.  It  is  a  writer  who  has  long  studied  and  meditated  Luther,  and 
who  finds  in  him  only  ignorance  and  hallucination.  Had  Weh,  at 
Augsburg,  said  to  Luther  :  "What  dost  thou  teach  ?  thou  mistakestthe 
sense  of  the  scriptures ;  thy  pomp  cannot  impose  upon  us ;  thou  art 
the  dupe  of  thy  brain;"  the  reformation  would  have,  lifted  up  its 
voice  and  accused  us  of  insolence.  But  what  will  it  say  of  Calvin  ? 
It  is  not  amid  the  impulses  of  disputation,  that  he  has  permitted  him- 
self to  resort  to  such  Avords,  but  in  cold  blood,  in  the  cabinet  of  his 
studies,  amid  the  silence  and  solitude  of  the  passions.     We  now  com- 

*Neque  enim  fastu  modo  et  maledicentia  deliquit,  sed  ignorantia  quoque  et 
crassissimahallucinatione. — Calvinus,  Bucero,  MSS.  Arch.  Bern.  Eccles.  12 
Jan.   1538. 

tAdmoneas,  castiges,  omnia  facias,  quae  patri  liceat  in  filium. — Geneva,  Oct. 
15,  1541.  Ep.  MSS.  Scrinii,  Eccl.  Argent. 

^Ille  Lutheri  et  similium  ferociam  dnniulcens  adeo  serviliter  se  dimisit,  ut 
in  singulis  verbis  perplexus  hfiereret,  MSS.  Gen. 


160  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIT. 

prehend  this  sentence  of  Zacheus  Faber  :  "The  God  of  Calvin  is  not 
the  true  God."* 

Faber  sustained  the  honor  of  Luther.  It  is  the  same  Faber,  who, 
each  evening  before  going  to  his  couch,  recited  this  prayer  of  ^Egidius 
Hunnius  :  "Lord  Jesus,  break  under  our  feet,  as  soon  as  possible,  the 
head  of  satan,  and  deliver  thy  church  from  the  Calvinistic  pest."t 

*Der  Calvinisten  Gott  ist  niclit  der  wahre.     In  seinem  kurzen  Beweis;  p.  13, 

Leipzig:  1620.  ^  .  ,      ^  ,  .   . 

tDominus  Jesus  Sathanam  sub  pedes  nostros  conterat  cito,  et  a  lue  Calvims- 
tica  clementer  liberet  ecclesiam  suam.  Amen.  Hunnius  in  Calvino  judaisr 
ante,  p,  187-193. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

DESPOTISM EXILE. — 1537-1538. 

Troubles  excited  at  Geneva  byUhe  formulary. — The  Church  and  the  State. — 
Ealard  denounced  by  Calvin. — Various  features  of  religious  despotism. — 
Physiognomy  of  the  city.— Increasing  irritation  of  the  Eidgenoss. — The  In- 
formers.— Corault. — The  council  commands  Calvin  and  Farel  to  give  the 
Sacrament  to  the  faithful. — Obstinate  refusal  of  the  ministers. — The  people 
assemble  and  call  for  their  banishment. 

Farel  had  expected  Calvin  to  continue  the  work  begun  by  Zwingle, 
or  by  Luther  ;  he  was  mistaken.  Calvin  wished  to  be  the  head  of  a 
sect,  and  to  give  his  own  name  to  a  confession  of  faith,  of  which  he 
had  conceived  the  idea.  He  was  ambitious  to  raise  up  a  church  at  Ge- 
neva, as  Luther  had  done  at  Wittenberg,  but  one  in  which  refined  ra- 
tionalism should  take  the  place  of  sentiment,  which,  in  his  notion,  held 
too  great  place  in  the  Saxon  institution.  He  had  seized  on  Geneva  in 
its  destitution.  When  he  made  his  appearance  there,  the  city  was 
seeking  for  a  symbol :  it  hesitated  to  select  between  Zwingle  and  Lu- 
ther. Farel  had  no  doctrine  ;  he  held  only  that  the  Pope  is  the  Anti- 
christ, and  was  ready  to  embrace,  as  disciple,  any  one  who  recognized 
this  fancy,  whether  he  was  Lutheran,  Bucerian,  Zwinglian.  Had  you 
interrogated,  as  to  his  faith,  at  that  hour,  and  even  at  the  very  moment 
when  Calvin  arrived  at  Geneva,  any  citizen  who  was  going  to  hear  the 
sermon  of  Messlre  William,  he  would  have  been  very  much  embarrass- 
ed to  reply  to  you.  He  was,  perhaps,  an  apostate  Franciscan  friar, 
who  had  taken  a  wife ;  a  member  of  the  council  of  two  hundred,  gan- 
grened  with  Anabaptism ;  a  merchant  of  the  market  halls,  who  had 
stolen  the  ciboriums  of  the  churches  ;  a  refugee,  driven  out  of  Lyons 
for  fraudulent  bankruptcy;  perhaps,  an  apostate  priest,  who,  to  obtain 
pardon  for  his  felony,  had  caused  canon  Hugonin  to  be  denounced  by 
his  servant,  as  guilty  of  having  poisoned  Farel  and  Viret;*  or  it  may 
be  our  ancient  secretary  of  state,  Claude  Roset,  who,  for  a  pitiful  sum, 
bought  the  spoils  taken  from  the  Catholics. f  All,  urged  on  by  the  evil 
spirit,  went  to  listen  to  the  minister,  without  knowing  to  which  of  the 
three  reformers  their  souls  should  one  day  belong;  and  all  ready  to  give 
them  up  to  any  who  might  want  them,  in  exchange  for  a  little  repose, 
or  gold,  or  sunshine  : — beings  without  faith,  of  which  a  certain  conquest 
might  be  made  by  those  skilled  ever  so  little  in  the  use  of  the  sword  or 
the  word.     Had  the  sword  of  the  duke   of  Savoy  been  stronger,  they 

♦"Galiffe.  Notices  Genealogiques,  t.  I.  p.  180.  tid.  t.  I.  p.  347. 

14* 


162  LIFl    or    JOHN    CALVlir. 

would  have  declared  themselves  Catholics.  Calvin  had  concocted  for 
them  a  formulary  of  the  gospel,  which  they  had  sworn  to  keep,  but  not 
till  the  death. 

This  formulary,  conceived  according  to  the  ideas  of  the  age,  estab- 
lished a  dogmatic  authority  outside  of  revelation  ; — a  scandal  against 
logic,  in  this,  that  in  place  of  the  words  of  scripture,  it  substituted  hu- 
man words,  invested  with  infallibility,  in  virtue  of  the  incarnation  of 
this  high  attribute  in  Calvin  ; — a  scandal  against  society,  which  it  up- 
turned, by  ravishing  away  from  it  the  most  precious  of  its  boons,  the 
liberty  of  conscience,  which  it  had  purchased  at  the  price  and  loss  of 
blood.  This  formulary  was  the  rock  on  which  Calvin  built  his  church. 
And  this  church  became  a  school  and  a  tribunal  of  faith  ;■ — a  school 
where,  under  pain  of  eternal  damnation,  every  disciple  was  obliged  to 
listen  to  the  voice  of  the  master,  in  spite  of  the  cries  of  conscience  ; — 
a  tribunal,  where  the  accused  had  before  them  an  attorney,  who  con- 
demned them  by  aid  of  a  text,  the  lawfulness  of  which  it  was  forbidden  to 
discuss,  and  of  which  it  made  use  to  prove  its  mission,  to  consecrate  its 
ministry,  and  to  establish  its  office  as  judge,  and  its  duty  as  pastor. 

Let  Luther,  uttering  maledictions,  drive  away  Carlstadt,  under  pre- 
text of  heresy,  with  a  mark  on  his  brow  like  Cain,  and  send  him  to 
beg  his  bread ;  let  him  hurl  to  the  demons  all  those  poor  peasants  who 
revolted  at  the  noise  of  his  blasphemies;  let  him  curse  the  memory  of 
Zwingle,  dying  at  Capel  for  a  God  of  his  own  imagining;  all  this  we 
can  conceive.  We  are  prepared  to  absolve,  as  less  inconsistent,  the 
man  who  declares  himself  illumined  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  represents 
himself  as  the  apostle  of  truth.  At  most,  we  could  only  reproach  him, 
as  Calvin  did,  with  his  gross  and  fanatical  hallucination.  At  this  epoch, 
the  Saxon  monk  has  not  written  a  confession  of  faith.  He  marches 
forth  and  debates  with  a  personal  logic,  and  with  the  holy  books  in  his 
hand  ;  but  at  Augsburg  Luther  has  no  longer  the  right  to  say  :  Wo 
believe  to  be  heretics,  and  separated  from  the  church  of  God,  all  Zwin- 
glians,  and  all  Sacramentarians,  who  deny  that  the  body  and  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  are  received  "by  the  mouth  of  the  body,"  in  the  venerable 
Eucharist.*  For,  since  giving  his  Exomologesis,  it  is  with  him  but  a 
human  speech,  transfigured  into  a  dogmatic  word  ;  a  private  revelation, 
usurping  the  place  of  the  revelation  of  the  Son  of  God;  a  particular 
confession,  substituted  for  the  gospel ;  in  a  word,  it  is  a  Protestant, 
Tetzel,  transformed  into  a  father  of  the  church ;  it  is  violence,  persecu- 
tion,  intolerance,  proclaimed  from  Thabor.f  In  Saxony,  the  Augs- 
burg confession  of  faith  raised  up  heresies.  The  same  thing  was  des- 
tined to  take  place  in  Switzerland. 

Geneva,  at  the  period  now  under  consideration,  presents  a  sad  spec- 

*From  this  promulgation  of  the  confession  of  faitli,  Jiavc  arisen  several  re- 
ligious controversies,  of  which  some  have  been  treated  by  M.  Naville, 
(Ernest)  with  great  superiority  of  logic,  in  his  thesis,  published  at  Geneva  in 
1839. — ohap.  4lh.  See  La  religion  du  coeiir,  by  abbe  Baudry,  Lausanne,  1839, 
in  l''2mo. 

tM.  Druey,  in  his  Account  rendered,  (compte  rendu)  p.  112,  year  1838,  says: 
"The  Confession  of  Faith  takes  the  place  of  the  Pope." — The  canton  ha* 
abolished  it. 


LIFX    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  163 

tacle  to  the  eyes  of  the  historian.  The  church  tends  to  absorb  itself  in 
the  state.  The  state  is  no  longer  a  duality,  but  a  unity,  where  power 
plays  the  part  of  apostle,  and  treats  the  noblest  work  of  God,  as  Catha- 
rine Bora  did  the  household  of  Luther,  by  descending  to  the  most  vulgar 
details.  It  is  the  state  which  regulates  doctrine,  discipline,  and  the 
preaching  of  the  evangelical  sheepfold.  It  writes  on  the  walls  of  its 
temple  ; — on  such  a  day,  there  will  be  two  sermons ;  the  first,  after  the 
morning  service  ;  the  second,  at  four  o'clock  ;  every  one  is  obliged  to 
be  present  at  these,  under  penalty  of  so  many  florins  fine  :  let  all  see 
to  it. 

It  says  to  the  pastors,  civil  functionaries  : — You  will  carefully  watch 
for  the  preservation  of  sound  doctrine.  Your  dogmatic  books  shall  be 
submitted  to  the  censorship  of  the  council,  that  is  to  say,  to  some  of  the 
noble  apothecaries,  the  noble  tanners  and  clock-makers  of  Geneva.* 

It  affixes  to  the  doors  of  taverns  : — Whoever  shall  blaspheme  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  or  shall  take  God  to  witness,  and  shall  insult  his 
holy  word,  shall  be  seized,  brought  before  the  magistrate,  and  con- 
demned. 

It  orders  all  citizens  not  to  keep  in  their  lodgings  any  papistical  pic- 
ture or  image,  under  penality  of  fine,  and  in  case  of  repetition  of  the 
offence,  oven  of  prison  and  exile. 

Now,  among  the  members  of  the  council,  this  crippled  holy  see,  there 
was  a  man  of  great  probity,  elected  in  1529,  as  one  of  the  six  first 
auditors  or  magistrates,  substituted  to  the  tribunal  of  the  vidomne.  In 
1530,  he  had  been  made  syndic.  When  Geneva  had  placed  in  front 
of  its  hotel  de  mile,  a  table  of  copper,  on  which,  in  beautiful  golden 
letters,  was  written,  LIBERTY  OF  CONSCIENCE,  he  rejoiced, 
and,  on  faith  of  this  pledge,  he  had  continued  to  live  in  Catholicism,  de- 
voutly praying  in  his  book  of  the  hours,  which  he  had  retained,  and 
when  passing  St.  Peter's  church,  he  never  would  enter,  while  Calvin 
or  Farel  was  in  the  pulpit. 

Calvin,  the  theologian,  domineered  in  the  council ;  he  denounced 
Balard,  to  whom  an  order  was  intimated  to  assist  at  the  preaching. 
Balard  refuses,  and  answers,  "that  it  is  absurd  to  restrain  conscience, 
and  that  men  have  no  right  over  this;  that  it  comes  from  God;  that 
God  alone  can  direct  it ;  and  that  his  conscience  forbids  him  to  listen 
to  the  ministers."  These  words  were  noble.  The  two  hundred  looked 
at  each  other,  and  did  not  know  what  resolution  to  take.  They  an- 
swered that  they  would  consult. 

Calvin  insisted,  and  easily  showed,  that  the  civil  power  was  by  oath 
allied  to  the  formulary,  and  that  it  was  bound  to  yield  it  the  strong  arm. 

Balard  was  recalled. 

The  council  was  complete  :  an  Athanasius,  a  merchant  from  the 
Place  du  Moulard,  summoned  the  Catholic  to  confess  his  faith.  Balard 
replied  : 

"  If  I  knew  whether  your  teaching  was  good  or  bad,  you  would  not 
need  urge  me  to  make  me  tell  you.     To   please   you,  I  can  only  make 

*The  citizens  most  distinguished  by  birth,  added  to  this  the  title  of  mer- 
chant.    M.  Gailiffe,  Notices  Genealogiques.  t.  I.  Introd.  p.  31. 


164 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


efifort  to  believe  the  articles  of  faith,  such  as  the  city  holds  them  in  keep- 
ing, and  as  a  good  Genevan,  I  only  desire  to  make  one  with  my  fellow 
citizens.  Now,  if  you  wish  to  know  my  confession,  I  can  state  it  to 
your  lordships  :  'I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  and  I  have  of  the  mass  the  idea  which  every  good  .christian 
ought  to  have.'  " 

"  Ordered  by  the  council,  that  Balard  leave  Geneva  in  ten  days.'* 
But  Balard  was  infirm,  sick,  exhausted  by  care  and  grief;  his  faith 
failed  him  ;  he  wrote  to  the  grand  and  little  council  :  "  Since  they  de- 
sire me  to  declare  the  mass  bad,  I  say  so,  asking  pardon  of  God  and  of 
men,  for  the  judgment  of  a  fact,  with  which  1  am  not  sufficiently  ac- 
quainted." 

Tiie  decree  of  exile  was  revoked.* 

The  people  silently  endured  tliese  essays  of  despotism,  and  contented 
themselves  with  laughing  at  the  bastard  tyranny  which  the  son  of  the 
scribe  of  Noyon  had  brought  them.  The  prisons  were  filled  with  delin- 
quents. The  Genevan  senate  obeyed  all  the  caprices  of  the  ministers, 
even  to  fulfilling  the  office  of  church  sexton.  In  the  registers  of  the 
republic,  under  date  of  May  20th,  1537,  we  read: 

"  A  spouse  having  gone  forth,  on  Sunday  last,  with  her  hair  more 
brought  down  than  should  be  done,  which  is  of  bad  example,  and  con. 
trary  to  what  is  preached,  the  mistress  was  put  in  prison,  and  the  two 
ladies  who  attended  her,  and  she  also  who  arranged  her  hair." 

A  strange  magistracy,  which,  in  its  functions,  has  charge  of  the 
intellectual  examination  of  aspirants  to  the  holy  ministry,  and  of  the 
hair-cutting  of  its  lady  parishioners;  which  pursues  a  tress,  plaited  or 
arranged  with  too  much  coquetry,  as  a  blasphemy,  and  throws  into 
prison  two  poor  servants,  who  accompanied  their  mistress  to  church,  as 
it  would  two  accomplices  of  a  robber !  We  have  searched  in  Burigi- 
ni,  for  information  as  to  where  Erasmus  was  at  this  epoch.  Luckily 
for  Geneva,  he  was  dead. 

At  another  time  they  seized  upon  a  pack  of  cards,  in  the  possession 
of  a  poor  devil.  What  shall  they  do  with  the  guilty  fellow  ?  Shall 
they  throw  him  into  prison  ?  This  punishment  was  too  slight  in  Cal- 
vin's eyes ;  he  is  condemed  to  be  exposed  at  the  stake,  with  his  cards 
on  his  shoulders. 

The  city  had  lost  its  customary  physiognomy,  and  no  longer  dared 
give  itself  up  to  the  impulses  of  joy  or  pleasure.  •  The  tavern  only, 
still  protested,  by  its  noisy  gaity,  against  the  puritanism  of  Calvin. 
The  guests  there  assembled  every  evening,  and  revenged  themselves,  by 
their  sarcasms,  on  the  insolence  of  the  new  priests.  They  made  fun  of 
Farel,  and  of  his  apostolic  co-labourers,  without  mercy.  In  the  midst 
of  the  bar-room  blazed  a  pitiful  light,   which   aided  to  fry,  I  know  not 

*Senebier,  t.  I.  The  rpfristers  of  the  council  place  this  fact  in  the  year  1536, 
Spon,  in  1540,  Gauthier,  in  1539. — Balard  is  the  anther  of  a  manuscript  history 
or  journal  of  what  occurred  from  the  month  of  October,  1525,  to  the  month  of 
December,  1531. — The  work  concludes  thus:  "I  have  drawn  up  in  memoirs 
the  said  historical  facts,  whicli  I  have  myself  witnessed;  I,  who,  though  un- 
worthy, was  syndic  of  the  city  in  1525,  controller  in  1527,  and  syndic  again  in 
1530.     To  God  be  honor  and  glory.     Amen." 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIC.  165 

what  sort  of  fish,  named  Faret ;  when  the  fish  was  cooked,  it  was  serv- 
ed round  to  the  merry  guests,  who  thus  consumed,  quite  smoking,  Mes- 
sire  Farel,  in  the  midst  of  unextinguishable  peals  of  laughter,  concern- 
ing the  tough  flesh  of  the  poor  minister.  He,  among  the  wine-bibbers, 
who  had  the  leanest  face,  represented  master  John  Calvin,  who,  in  his 
quality  of  pretended  son  of  a  cooper,  bespoke  wine,  and  drank  large 
draughts,  with  eye  cast  down,  and  head  stiff,  as  he  generally  carried  it. 
Certain  of  the  Eidgenoss  had  assumed  the  name  of  knights  of  the  arti- 
choke; their  coat  of  arms  consisted  of  two  large  leaves  of  this  plant,  in 
form  of  a  fan.  Richardet,  first  syndic  of  the  city,  and  John  Philip,  captain 
general,  were  enrolled  in  this  company  of  laughers,  which  the  ministers 
had  the  art  to  transform  into  a  faction.  Therefore,  in  the  evening,  the 
merry  band  emptied  a  number  of  glasses  of  wine,  accompanied  by 
quiys  and  quolibets  against  their  masters. — One  asked  where  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  specified  in  the  scriptures,  the  form  for  the  head-dress  of  wo- 
men, and  pretended  that  Absolom  would  have  been  put  under  ban  at 
Geneva,  if  he  had  not  taken  care  to  have  his  hair  cut  ?  Another  want- 
ed to  know,  if  red  beard,  cut  like  a  goat's,  and  such  as  was  borne  by 
Farel,  resembled  the  beard  of  Aaron  ?  Another,  if  Lazarus,  on  com- 
ing forth  from  the  sepulchre,  was  more  wan  than  Calvin?  Some  were 
more  serious,  and  asked  what  the  city  had  gained  by  taking  to  itself  for 
master,  a  lame  man,  like  Farel,  and  a  consumptive  man,  like  Calvin?  Of 
what  use  had  it  been  to  shed  blood,  in  defence  of  a  liberty  which  never 
was  invaded  by  the  bishop,*  and  which  two  strangers  had  boldly  come 
to  confiscate  ?  They  discussed  the  mission  of  the  ministers  who  had 
imposed  hands  on  themselves  without  assistance  from  the  people,  the 
only  legitimate  high  priest,  once  the  Catholic  priesthood  was  abol- 
ished. Amid  these  noisy,  picturesque  conversations,  quite  replete 
with  wine  and  poesy,  one  is  surprised  to  find  some  of  the  ideas,  which, 
according  to  M.  Naville,  conduct  straight  to  Catholicism.!  The  sup- 
per over,  a  fiddler  came  with  a  tamborine,  and  they  danced  roundly,  in 
the  midst  of  cries  of  joy  and  bachanalian  exclamations.  If  it  chanced 
to  be  a  Sunday,  in  summer,  they  played  at  ninepins,  at  fives,  or  at 
quoits,  to  see  who  should  pay  for  the  supper.  J 

We  must  not  represent  these  taverns  to  our  imagination  as  haunts, 
where  reason  was  lost  in  wine.  When  the  host  came  to  sum  up  the 
expenses,  each  one  was  in  for  six  farthings,  or  two  cents.  This  was 
the  sum  which  Peter  Werli  always  carried  with  him ;  Werli,  younger 
son  of  a  family  of  Fribourg,  a  good  priest,  but  who  would  have  been  a 
better  soldier,  and  who  died  from  a  sabre  wound.  § 


*M.  Senebierhas  acknowledged  the  part  taken  by  the  bishops  against  the 
house  of  Savoy,   t.  I. 

tErnest  Naville,  c.  4,  \  3.     Dissertation  before  his  theses,   1839. 

:j:GalifFe,  t.  Ill,  art.  Werli.  p.  514. 

^When  giving  the  narrative  of  SlsUr  Joanna  de  Jussie,  there  was  question  of 
Werli's  death.  Some  historians  have  blamed  this  canon  for  having  seized  the 
sword  to  defend  his  church. — M.  Galiffo  thus  replies  to  them  : — Let  Jews  or 
Mahometans  come  to  subvert  our  religion,  to  mock  our  worship,  to  take  pos- 
session of  our  churches;  whichever  one   of  us    would  look  on  without  emo- 


166  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

These  patriots  thought  themselves  in  safety,  behind  their  bottles  and 
glasses  :   but  they  were  mistaken. 

The  reformation  had  opened  the  gates  of  the  city  to  a  host  of  adven- 
turers, of  chevaliers  d' Industrie,  of  rogues,  bankrupts,  counterfeiters, 
who  had  been  forced  to  fly  their  country,  in  order  to  escape  the  cord, 
and  who  thronged  to  Geneva,  under  pretext  of  religion.  To  deceive 
ihe  better,  they  afl'ected  a  Pharisaical  zeal  for  the  new  evangelical  law, 
went  sedulously  to  preaching,  and  declaimed  against  the  "papism." 
They  paid  for  Genevan  hospitality,  by  denouncing  to  the  council  and 
to  the  ministers,  the  designs  which  they  heard,  or  which,  more  frequent- 
ly, they  invented.  They  thus  lived  upon  credit,  and  by  their  informa- 
tions, or  upon  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  it  is  said  by  an  old  historian. 

One  day,  (it  was  in  15.35,)  they  came  to  seize  canon  Hugonin  d'Or- 
sieres,  at  his  lodgings,  accusing  him  with  having  poisoned  Farel  and 
Viret.  The  accuser  of  the  Catholic  priest  was  a  woman  poisoner,  who 
traded  in  charms  with  the  refugees,  and  whom  Claude  Bernard,  castel- 
lan of  the  chapter,  had  taken  into  his  service.*  Hugonin  was  solemn- 
ly acquitted,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1535,  and  yet  in  the  biographies 
of  Farel  and  Viret,  we  continue  to  read,  "how  the  two  servants  of  God 
were  poisoned  by  the  canon  Hugonin  d'Orsieres." 

It  was  from  the  mouth  of  these  strangers  that  Calvin  heard  of  the 
railleries  of  the  knights  of  the  artichoke,  and  of  the  designs  of  the 
libertines.  These  designs  were  not  equivocal ;  they  desired  to  drive  him 
away,  together  with  his  companions. 

This  time,  Calvin  failed  to  secure  his  familiar  genius  ;  cunning.  In 
place  of  concealing  himself,  in  his  serpent's  skin,  and  creeping  into 
the  wall  or  under  the  brambles,  he  armed  himself  with  the  claws  of 
the  lion,  and  began  to  tear  at  the  frequenters  of  the  tavern,  even  to  the 
blood.     The  lion  attacked  the  magistrate  himself. 

His  enemies  had  the  fortune  and  address  to  take  up  the  serpent's  skin, 
which  Calvin  had  too  imprudently  laid  aside;  and  behold  how  they 
proceeded  for  the  ruin  of  the  theologian. 

Of  the  ancient  Catholic  religion,  Berne  had  preserved  various  cere- 
monies, which  were  termed  indifferent.  There,  they  baptised  the  in- 
fant at  the  baptismal  fonts ;  they  preserved  the  custom  of  communion 
in  Azymes,  or  unleavened  bread ;  they  celebrated  the  four  great  festi- 
vals, Christmas,  Ascension,  Pentecost,  and  Assumption.  These  prac- 
tices and  solemnities  had  been  recognized  and  adopted  in  a  recent 
synod,  held  at  Lausanne. 

The  synod,  before  separating,  had  sent  its  decision  to  the  other 
churches  of  Switzerland,  beseeching  them  to  consecrate  the  adoption 
thereof,  in  order  to  avoid  all  disputation. 

The  patriots  triumphed,  because  of  this  deliberation.  They  knew 
that  Calvin  would  not  submit  to  it,  and  that  unless  he  became  faithless 
to  his  own  pledges,  he  would  repel  all  exterior  form  whicli  might  bring  to 

tion  would  be  a  coward;  and  I  am  convinced,  that  more  than  one  of  our 
ministers  would  try  the  vigour  of  his  arm,  against  these  marplots,  t.  III. 
p.  511. 

♦Galiffe,  t.  III.,  xxiv,  ixv.  t.  I.  p.  180.. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  167 

mind  the  Catholic  liturgy.  It  was  known  that  they  had  numerous  parti- 
sans, in  the  two  councils,  in  the  magistracy,  and  particularly  among  the 
people,  who  regretted  the  pomp  of  their  ancient  worship,  and  could  not 
become  familiarized  with  that  religion,  pale  and  wan  as  the  visage  of 
him  who  had  brought  it  to  Geneva. 

Calvin  was  determined  to  resist.  He  was  acquainted  with  the  plans 
of  his  enemies.  He  procured  from  the  council  an  order  of  banishment 
against  all  those  who  should  not  have  sworn  to  the  confession.  The 
greater  portion  of  the  patriots  had  refused  the  oath  ;  but  when  it  became 
necssary  to  enforce  the  sentence,  the  number  of  the  refractory  was  so 
great,  that  the  authorities  feared  to  resort  to  open  force.*  The  minis- 
ters  had  the  pulpit. 

Among  the  apostles  of  the  new  gospel,  there  was  one  named  Coraud, 
or  Corault.  an  old  apostate  Augustinian,  without  learning  and  without 
morals,  but  endowed  with  energetic  lungs;  a  demoniac,  with  white 
hair,  who  produced  eloquence  by  turning  up  to  heaven,  eyes  almost  de- 
prived of  sight,  in  order  to  invoke  a  rebel  illumination ;  an  incestuous 
monk,  who  cried  as  if  they  had  taken  away  his  mistress.  It  was  his 
pleasure  to  affect  a  resemblance  to  Chrysostom,  by  scolding  the  great. 
Unfortunately,  to  Corault  there  was  wanting  not  only  a  golden  mouth, 
but  also  the  orator's  figure.  Corault  was  lean,  ghastly,  and  hectic.  It 
was  his  delight  to  thunder  against  the  knights  of  the  artichoke,  against 
the  magistrates,  and  against  the  Catholics.  The  pulpit  had  the  faculty 
to  infect  him  Avith  a  true  intoxication,  which  exhaled,  during  an  hour, 
in  invectives  and  in  dumb  show.  He  was  quite  joyful  when  he  suc- 
ceeded to  make  his  hearers  laugh,  by  comparing  Geneva  to  a  frog-pond, 
the  Genevans  to  rats,  and  the  magistrates  to  cats. 

The  council,  scandalized,  gave  orders  to  the  fanatical  monk  to  leave 
off  preaching,  and  to  Farel  and  Calvin  to  desist  from  politics  in  the 
pulpit. t  None  of  them  took  notice  of  the  prohibition.  Corault  mount- 
ed the  pulpit  at  St.  Gervais,  and  began  to  buffet  his  judges.  An  archer 
waited  for  him  to  come  forth  from  the  temple,  in  order  to  conduct  him 
to  prison;  the  people  commenced  laughing  at  the  unlucky  minister. 

On  the  following  morning,  Farel  and  Calvin  present  themselves  at 
the  chamber  of  the  council,  and  make  complaint  concerning  the  vio- 
lence exercised  against  Corault.  The  council  speaks  loudly,  and  ex- 
hibits to  the  ministers  the  decision  of  the  synod  of  Lausanne,  and  orders 
them  to  conform  to  it.  Farel  and  Calvin  appeal  from  this  to  a  new 
synod,  to  be  held  at  Zurich,  where  they  desire  to  be  heard.  The  coun- 
cil insists,  responds  to  them,  that  they  must  obey,  and,  in  bitter  terms, 
reproaches  them  with  having  repelled  from  the  holy  table,  different  citi- 
zens, and  with  having  arrogated  to  themselves  the  right  to  judge  of  the 
state  of  the  conscience,  whose  depths  God  only  can  fathom. 

The  council  was  right.  More  than  once..  Calvin  had  refused  the 
Eucharistic  bread  to  citizens  who  had  frequented  the  taverns  of  the  street 
des  Ckanoines,  and  taken  part   with   the   faction  of  the  knights  of  the 

*Haag's  life  of  Calvin,  p.  88-89. 

tWe  prohibit  preachers,  and  especially  Farel  and  Calvin,  to  interfere  in 
politics.     Registers,  1528.  March  11th  and  12th. 


ll&8  lilFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIW. 

artichoke.  Strange  perversion  of  reason !  Calvin,  who,  in  accord 
with  Luther,  rejects  good  works,  and  yet  refuses  communion  to  him, 
whom,  on  the  evening  before,  he  has  seen  making  merry  in  a  bar-room; 
as  if  the  night  which  followed  the  evening  repast,  as  if  the  passage  from 
the  church  bench  to  the  communion  table,  was  not  sufficient  to  enable 
the  guilty  person  to  repent,  and  to  purge  away  his  fault,  by  faith  in  the 
all-powerful  blood  of  Jesus  Christ !  But  in  this  life  of  reformers  we 
are  destined,  at  every  instant,  to  stumble  against  fanaticism,  intolerance,, 
and  nonsense.  Calvin  declares,  "that  his  hand  froze,  when  he  present- 
ed the  bread;  a  bread  of  wrath,  which  the  communicant  Avas  about  to 
devour."*  Had  he  not  taught  that  grace  could  not  be  lost  ?t  And 
had  not  Luther,  in  the  pulpit,  declared,  in  his  untranslateable  language: 
*' When  my  litte  John  and  my  little  Magdalen  cacant  in  angulo,  I  per- 
ceive nothing;  faith  resembles  them;  it  renders  sin  inodorous.":}: 

On  his  return  home,  Calvin  drew  up  a  protest  to  the  council.  It 
declared  that  the  ministers  would  henceforward  refuse  to  give  communion 
to  the  faithful.  Then  "the  chief  chanter  proceeds  to  search  for  the  minis- 
ters, in  order  to  enjoin  on  them  to  distribute  the  Lord's  Supper  with  yellow 
bread,  on  Easter  day,  according  to  the  ordinance  of  Berne." §  They 
respond  that  they  will  do  no  such  thing.  The  council  has  recourse 
to  the  intervention  of  a  Bernese  gentleman,  Louis  de  Diesbach,  who 
chanced  to  be  at  Geneva.  Louis  de  Diesbach  tries  in  vain  to  overcome 
the  obstinacy  of  the  ministers.  What  shall  be  done  ?  The  chamber 
of  the  council  assembles,  suspends  the  ministers,  and  commands  Henry 
La  Mare  to  preach,  and  to  distribute  the  Lord's  Supper  on  Easter  day. 
La  Mare  promises  obedience,  but  Farel  comes  to  him,  and  is  very  an- 
gry, "treats  him  as  an  enemy,  a  presurliptuous  fellow."  La  Mare  be- 
gins to  be  afraid,  hesitates,  and  ends  by  yielding. 

On  Easter  day,  the  people  assembled  in  numbers,  at  St.  Gervais, 
where  Farel  was  to  preach,  and  at  St.  Peter's,  where  Calvin  was  an- 
nounced. At  the  usual  hour,  Farel  mounts  the  pulpit,  and  blesses  the 
people.  The  discourse  is  not  a  sermon  on  the  solemnity,  but  a  violent 
tirade  against  his  enemies,  which  he  ends  thus  :  "To-day,  I  will  not 
distribute  the  Lord's  Supper."  At  these  words,  all  the  assistants  arise 
together,  and  apostrophize  the  minister.  The  Lord's  Supper  !  the  Lord's 
Supper  !  they  cry.  Farel  makes  a  sign  that  he  desires  to  speak ;  and 
the  tumult  subsides.  Then  the  orator,  with  his  eye  fixed  on  the  multi- 
tude, exclaims,  in  a  voice  of  thunder  :  "No  Lord's  Supper  for  drunk- 
ards, for  debauchees,  such  as  you."  At  this  moment,  swords  flashed ; 
Farel  would  have  been  s!ain,  had  not  some  of  his  friends  made  a  ram- 
part round  him  with  their  bodies. 

The  same  scenes  of  disorder,  but  of  a  less  violent  nature,  occurred 
at  St.  Peter's,  where  Calvin   preached.     During  the  evening,  the  peo- 

*Illi  quidem  iram  Dei  potius  vorabant  quam  vitae  sacramentum.  Paul  Hen- 
ry, t.  I.  p.  198. 

tHarm.  in  Math. — Inst,  book  3. 

^Thc  GerniLin  expression  is  far  more  energetic :  Als  wann  mein  Hansiohen 
und  Lcnickcn  in  den  Winkel  scheiszt,  des  lachet  man  als  sey  wohl  getlian, 
also  macbt  auch  dcr  Glaub,  dasz  unser  dreck  nicht  stinckt  fUr  Gott. — Luther's 
Hausz.  Postill.  Jen.  Fred,  am  Pfingst-Montag. 

jBolsec's  life  of  Calvin,  p.  24>  etc. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  169 

pie  ran  through  the  streets  of  Geneva,  crying  :  Death  to  the  ministers!* 
The  city  was  in  great  consternation  :  there  was  but  one  voice,  which 
was  to  demand  vengeancej  for  the  insolence  of  the  orators.  In  the  Ca- 
tholic church,  we  sometimes  see  the  priest  drive  from  the  holy  table, 
some  great  criminal,  covered  with  innocent  blood,  but  never  a  whole 
people,  asking  to  partake  of  the  body  and  blood  of  their  Saviour.  Be- 
sides, our  bishop  has  a  right,  which  Calvin  could  not  arrogate ;  the 
bishop  can  say  to  the  unworthy  christian  ;  "withdraw,  and  do  pen- 
ance," But  Calvin  could  not  thus  reject  from  the  Eucharistic  table, 
the  man  who  had  sinned,  because,  to  such  a  sinner,  there  was  no  need 
of  exterior  tears,  or  of  a  visible  amendment,  to  show  his  repentance. 
Calvin  never  ceased  to  teach  that  works  proceed  from  faith,  and  that 
faith  does  not  proceed  from  works ;  he  was,  therefore,  here  unfaithful  to 
his  own  doctrines. 

The  syndics  called  the  people  together,  and  the  exile  of  the  factious 
(ministers  was  voted,  almost  unanimously.  The  sentence  imported  that 
Farel  and  Calvin  should  retire  within  three  days,t  since  they  had  been 
'Unwilling  to  obey  the  magistrates. 

''Very  well,"  says  Calvin,  "it  is  better  to  obey  God  than  men." 
This  speech  is  old.  When  uttered  by  Luther,  at  the  Diet  of  Worms, 
in  face  of  the  emperor,  archbishops,  and  other  dignitaries  of  the  empire, 
it  produced  effect ;  but  here,  in  the  presence  of  a  senate  of  merchants, 
which  has  in  its  prerogatives,  the  government  alike  of  the  church  and 
of  taverns,  we  remain  cold  and  unmoved ;  the  drama,  the  actors,  the 
tribunal, — every  thing  is  mean  and  contemptible. 

At  the  commencement  of  his  Institutes,  Calvin  had  written  :  "  I 
■have  come  to  give  the  sword,  and  not  peace,"  and  he  kept  his  promise. 
It  was  truly  a  sword,  which  the  city  broke  to  pieces  in  the  hands  of  the 
preacher ;  and  a  sword,  too,  which  cut  away  even  the  curls  of  a  poor 
woman,  and  struck  the  back  of  a  card-player.  He  has  told  us  that 
the  voice  of  God,  by  the  mouth  of  Farel,  forced  him  to  remain  at  Gene- 
va. Two  years  have  glided  away,  and  behold  the  spectacle  presented 
by  this  city,  as  described  by  a  Protestant,  M.  Galiffe.  "  Families  are 
divided ;  one  cannot  take  a  step  without  meeting  with  a  murderer,  a 
sharper,  a  pickpocket,  a  bankrupt;  the  national  character,  so  expan- 
sive, has  become  morose,  restless,  suspicious;  to  devote  to  popular  ven- 
geance, citizens  who  did  not  believe  in  the  formulary,  they  invented 
new  terms;  a  sect,  which  is  named  the  sect  of  libertines,  a  collection, 
according  to  Calvin,  of  dissolute  men,  of  quarrellers,  and  blackguards, 
boldly  insults  the  gospel ;  it  is  forbidden  to  laugh  at  the  red  beard  of 
Farel  and  the  hollow  cheeks  of  Calvin,  under  penalty  of  spiritual  and 
corporeal  chastisement;  the  magistracy  has  been  outraged  in  the  pulpit, 
by  ministers  of  the  gospel,  who  have  combined  to  preach,  in  spite  of 
the  order  of  the  senate,  whose  sovereignty  they  had  recognized;  a  fright- 
ful scandal  has  been  given  in  the   temple,   by  the   refusal  to  admit  the 

*Haag,  life  of  Calvin,  p.  92-93. 

t23d  April,  "Farel  and  Calvin  are  ordered  to  withdrav/  in  three  days.'*  In 
May,  they  caused  the  baptismal  stones  for  baptising  to  be  replaced,  according 
to  the  synod  of  Lausanne. — Registers  of  the  city. 

15 


170  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN* 

faithful  to  communion."     This  is  history  which  we  write,  and  not  a 
romance,  after  the  manner  of*  Bonnivard,  in  his  memoirs.* 

The  religious  revolution  was  accomplished  at  the  epoch  of  Calvin's 
arrival.  Sister  de  Jussie  has  caused  us  to  assist  at  all  the  phases  of 
this  drama,  played  at  the  expense  of  all  that  man  holds  sacred;  of  his 
individuality,  his  moral  and  physical  liberty,  and  his  political  creed. 
The  reformation  slept  upon  ruins.  Calvin  awakened  it,  and  innocu. 
lated  it  with  his  cunning,  his  vanity,  his  wrath,  his  intolerance,  and  his 
hypocrisy.  If  no  longer  it  overturns  images,  as  it  did  when  guided  by 
Farel,  it  chants  their  downfall  as  a  hymn  to  the  Lord;  if  it  does  not 
pour  out  Catholic  blood,  it  is  because  there  is  no  longer  any  Catholicism 
in  Geneva.  And  then,  in  default  of  a  religion  to  make  way  with,  it 
endeavours  to  slay  liberty. 

Whilst  Catholicism  remained  immutable  as  truth.  Protestantism  un- 
derwent new  transformations  at  each  hour  of  the  day,  because  the  first 
represented  God,  and  the  last,  what  is,  of  all  things,  the  most  incon- 
stant, mam  Thus,  the  reformation,  in  traversing  Thuringia,  in  order 
to  become  incarnate  in  Zwingle,  left  at  Bale,  where  it  scarcely  had  a 
moment's  time  to  pause,  two  witnesses  of  its  instability,  (Ecolampadius 
and  Capito ;  then,  passing  round  the  two  Mythen,  which  barred  its  pro- 
gress on  the  road  de  Sc/iwytz,  it  came  to  Berne,  to  teach  doctrines  which 
no  more  resembled  those  of  Luther,  than  the  Saxon  country  resembles 
the  soil  of  Oberland.  At  a  later  period,  dragged  along  after  the  arms 
of  Berne,  it  made  use  of  the  pickaxe  of  the  pioneer,  to  force  open  the 
gates  of  Lausanne,  where  Caroli  reproached  it  with  having  assumed  the 
robe  of  Luther,  and  the  large  hat  of  Munzer,  the  Anabaptist.  Like 
those  waters  of  lake  Leman,  which  change  their  hues  five  several  times, 
it  was  no  longer  at  Geneva,  what  Farel  and  Viret  had  made  it  at  Orbe 
and  Liitry,  when  Calvin,  in  his  turn,  came  to  subject  it  to  a  new  trans- 
formation. 

♦Letter  on  the  history  of  Geneva,  by  M.  GalifFe  PicteC 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

PAMPHLETS    OF    CALVIN. SADOLET. 1537-1539. 

Examination  of  two  pamphlets  against  Catholicism,  published  at  Geneva,  by 
Calvin. — The  reformer  judged  by  M.  Galiffe, — The  Catholic  priest. — Sadolet 
at  Rome, — At  Carpentras. — Conduct  of  the  bishop, — His  letter  to  the  Gene- 
vese.  a  monument  of  charity  and  eloquence. — Calvin's  Reply. — Twofold  ap- 
preciation of  this  letter, 

Calvin,  on  departing  from  Geneva  to  go  to  Berne,  left  two  works, 
which  he  had  just  delivered  to  the  press,  and  which  were  destined  to 
introduce  trouble  into  France.  When  he  had  returned  from  Italy,  to 
arrange  his  affairs,  he  studiously  concealed  himself  from  public  view, 
and  no  one  could  have  divined  that  he  belonged  to  the  reformation,  had 
he  not  forgotten  to  go  and  pray  at  his  father's  tomb.  But,  at  Geneva, 
he  has  fear  no  longer,  and  would  even  dare  encounter  martyrdom  itself. 
In  his  treatise  de  Idolatria  fugienda,  dedicated  to  Nicholas  Duche- 
min,  he  wishes  that  every  christian,  washed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
should  confess  his  faith  without  dread  of  punishment ;  that  he  should 
not  hide  himself  in  catacombs,  but  announce  the  truth  from  the  house- 
tops :  for,  says  he,  "true  piety  engenders  true  confession,  and  what  is 
said  by  St.  Paul,  should  not  be  esteemed  as  light  or  vain.  As  we  be- 
lieve unto  justice  with  the  heart,  so  is  confession  made  unto  salvation." 

And  as  if  his  words  were  not  sufficiently  powerful,  he  opens  the  heav- 
ens, and  displays  to  our  gaze  amidst  eternal  glory,  our  holy  doctors 
inviting  France  to  embrace  the  reformation. 

"It  will  be  greatly  useful  for  us  here  to  recall  what  St.  Augustine, 
in  some  passage,  recounts  of  St.  Cyprian.  After  he  had  been  con- 
demned to  have  his  head  amputated,  they  offered  him  choice  and  means 
to  redeem  his  life,  provided  he  would,  by  word  only,  renounce  the  reli- 
gion for  which  he  was  doomed  to  die ;  and  not  only  was  license  allow- 
ed him  to  do  so,  but  after  he  had  arrived  at  the  place  of  punishment, 
he  was  affectionately  solicited  by  the  government,  to  consider  if  he  had 
not  better  provide  for  the  safety  of  his  life,  than  to  suffer  the  penalty  of 
a  foolish  and  vain  obstinacy  ?  To  which  he  answered,  in  one  word  : 
"  That  in  an  affair  so  holy,  there  was  no  room  for  deliberation."  When 
torments  were  paraded  before  his  eyes,  and  the  executioner,  with  a  look 
awry,  cruel  and  malignant,  stood  near  him ;  when  the  edge  of  the 
sword  already  lay  on  his  neck,  and  horrible  imprecations  Avere  heard 
from  the  infuriated  mob;  if  any  one  marvels  how  this  holy  personage 
lost  not  courage,  but  even  joyfully  presented  himself  to  the  torment. 


172  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

let  him  reflect  that  he  sustained,  to  the  end,  this  constant  grandeur  of 
courage,  by  a  single  thought :  that  he  had  his  heart  fixed  upon  the  com- 
mandment of  God,  who  summoned  him  to  make  confession  of  his 
religion."* 

It  is  manifest,  that  in  this  appeal  to  France,  Calvin  preaches  open 
revolt;  revolt  against  the  prince,  revolt  against  the  national  religion. 
And  that  christians  may  know  by  what  sign  they  are  to  be  recognized, 
he  wishes  them  to  renounce  images,  the  veneration  of  saints,  abstinence, 
celibacy,  the  exterior  forms  of  worship,  extreme  unction,  baptismal 
water,  and,  particularly,  the  mass,  that  diabolical  invention,  as  he  terms 
it.  In  order  to  blast  this  last,  he  sets  to  work  to  decry  the  sacrament,  the 
priest  who  celebrates,  and  the  faithful  who  receive  it.  A  person  would 
imagine  that  he  wa.^  giving  a  description  of  one  of  those  nocturnal  sup- 
pers of  the  street  des  ChaTtoines,  at  Geneva. 

**  The  people  assist, f  persuaded  that  every  thing  said  and  done  is 
holy,  amid  whom,  you  dissemble  and  feign  to  be  of  the  same  religion. 
After  this  sorcerer  and  juggler  has  approached  nearer  to  the  altar,  he 
commences  to  play  his  part  and  farce,  now  moving  to  one  side,  now  to 
the  other;  again  he  is  without  budging  ;  then  he  lisps  out  some  mur- 
murs, by  which  he  imagines  to   draw  Christ  from  heaven,   and  desires 

others  to  believe  this After  having  descended  from  heaven,  he 

places  himself  to  make  the  reconciliation  of  God  with  men,  as  if  he 
had  substituted  himself  in  place  of  Christ,  dead  and  immolated." 

Then,  behold  him  outraging  history,  representing  to  us  that  Catholic 
church  as  eating  the  bread  of  the  poor,  making  good  cheer,  and  pros- 
trating herself  before  gold,  her  god  of  heaven  and  earth.J 

"  Calvin  to  his  former  friend,  at  present,  bishop.  Now,  every  body 
declares  that  you  are  very  happy,  and,  as  the  saying  runs,  the  pet  of 
fortune,  because  of  the  new  dignity  of  bishop  which  has  fallen  to  you. 
For,  besides  the  honorable  title  of  prelate,  the  majesty  of  which  is  every 
where  revered,  it  brings  you  also  a  large  revenue  of  money,  with  which 
not  only  you  can  keep  up  your  house,  but  also  assist  the  poverty  of 
several,  and  exercise  liberality  towards  others.  Behold  what  men  say 
of  you,  and,  perchance,  also  make  you  believe  it.  But  as  to  myself, 
when  I  think  a  little  about  the  real  value  of  all  these  things,  generally 
so  greatly  esteemed  by  men,  I  experience  a  great  compassion  for  your 
calamity. "§ 

What  a  reproach  cast  upon  the  episcopacy  by  a  man,  who  probably 
has  not  yet  worn  out  the  last  garment  with  which  the  Catholic  church 
has  clothed  him;  a  man  who  has  eaten  the  bread  of  our  poor,  spent 
the  money  of  our  widows  and  our  orphans,  and  who  still  reads  in  the 
bible  purchased  for  him  at  Noyon,  by  the  charity  of  the  abbe  of  St. 
Eloy! 

*De  fugiendis  impiorum  illicitis  sacris.  Epistola  Nicholao  Chemino. — Cal- 
vin has  translated  this  pamphlet  into  French. 

tOpusculos,  Geneve,  161 1,  p.  710. 

:|:De  papisticis  sacerdotiis  vel  administrandis,  vel  abjiciendis. — ^Gerardo 
Ruffo. 

^Opuscules,  113,  118,  123  25,  43.-— Paul  Henry :  Das  Leben  Jah.  Calvin's  U 
VI.  p.  185-191. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  VJ3 

He  now  pretends  that  his  bishop  is  lolling  in  idleness,  has  no  care  for 
the  salvation  of  souls,  of  the  poor  sheep,  whom  he  only  thinks  of  shear- 
ing, in  order  to  vend  their  fleece,  and  make  good  cheer. 

**  Tiiy  trumpet,  shepherd  !  seize  thy  arms,  thou  who  art  to  stand  sen- 
tinel!"  did  he  say;  "What  dost  thou  wait  for?  Of  Vv'hat  dost  thou 
dream  ?  Is  this  the  time  to  sleep  ?  Wretch  !  thou  art  to  render  an 
account  to  the  Lord  for  the  death  of  so  many  souls  I  How  many  times 
art  thou  a  homicide  ?  How  many  times  guilty  of  blood,  for  every  drop 
of  which  the  Lord  w^ill  demand  an  account  at  thy  band?  And  being 
so  horribly  smitten,  art  thou  in  no  wise  moved?  hast  ihou  no  fear?     But 

I  treat  thee  too  mildly,  when  I  call  thee  homicide  and  traitor 

Behold  a  crime,  unfortunate  man,  above  all  others,  Avhich  is,  that  every 
day  thou  dost  sell  and  crucify  the  Son  of  God,  as  far  as  lies  in  thy 
power. 

"  This  is  an  evident  jugglery  and  deception,  the  boldest  robbery 
which  can  be  seen,  that  he  who  has  never  put  his  hand  to  the  work, 
should  come  to  demand  payment; 

"  When  being  far  from  their  churches  during  the  Vi^hole  year,  they 
(the  bishops)  have  their  vicars  there,  who  are  so  many  little  villains 
and  brigands,  by  whose  means  they  commit  an  infinite  variety  of  ex- 
actions, extortions,  robberies,  and  thefts. 

'-'  And  your  great  brigand  has  so  little  shame,  that  he  has  introduced 
into  his  tyrannical  edicts  this  poor  saying  of  St,  Jerome  :  'That  the 
goods  of  the  church  are  the  goods  of  the  poor;  from  which,  whosoever 
takes  more  than  is  necessary  for  an  honest  and  sober  life,  he  steals  so 
much  from  the  poor.' 

*'  Those  whom  the  Lord  appoints  pastors  over  his  church,  he  declares 
that  he  establishes  as  sentinels  and  guards,  for  the  defence  of  his  peo- 
ple      They  are  called   salt   of  the  earth,    light  of  the  world, 

angels  of  God,   and   power   of  God Reply,  then,  to  me ;  on 

thy  conscience,  chief  and  superintendent  of  religion,  with  what  fidelity 
dost  thou  labour  to  restore  what  is  fallen  ?" 

But  the  shade  of  the  bishop  has  awakened.  It  has  spoken  in  words 
furnished  by  a  Protestant :  "What  dost  thou  want,  Calvin  ?  Is  it  ta 
convert  France  to  Calvinism,  that  is,  to  hypocrisy,  the  mother  of  all 
vice  ?  Thou  wilt  not  succeed  in  this.  Let  Beza,  at  his  pleasure,  call 
thee  the  prophet  of  the  Lord  !  This  is  a  falsehood.  i)riven  out  of 
France,  thou  shalt  be  received  at  Geneva,  where  they  shall  heap  upon 
thee  all  imaginary  honors;  aye,  upon  thee,  who  speakest  of  poverty  ! 
Thou  shalt  there,  by  all  sorts  of  means,  acquire  an  unlimited  authority, 
and  as  soon  as  thou  shalt  be  sure  of  a  powerful  party,  thou  shalt  for  thy 
own  profit,  confiscate  the  reformation,  thou  shalt  procure  the  banish- 
ment of  the  founders  of  Genevan  independence,  the  exile  of  men  who 
sacrificed  their  possessions  and  their  blood  for  liberty;  thou  shalt,  from 
the  pulpil,  cry  out  against  theso  patriots  souls,  and  call  them  scum, 
scoundrels,  dogs  ;  thou  shalt  cause  those  who  wish  to  resist  thy  tyranny 
to  be  burned,  decapitated,  drowned  and  hung.  Thy  reign  shall  be 
long,  and  thy  barbarous  institutions  shall  survive  thee  a  century  and  a 
half."* 

*M.  GalifFe,  Lettre  d  un  protestant,  2  pages,  4to. 
15* 


174 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVltf. 


I  desire  to  contrast  a  Catholic  priest  with  the  reformed  minister,  and 
I  will  search  for  him  precisely  in  that  court  of  Leo  X.,  which  Calvin 
names  the  cavern  of  satan. 

Leo  X.,  on  his  elevation  to  the  papacy,  had  chosen,  for  his  secretary, 
a  young  man  named  James  Sadolet.*  This  was  a  post,  which  brought 
the  person  selected  to  it,  into  relations  with  the  glories  of  the  known 
world,  with  Erasmus,  Luther,  Melancthon,  Henry  VIIL,  Thomas 
More,  Reu'.;hlin.t  The  secretary  must  be  able  to  write  in  Greek, 
Latin,  and  Italian ;  and  Sadolet  knew  all  these  languages,  which  he 
spoke  with  extreme  facility.  The  sum  of  three  hundred  Roman  dollars 
was  the  ordinary  salary  attached  to  this  much  envied  dignity  :  but,  in 
compensation,  the  incumbent  beheld  Leo  in  all  his  pomp,  and  stood 
beside  the  Pope,  when,  in  the  saloons  of  the  Vatican,  the  prince  gave- 
one  of  those  audiences,  at  which  epic  poesy  was  represented  by  Ariosto; 
eloquence,  by  Accolli ;  painting,  by  Raphael;  sculpture,  by  Michael 
Angelo;  and  hermeneutics,  by  Cajetan.  Well,  perhaps  in  all  Rome 
there  was  not  a  more  poetic  soul  than  that  of  Sadolet.  Judge,  then,  of 
his  joy  !  With  his  three  hundred  dollars,  he  found  means  to  feed  and 
clothe  himself,  and  to  buy  from  the  Jews  some  Greek  manuscript,  which 
the  Israelites  estimated  admirably,  purchased  for  nothing  and  sold  for 
its  weight  in  gold;  or,  perhaps,  some  little  statue  which  had  been  found 
in  the  excavations  of  Campo  Vaccino.  By  the  time  the  year  had 
elapsed,  the  museum  and  library  of  the  young  votary  of  letters  were 
rich  in  masterpieces  of  art,  before  which  he  might  be  found  in  perpetu- 
al contemplation.  Leo,  who  knew  the  tastes  of  his  secretary,  made 
him  presents,  at  times,  at  the  great  solemnities  of  Easter  or  Chri?tmas, 
of  a  cameo,  a  ring,  or  an  article  in  bronze,  and  that  day  was  a  festival 
which  James  celebrated  in  beautiful  verses.  Each  of  these  relics  cost 
the  poet  a  Latin  ode,  which  afterwards  he  recited  to  Bembo,  or  to  the 
Pope  himself. 

One  day,  in  the  year  1506,  under  Julius  II.,  the  workmen  came  to  in- 
form Sadolet  that  they  had  discovered  a  group  in  marble,  from  some  admi- 
rable Greek  chisel,  Sadolet  hurries  to  the  gardens  of  Titus,  and,  imagine 
his  rapture;  he  has  recognized  the  Laocoon,  such  as  it  has  been  described 
by  Pliny.  In  the  evening,  all  the  church  bells  rang,  to  announce  the  for- 
tunate discovery.  Bembo  had  drawn  up  the  programme  for  the  festival 
of  the  next  day.  On  that  day,  the  group,  ornamented  with  flowers  and 
verdure,  was  to  traverse  the  city,  at  the  sound  of  music,  and  make  its 
triumphal  entry  into  the  Vatican.  The  poets  slept  not  a  wink  through 
the  whole  night ;  they  prepared  sonnets,  hymns,  ca?i2:oni,  in  order  to 
hail  the  resuriection  of  the  Laocoon;  the  streets  were  garnished,  in 
token  of  joy.  Sadolet  dreamed,  became  inspired,  and  after  the  space 
of  a  few  hours,  extemporized  a  Latin  poem,  which  Bibbiena  had  asked 
from  him. 

The  ceremony  finished,  and  the  marble  having  been  placed  safely 
upon  its  pedestal,  the  Pope  withdraws  to  his  own  apartments;  and  then 

•Excerpta  ex  tomo  III.  Florum   histoiiae  S.  R.  E.  cardinalium  a  Ludovico 
Domino  d'Attichy  epis.  ^Eduensi,  Lut.  Paris,  1660.  in  folio. 
fHier.  Niger,  Ep.  ad  Paul.  Rhen. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  175 

begins  a  new  festival,  a  festival  quite  pagan,  in  which  Sadolet  repre- 
sents the  poet  of  old,  Virgil  or  Horace,  and  sings  with  his  head  crown- 
ed  with  ivy.  He  wanted  to  exhibit  a  drama  :  reptiles,  with  flaming  eyes, 
were  seen  coming,  twining  round,  and  strangling  the  three  bodies  in 
their  sinuous  folds. 

Prolixum  bini  spiris  glomerantur  in  orbem 
Ardentes  colubri,  et  sinuosis  orbibus  oram 
Ternaque  multiplici  constringunt  corpora  nexu. 

They  first  bite,  and  tear  to  pieces  the  father. 

Laocoonta  petit  totumque  infraque  supraque 
Implicut 

The  spectators  heard  the  cries  of  the  old  man,  at  each  stroke  from  the 
fangs  of  the  serpents;  they  beheld  the  eye  and  the  arm  upraised  to  heaven 
to  implore  aid ;  the  serpent,  now  stooping  its  crest,  now  rearing  it  on 
high,  unfolds  its  fearful  length,  and  amid  its  lubricious  evolutions,  begins 
to  gnaw  the  stomach,  breast  and  thighs  of  the  unhappy  man  ;  the  veins 
swell,  the  flesh  quivers,  a  driveling    slaver   streams    forth  and  mingles 

with  the  gush   of  black  blood Exclamations    of  admiration 

peal  forth  on  every  side  :  they  shout,  live  Sadolet !  live  Virgil !  the 
Laocoon  was  forgotten.  In  the  evening,  on  returning  to  his  chambers, 
James  found  a  beautiful  manuscript  of  Plato  :  this  was  a  present  from 
the  Pope. 

The  successor  of  Julius  II.  had  come  to  regard  his  secretary  only  as 
an  artist,  who,  in  order  to  live,  must  content  himself  with  glory  and 
incense.  He  forgot  that  Sadolet  had  a  body  to  feed.  When  the  end 
of  the  year  had  rolled  round,  James  was  in  debt,  and  was  compelled  to 
have  recourse  to  the  ever  open  purse  of  one  of  his  friends.  At  last, 
Bembo  solicited  the  Pope  for  a  new  robe  for  Sadolet.  Medicis  nobly 
repented.  Some  days  after,  Sadolet  was  nominated  to  the  bishopric  of 
Carpentras.  We  have  forgotten  to  remark  that  the  secretary  was  a 
great  theologian,  a  skillful  commentator,  a  christian  of  the  primitive 
church,  simple  in  his  manners,  meek  of  heart,  with  a  confidence  in 
God  truly  infantile,  and  no  more  thoughtful  of  the  morrow  than  the  bird. 
For,  like  the  bird,  he  loved  to  build  his  nest  in  the  open  air,  in  the  folds 
of  the  robe  of  some  Roman  statue,  but  half  disinterred. 

Sadolet,  for  a  long  time,  resisted;  and  any  other  would  have  done 
the  same,  who  had  lived  in  that  Rome  of  the  revival,  in  company  with 
all  the  gods  of  ancient  mythology,  and  the  artists,  who,  each  day,  resus- 
citated some  forgotten  image.  He,  however,  at  length  yielded,  and 
obeyed  in  the  spirit  of  a  christian  and  a  poet. 

To  decorate  the  episcopal  residence  of  Carpentras,  he  intended  to 
carry  with  him  manuscripts  of  the  Egyptian  papyrus,  statues  of  Athens, 
bronzes  of  Corinth,  Venitian  editions  of  Cicero,  Demosthenes,  St. 
Thomas,  Aristotle,  Virgil,  Horace,  and  paintings  of  Guirlandajo,  of 
Perugino,  of  Ciraabue.  The  ship,  containing  all  these  wonders,  had 
set  sail  from  Ostium,  accompanied,  as,  of  old,  was  the  vessel  which  bore 


176  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

Virgil,  by  tiie  best  wishes  of  all  the  literati  of  Rome.  But,  see  the 
misCortune  !  hardly  had  the  vessel  touched  the  waters  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, wlien  the  pest  began  to  rage  among  the  crew  ;  nearly  all  the  sail- 
ors perished ;  the  captain  and  mate  only  survived,  and  made  sail  for  the 
coast  of  France,  whence  they  were  unpityingly  repelled.  Farewell  to- 
the  manuscripts,  which  Sadolet  had  collected  with  such  affection  ! 
Farewell  to  the  divine  Plato,  the  gift  of  Julius  II. !  Adieu  to  the  trea- 
sures  of  archeology  and  the  numismatics,  amassed  by  Pontanus !  Adieu 
to  the  missals,  sparkling  with  gold  and  cinnabar,  thi=i  works  of  monastic 
patience!  Adieu  to  the  beautiful  designs  which  Raphael  had  executed 
expressly  for  his  friend  !  You  no  doubt  expected  some  ode,  in  which 
Sadolet  bewails  the  cruel  disaster.  I  was  in  the  same  expectation: 
■we  were  mistaken.  The  poet  has  left  his  wings  at  Rome;  at  Carpen- 
tras  we  shall  find  nothing  but  the  priest,  submissive  to  the  decrees  of 
heaven,  "resigned  to  the  loss  of  all  these  fine  Greek  manuscripts,  which 
had  cost  him  so  much  difTicuUy  to  collect,  and  so  much  trouble  to  pre- 
serve."* For  our  part,  we  could  easily  have  pardoned  the  lamenta- 
tions  and  regreis  of  the  proprietor. 

We  forgot  one  circumstance  of  the  voyage.  At  Carpentras,  Sadolet 
sets  to  counting  his  money,  and  he  finds  that  the  Roman  cliancery  has 
paid  him  for  the  whole  year.  Now,  it  was  then  the  month  of  October. 
The  bishop  sends  back  one  hundred  and  fifty  beautiful  dollars,  which 
he  has  received  more  than  his  due,  and  roundly  rates  the  treasurer  for 
this  error  of  calculaLion. 

We  should  now  need  a  whole  volume,  as  did  his  biographer,  to  repre- 
sent the  guest  of  the  most  brilli-int  court  of  Europe,  in  the  midst  of  his 
flock  of  mountaineers,  whom  he  loved  as  he  formerly  loved  his  books. 
He  had  studied  the  law  :  he  desired  to  be  the  first  magistrate  of  his 
flock,  or  of  his  children,  as  he  called  ihem.  Carpentras  was  then  the 
seat  of  fairs,  greatly  frequented;  when  a  quarrel  originated  among  the 
merchants,  the  two  parties  came  knocking  at  the  doors  of  the  bishop's 
house. — What  do  you  want  ?  We  want  your  decision,  bishop. — Sado- 
let conducted  the  pleaders  into  his  garden,  under  the  shade  of  a  fine 
spreading  chcstnut-trec,  made  them  seat  themselves  by  his  side,  and,  in  a 
summary  manner,  judged  the  cause.  His  decree  was  in  the  last  resort, 
and  wiilioul  appeal. 

At  the  epis:jopal  cattle,  there  was  a  wood-house,  filled  with  fuel, 
which,  in  winter,  he  distributed  to  ihe  poor  of  his  diocess.  When  the 
sheep  suffered  hunger  as  well  as  cold,  he  added  bread  and  clothes  to  the 
wood.  During  a  year  of  scarcity,  he  thus  nourished  several  thousand 
unfortunate  beings. f  vSadolct  sometimes  said  :  "I  know  not  how  this 
is  done  :  I  look  into  my  wood-house,  not  a  branch  is  there;  I  search 
my  purse,  not  a  cent  in  ii :  a  poor  person  presents  himself,  and  lo  !  I 
find  a  Slick  in  a  iililc  corner,  and  a  piece  of  gold  in  the  lining  of  my 
robe  ;  it  is  .some  good  angel  that  plays   me  this  trick."     He  spoke  the 

*Meire'lqui.  illi  tot  labo'cs  quos  imprndcramus  graecls  priEsertim  codicibus 
conquirondis  undiquo  ct  colligjndis,  rnei  tanti  sumptus,  mcse  curae,  oraaes- 
iterum  jam  ad  nihiium  rccidorunt. — Ep.  Sadolcti. 

tDurioro  anno  magnum  hominurn  egentiam  numerum  alebat. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  177 

truth.  His  diocess,  and  especially  Carpentras,  was  full  of  good  angels, 
in  the  guise  of  magistrates,  of  soldiers,  of  merchants,  of  fine  ladies, 
•who  replenished  the  purse,  the  wood-house,  and  even  the  library  of  the 
bishop.  That  library  at  length  was  garnished  with  the  works  of  hu. 
manists,  jurists,  doctors,  by  the  aid  of  which  he  found  means  to  begin 
again  his  life  of  artist.  It  was  there  the  bishop  wrote  b'ome  of  his 
works,  and,  among  others,  his  Latin  treatise  concerning  the  primary  in- 
struction of  children;  de  liber  is  rede  insiituendis ;  and  his  excellent 
commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans ;  a  commentary 
against  which  the  whole  Lutheran  school  arrayed  itself,  and  which 
Sturm  attacked  so  grossly.  Sturm  was^a  Strasbourg  humanist.*  Do 
you  know  of  what  he  accused  the  Catholic  bishop?  Of  having  lied, 
in  speaking  of  the  reformation.  Sadolet  was  not  moved  the  least  in  the 
world.  He  answered  Sturm,  who  had  sent  him  his  last  manuscript : — 
"You  accuse  me,  my  dear  sir,  with  having,  in  my  commentaries,  given 
false  testimony  concerning  your  doctrines,  for  this  is  the  very  expression 
you  use,  falsum  testimonium.  You  should  have  left  all  these  abusive 
words  to  Luther ;  they  are  not  becoming  an  intelligence  like  yours. 
But  you  are  mistaken  ;  you  will,  I  am  sure,  recover  your  politeness, 
and  your  habitual  style.  Should  ever  you,  Bucer,  or  Melancthon  need 
my  assistance,  I  am  disposed  to  serve  you,  and  not  merely  in  words,  "t 

Not  a  week  passed  that  he  did  not  receive  a  letter  from  some  one  of 
his  friends.  Sometimes,  it  was  from  his  neighbour,  the  bishop  of  Apt, 
who  had  instituted  a  school  of  theology  in  his  palace  ;  J  sometimes  from 
Cochlaeus,  to  whom  he  answered  :  *'  I  approve  your  temperate  and  mild 
manner  of  writing :  let  us  not  exasperate  the  heretics. "§  Erasmus, 
with  whom  he  became  acquainted  at  Rome,  consulted  him  concerning 
some  obscure  text  of  scripture,  or  a  doubtful  word ;  Melancthon  sent 
him  all  the  works  he  published.  Sadolet  said  :  *'  Had  I  to  deal  only 
with  Schwartzerde,  peace  would  be  restored  to  the  church  to-morrow ; 
but  with  Luther,  that  is  another  affair !"     He  added  : 

"  I  know  not  how  nature  has  created  me  :  but  I  cannot  hate  a  per- 
son because  he  does  not  agree  with  me  in  opinion."  |1 

Here  is  the  subject  of  a  beautiful  picture. 

Francis  1.  was  at  war  with  the  house  of  Savoy  ;  the  count  of  Furs- 
temberg,  under  the  orders  of  admiral  Biron,  was  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Carpentras,  where  his  German  foot-soldiers  had  committed  grave  disor- 
ders. The  inhabitants  had  armed  themselves  and  driven  the  Germans 
away.  Furstemberg.  on  receiving  news  of  this,  set  forward  with  his  troops 
and  cannon,  to  chastise  the  city,  when  Sadolet,  in  his  episcopal  robes, 
presents   himself  before    the   advance   guard  : — Who  art   thou  ?    the 

♦See  chapter  xix.    Calvin  at  Strasbourg. 

tEp.  Sadoleti  Joh.  Sturmio,  1536.  Equidem  quod  ad  me  attinet  si  quid 
forte  accident  quod  <ibi  et  Melanctlioni,  et  Bucero  commodum  aut  gratum 
facere  possim,  reperietis  me  profecto  paratiorem  quam  verbis  ut  nullum  a  me 
officium  beuevoli  erga  voshominis  desiderari  sim  passurus. 

:J:Flagrans  studio  sacrarum  lectionum. — Sadol.  Ep.  lib.  6,  ep.  9. 

^Sadol.  Ep.,  lib.  2,.  ep.  6. 

jINon  ego  enim  sum  qui  ut  quisque  a  nobis  opinione  dissentit,  statim  eum 
odio  habeam. 


1T8 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


count  demands  ofthe  prelate. — The  bishop  of  Carpentras,  who  comes  to 
implore  mercy  for  his  floclv. — Leave  me,  said  Furstemberg,  I  shall  so 
shear  your  sheep,  that  they  will  not  have  strength  left  to  bieat.  Sir  count, 
said  Sadolet,  at  least,  allow  me  to  speak  to  the  admiral?  Go;  said 
Furstemberg,  I  will  wait  for  you.  Sadolet  asks  to  see  the  admiral; 
who  puts  him  the  same  question  : — Who  art  thou?  I  am  Sadolet,  re- 
plies the  bishop  of  Carpentras.  At  this  name  the  admiral  dismounts 
from  his  horse,  kneels,  kisses  the  hand  of  the  priest,  and  signs  an  order 
to  Furstemberg  to  stop.  It  was  time,  said  Furstemberg,  for  the  cannon 
were  about  to  play.  You  would  still  have  waited  for  me,  said  Sadolet. 
— And  why  so  ? — The  first  bullet  belongs  to  the  shepherd,  replies  the 
prelate;  the  turn  of  the  sheep  would  only  come  after  his.* 

But  of  more  value  than  his  reply  to  admiral  Biron,  is  Sadolet's  letter 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Geneva. f 

Calvin  had  just  left  that  city,  which  was  agitated  because  of  the  ex- 
citement against  the  intolerance  of  the  ministers,  and  full  of  malcon- 
tents, who  loudly  manifested  their  joy  at  being  liberated  from  their  des- 
potism. It  had  resumed  its  habitual  physiognomy  :  the  people  laughed, 
forgot  the  past,  again  opened  the  taverns.  The  war  against  images  Avas 
suspended ;  the  old  prayer  books,  so  long  carefully  hid  from  public 
view,  began  to  reappear  in  families ;  and  the  title  of  Catholic  was  no 
longer  persecuted  as  a  sign  of  felony.  Sadolet  thought  the  moment 
auspicious  for  an  attempt  to  bring  back  to  Catholicism,  a  city,  in  which 
the  memory  of  the  prelates,  who  had  occupied  that  see,  was  not  yet  ex- 
tinct, and  where  still  in  noble  hearts  was  cherished  the  remembrance  of 
the  efforts  of  those  bishops  to  secure  the  national  independence.  Sado- 
let was  not  unknoAvn  at  Geneva,  which  had  formerly,  with  enlightened 
benevolence,  welcomed  the  Roman  priest,  the  friend  of  cardinal  Conta- 
rini,  and  secretary  of  Leo  X. 

In  assuming  his  pen,  the  first  thing  that  strikes  him,  is  the  image  of 
that  generous  hospitality  which  Geneva  accorded  to  the  stranger.  He 
is  in  haste  to  thank  the  city,  where  he  peacefully  slept  away  a  few  sweet 
hours. 

*'  I  have  learned  to  know  you,"  said  he,  "loyal  Genevese,  to  love 
your  republic,  the  political  organization  of  which  is  the  subject  of  my 
admiration,  and  the  holy  charity  with  which  you  receive  the  stranger. 
I  am  aware  that  Geneva  is  a  prey  to  troubles,  sown  by  the  enemies  of 
your  repose  and  of  Catholic  unity  :  my  heart  bleeds  at  the  lamentations 
of  that  church,  our  holy  mother,  who  deplores  the  loss  of  so  many 
children,  whom  she  has  nourished  with  her  milk,  and  at  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  perils  which  are  in  reserve  for  you  :  for  my  dearly  beloved, 
innovators  can  only  establish  their  triumph  by  revolution,  the  subversion 
of  order,  and  the  ruin  of  your  civil  and  religious  liberty." 

Sadolet  does  not  here  recur  to  a  dogmatic  contest,  in  which  the  city 

*Histoire  dc  Fran9ois  ler.  par  Galliard. 

fJacobus  Sadolctus Episcopus  Carpcntoracti,  S.  R.  E.  tituli  sancti 

Calixti,  presbyter  cardinalis,  suis  desideratis  fratribus,  magistratui,  concilio  et 
civibus  Genevenslbus.  XV.  Cal.  Aprilis,  1539.  t,  I.  p.  171,  186,  of  the  Latin, 
works  of  Sadolet,  edition  of  Verona. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  179 

'CGuld  only  take  part  at  a  disadvantage.  He  contents  himself  with 
dazzling  it  by  an  exhibition  of  the  splendours  of  Catholic  unity,  an 
argument  always  novel  and  powerful.  He  displays  to  its  view  the  cross 
of  Christ,  upon  Golgotha,  conquering  the  pagan  world,  subjugating 
kings  and  nations,  and  he  asks  it ; — Whether  there  be  two  signs  and 
two  symbols  ?  and  when  Christ  has  failed  to  fufill  the  promise,  made  to 
his  Apostles,  to  be  with  them  to  the  consummation  or  end  of  the  world  ? 
He  desires  them  to  point  to  a  single  instant,  in  the  history  of  the  human 
mind,  when  Catholicism  abandoned  the  way  marked  out  for  it  by  the 
Son  of  God;  an  hour,  in  the  succession  of  ages,  when  the  successors  of 
St.  Peter  failed  in  the  faith;  a  halt  in  the  harmonious  and  consistent 
teaching  of  the  church;  a  falling  away  in  dogma.  He  adjures  the  Gene- 
vese  to  tell  him  whether  the  Catholic  priest  of  to-day  does  not  teach 
what  was  taught  by  the  priest  of  yesterday  ;  what  truths  have  been  dis-. 
covered  by  the  innovators  ;  whether  the  faith  of  St.  Jerome  be  not  that 
of  Paul  III.  Magnificent  unity!  in  v/hich,  whoever  calls  himself 
christian  must  take  refuge,  under  penalty  of  rebellion,  even  had  the 
pastors  not  been  like  Christ,  meek  and  humble  of  heart,  provided  only 
they  have  preserved  unchanged  the  deposit-  transmitted  by  the  Saviour. 
What  matters  it  if  the  sun  is,  at  intervals,  obscured,  if  the  sun  remains 
the  same  ? 

And,  after  developing  all  the  folds  of  this  argument,  he  imagines  the 
world  just  after  its  final  dissolution  ;  that  the  trumpet  has  assembled  the 
dead ;  that  the  Supreme  Judge  has  come  down,  amid  the  clouds  of  his 
glory  and  majesty,  to  judge  the  earth.  Then  he  represents  to  us  two 
souls  awaiting  their  sentence ;  one,  who  has  lived  in  unity  with  the 
church,  the  other,  who  has  violently  severed  himself  from  unity. 

The  faithful  soul  addresses  the  Lord,  and  says  to  him  : 

"  Lord,  my  God  !   born,    nurtured,  reared   in  the  bosom  of  tliy 

•church,  I  have  observed  its  precepts,  as  if  I  had  received  them  from  thy 
mouth.  1  have  beheld  men  fond  of  novelties,  who  came  to  me  with  the 
scriptures  in  their  hands,  seeking  to  trouble  my  heart,  to  stigmatize  the 
past,  to  insult  my  mother,  to  preach  disobedience  and  rebellion ;  but  I 
have  remained  faithful  to  the  faith  of  my  ancestors,  to  the  creed  of  our 
xioctors,  of  our  saints,  to  the  teaching  of  our  pastors.  Though  at  times 
the  splendour  of  the  dress  of  some  of  our  bishops,  the  scandal  of  their 
morals,  the  pomp  of  their  dignities,  offended  my  eyes,  I  have  obeyed 
without  judging  them,  wretched  being  that  I  am,  with  the  stain  of  sin 
upon  my  brow.  Bohold  me,  Lord,  before  thy  dread  tribunal,  implor- 
ing, not  thy  justice,  but  thy  mercy." 

Then  the  Judge  will  summon  the  innovating  soul: — "  Hear  me, 
Lord,"  will  this  soul  say.,  "hear,  and  judge  me.  On  beholding  some  of 
thy  priests  so  proud,  so  rich,  so  often  covered  with  gold  and  sin,  I  felt 
myself  moved  to  wrath.  I  have  lived  in  the  meditation  of  thy  holy 
word.  Left  indigent  in  a  church  where  my  labours  and  my  science 
should  have  opened  to  me  the  door  to  dignities,  I  have  been  wounded  to 
the  very  heart.  I  seized  my  pen,  I  attacked  our  pastors,  to  destroy  their 
authority,  I  censured  every  thing  that  they  taught ;  the  liturgy,  fasting, 
abstinence,  confession  :  I  exalted  faith,  and  decried  works,  I  asked  for 
thy  blood  and  offered  it  in  holocaust  for  the  washing  away  of  our  faults. 


180  LIFE   OF   JOHN    CALVIK. 

*'  And  now,  what  will  the  Eternal  Judge  say  ?  If  there  be  a  church, 
the  faithful  soul  could  not  have  been  able  to  offend;  for  it  has  all  the 
signs  of  this  church,  its  symbol  and  its  teaching  :  had  that  church  erred, 
(a  horrible  thingto  suppose.)  how  could  the  Lord  condemn  a  being  who 
has  only  erred  from  love  and  obedience  ? 

'*  But  the  soul  which  lifts  up  its  brow,  which  exalts  itself  in  pride, 
which  for  its  advocates  has  no  doctors,  no  priests,  no  pontiffs  to  cry  out 
to  God  in  its  behalf:  that  soul  which  once  believed  what  we  believe; 
but  miserable,  it  has  listened  only  to  itself  and  foolishly  obt-jyed  its  in- 
dividual judgment What  will   be   its  lot?  whither  will  it 

go?" 


Still  a  word  more,  and  this  shall  be  the  final  adieu  of  Sadolet  to  the 
church  of  Geneva,  for  he  is  old,  weakened  by  sufferings,  and  worn  out 
by  vigils  and  studies.  The  only  tie  that  now  binds  him  to  earth  is  his 
affection  for  his  flock ;  but  the  page  which  he  is  about  to  trace  shall 
endure,  an  imperishable  monument  of  the  faith  and  charity  of  the  bish-^ 
op  of  Carpentras. 

'*  My  dearly  beloved,  I  beseech  you,  remove  the  veils  which  cover 
your  eyes  and  conceal  the  light  from  your  gaze.  Lift  up  your  eyes  to 
heaven,  come  back  to  the  ancient  faith,  return  to  the  bosom  of  the 
church,  your  tender  mother  :  let  us  henceforth  adore  God  in  the  same 
spirit  of  love  !  If  our  morals  have  afflicted  you,  if  some  have  by  their 
faults  sullied  the  immaculate  brow  of  that  church ;  let  not  a  sight  of 
this  drive  you  to  rebellion.  You  can  hate  us  at  will,  if  the  gospel  al- 
lows this  :  but  never  our  word  and  our  faith  !  for  it  is  written  :  Do 
what  they  shall  tell  you. 

"Dearly  beloved,  I  beseech  you,  do  not  reject  my  entreaties  :  if  you 
listen  to  this  voice  so  solicitous  for  your  happiness,  you  will  never  re- 
pent it.  I  will  be  your  intercessor  with  God,  unworthy  sinner  that  I 
am,  but  whose  charity  will  obtain  mercy  from  the  Lord.  I  place  all 
that  I  am  worth  at  your  service, — and  I  am  worth  but  very  little  ! — all 
the  influence,  authority  and  credit  that  I  possess.  Happy  if,  thanks  to 
my  love,  you  bring  forth  abundant  fruits  in  this  life  and  in  the  next." 

Has  not  the  historian  the  right  here  to  request  the  reader  to  com- 
pare this  letter  of  a  French  bishop,  of  a  Roman  prelate,  of  one  of  the 
cardinals  of  Paul  III.  with  those  addressed  by  Luther  to  the  churches 
which  were  unwilling  to  embrace  the  reformation  ?*  It  is  to  be  regret- 
ted that  Sadolet  had  not  written  it  in  French.  A  protestant  biographer 
of  Calvin,  pretends  that  it  Avould  have  been  the  occasion  of  much  evil 
at  Geneva;!  that  is,  undoubtedly,  of  bringing  it  back  to  unity.:}. 

*See  the  works  of  Luther,  t.  vii.  German  edition,  p.  352.  and  also  in  De 
Wette,  the  letters  of  the  reformer  to  Charles  V.  to  Henry  VIII.  to  Albrecht, 
archbishop  of  Magdebourg.  Compare  also  those  of  Knox  to  different  prelates 
of  Scotland. 

tEin  Mann  von  vielem  Geist,  und  reinen  Sitten  schrieb  dem  Genser  Volke 
einen  so  beweglichen  und  geschickten  Brief,  dasz  erohne  Zweifel  viel  Unheil 
hatte  in  derhin-  und  herschwankenden  Stadt  anrichten  mOssen,  wenn  er  nicht 
in  fremder  Sprache  geschrieben  gewesen  ware.     Paul  Henry,   t.  i.  p.  229. 

|A  short  time  before  writing  this  letter,  Sadolet  in  a  letter  to  Clement  VII. 
engaged  the  sovereign  pontiff  to  bestow  upon  Erasmus  some  considerable  ben- 
ifice  in  Germany.  Er.  Ep.  12,  L.  27.  Vie  d'  Erasme  par  de  Burigni.  t.  ii. 
p.  279. 


LITE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN,  181 

It  did,  moreover,  produce  great  sensation  among  the  Genevan  human- 
ists,  and  it  caused  considerable  chagrin  to  the  council,  which  knew  not 
where  to  find  a  pen  able  to  reply  to  the  bishop.  Calvin,  who  had  not 
abandoned  the  hope  of  again  obtaining  entrance  into  a  city,  w^here  the 
reformed  priesthood  possessed  not  a  single  intellect  of  some  worth,  took 
upon  himself  the  task  of  refuting  Sadolet.  It  is  a  service  for  which  the 
council  will  compensate  him  at  a  future  period. 

As  a  dogmatic  discussion,  Calvin's  letter  is  impotent.  The  argu. 
ments  which  he  employs  are  contemptible.  Their  origin  can,  without 
difficulty,  be  recognized  by  any  one  who  has  studied  the  reformation. 

In  several  passages  of  his  apology,  Calvin  appeals  to  tradition,  in  order 
to  give  glory  to  the  doctrine  which  he  came  to  teach  to  Geneva. — "  If,'^ 
says  he,  *'  if  we  condemn  that  gross  transubstantiation  which  would 
chain  the  people  to  matter,  it  is  not  a  new  dogma  that  we  teach,  but  the 
very  dogma  of  the  primitive  church."  Here  Sadolet  might  be  a  sus- 
pected judge,  but  what  objection  will  the  reformation  dare  make  to  Lu- 
ther? *'It  is  the  devil,"  says  Luther,*  *'  who  attacks  us,  by  the  aid  of 
certain  fanatics,  who  blaspheme  the  supper  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  dream  that  they  there  receive  only  the  symbol  or  sign  of  bread  and 
wine,  and  who  refuse,  in  their  blindness,  to  acknowledge  that  the  body 
and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  are  therein  contained  in  reality,  as  is  taught 
so  clearly  and  expressly  by  these  w^ords  :   "  eat,  this  is  my  body." 

"  This  heresy  will  have  its  time  ;  it  will  soon  end,  for  it  is  too  gross, 
too  unruly ;  it  is  not  a  vain  opinion  about  doubtful  texts  that  it  attacks ; 
but  scripture  sentences,  clear  and  explicit.  .  .  They  resemble  per- 
sons looking  through  coloured  glass ;  Avhatever  may  be  the  colour  of  the 
object,  the  eye  sees  no  other  hue  but  that  which  is  diffused  by  the  lens. 
In  vain  shall  you  show  them  the  truth,  it  would  be  necessary  for  God  to 
take  away  the  coloured  glass.     .     .     ." 

"Princes  should  employ  punishments  to  repress  these  sacrilegious 
persons,  who  blaspheme  what  they  do  not  understand.  One  day  they 
shall  render  an  account  of  their  doctrines;  understand  thou  well,  thou 
hog,  dog,  sacramentarian,  w^hoever  thou  art,  ass,  beast,  brute !  !  " 

"Admirable  heroes,  who  w^ould  deserve  that  persons  should  spit  in 
their  mouth  and  face,  and  anoint  their  hair  with  horse  manure,  as  a  per- 
fume, and  ignominiously  drive  them  from  the  country."! 

How  shall  Calvin  escape  his  judge ;  his  judge  "  is  an  apostle  by 
whose  mouth  God  has  spoken  to  men. "J  John  of  Noyon  has  given  this 
line  testimony,  in  behalf  of  Doctor  Martin.  *' It  is  this  blessed  re- 
former, say  the  ministers  of  Canton  de  Vaud,  who  has  announced  the 
pure  word  of  God  in  the  midst  of  a  population  to  which  all  the  priests 
were  preaching  false  doctrines,  so  that  an  incontestible  proof  of  his  vo- 
cation is  found  in  the  conformity  of  his  doctrine  with  the  Bible. "§ 

*Contrafanaticos  sacramentariorum  errores.  Luther's  works,  t.  vii.  p.  379, 
380,  381,  382,  383. 

tHeros  sane  fortis  et  egregius,  dignus  qui  faedatus  ora,  vultumque  sputo,  et 
pilis  ex  stercore  equino  confectis,  ignominiose  e  pago  ejiciatur.  Luther'« 
works,  t.  vii.  p.  384. 

^Calvin.  Contra  Pighium. 

{Religion  du  cocsur,  by  the  abbe  Baudry,  p.  72. 

16 


182  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Sadolet  had  unfolded  before  Calvin's  eyes,  with  all  the  zest  of  a  poet 
and  a  christian,  the  whole  beauty  of  the  argument  of  unity.  Calvin 
rejected  it ;  and  to-day  after  three  centuries,  one  of  the  reformer's  dis- 
ciples, endeavors  to  display  all  its  magnificence. 

*'  The  study  of  this  system,"  says  M.  Ernest  Naville,  "causes  us  still 
more  clearly  to  recognize  that  it  is  logical,  that  it  is  beautiful,  and  final- 
ly that  the  bases,  upon  which  it  reposes,  are  profoundly  grounded  in  hu- 
man nature." 

"  From  the  moment  that  we  admit  a  clergy  having  a  divine  mission, 
without  each  one  of  its  members  being  directly  called  by  God,  it  is  evi- 
dent, on  the  one  hand,  that  the  clergy  being  destined  to  be  one,  should 
have  a  chief  or  head  to  guarantee  unity ;  and,  on  the  other,  that  this 
clert^y  should  be  vested  with  an  absolute  authority  in  matters  of  doc- 
trine ;  for  this  is  the  whole  system.  I  am  persuaded  that  this  dilenima  can 
be  victoriously  sustained  :  either  Jesus  Christ  has  not  organized  the 
church,  or  the  Catholic  church  is  the  one  which  he  did  organize. "t 

Calvin  thus  defines  the  church::}:  The  communion  of  the  elect 
spread  through  the  whole  earth,  dispersed  through  all  ages,  united  to 
Christ  in  doctrines  and  in  spirit ;  |1  and  he  hurls  a  defiance  at  his  adver- 
sary to  prove  that  the  Genevan  priesthood  has  ever  repudiated  this  holy 
society. 

"  With  regard  to  what  they  have  objected  to  me,"  says  he,  **that  I 
am  separated  from  the  church,  in  this  I  do  not  feel  myself  guilty,  if, 
perhaps  by  chance,  he  is  not  to  be  reputed  a  traitor,  who,  beholding  the 
soldiers  scattered  and  separated,  wandering  hither  and  thither,  breaking 
their  ranks,  raises  the  standard  of  the  captain,  and  calls  them  back, 
and  puts  them  in  order.  For,  Lord,  all  thine  were  so  astray,  that  not 
only  they  could  not  hear  what  was  commanded  them  ;  but  also  it  seem- 
ed they  had  forgotten  their  captain,  the  battle,  and  the  oath  which  they 
had  taken.  And  I,  to  reclaim  them  from  such  error,  did  not  spread  a 
strange  banner  to  the  winds,  but  thy  own  noble  standard,  which  it  is 
necessary  for  us  to  follow  if  we  desire  to  be  enrolled  in  the  number  of 
thy  people.  In  this  place,  those  who  ought  to  keep  the  said  soldiers  in 
entire  order,  and  who  led  them  into  error,  have  put  their  hands  on  me, 
and  because  I  constantly  persist,  they  have  resisted  me  with  great  vio- 
lence. Then  they  have  commenced  grievously  to  mutiny,  so  that  the 
combat  has  been  en  flamed  even  to  the  severance  of  union.  But  on 
what  side  are  the  fault  and  guilt,  it  is  now  for  thee,  oh  Lord,  to  say  and 
pronounce." 

Besides,  the  theologian  makes  boast  of  belonging  to  the  church  of 
St.  Basil,  of  St.  Chrysostom,  under  the  Greeks,  of  St.  Ambrose  and 
St.  Augustin,  under  the  Latins;  "  Beyond,  there  is  nothing  but  ruins, 
a  blasted  papacy,  a  dishonored  clergy." 

Happily  the  bishop  has  for  advocate  one  of  the  finest  protestant  intel- 

tErncst  Naville,  Thesis  sustained  at  Geneva  in  1839. 

:|:Opuscules — cd.  of  Geneva,  1612 — works  of  Calvin,    Amsterdam,   .  viii. 

IINiinc  si  definitioncm  ccclesiae  tua  veriorem  rccipere  sustines  dicposthac: 
societatem  esse  sanctorum  omnium,  quee  per  lotum  orbem  diflusa,  per  omnes 
setates  dispersa,  una  tamen  christi  doctrina  et  uno  spiritu  colligata  unitatera 
fidei  ac  fraternam  concordiam  edit. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  183 

lects  of  our  epoch,  M.  Vinet,  who  here  exclaims:  "We  have  the 
right  as  christians  to  claim  St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Basil,  St.  Augustine 
and  St.  Bernard.  What  we  deny  is  not  these,  nor  that  church  in 
which  they  blazed  as  torches  ;  this  v^ould  be  denying  ourselves."*  ^ 

Honor  to  the  Waldensian  minister  for  having  enlaro:ed  the  choir  of 
doctors  of  our  school,  and  for  having  caused  to  enter  into  it,  these  fa- 
thers of  the  church,  "blind  and  ignorant  of  the  holy  books,  who,  in  writing 
had  the  pen  in  their  hands  and  the  mind  somewhere  else  ;  who  could 
not  merit  the  name  of  saints,  had  they  not  before  death  taken  better 
thoughts,  and  who  were  not  worthy  to  tie  the  latchets  of  Luther's 
shoes. "t 

Let  Beza  then  come  to  tell  us,  "  that  he  protests  and  certifies  before 
God  and  before  angels,  that  the  audacity  of  St.  Jerome  in  twisting  the 
nose  of  the  scriptures  afflicts  him,"t  we  will  respond  to  him  that  a 
man  of  heart  and  talents  has  placed  St.  Jerome  among  those  glories 
of  whom  the  church  ought  to  be  proud.  And  if  an  evangelical  minis- 
ter says  to  us  that,  "  a  banquet  of  drunkards  more  phrenetic  than  the 
council  of  Nice,  can  scarcely  be  imagined,  even  should  we  take  Bac- 
chus crowned  with  grapes  seated  upon  a  wine  vat,  with  goblet  in  hand, 
surrounded  by  the  Lapithae  and  Menades,  with  his  noises,  worthy  of  such 
a  president  and  such  counselors,  as  was  that  band  of  senseless  people, 
abusing  the  name  of  God  and  of  his  church §  We  will  ap- 
peal from  him  to  the  Waldensian  minister,  whose  intelligence  and 
light  no  one  will  be  sufficiently  bold  to  question  or  deny. 

Calvin,  therefore,  has  calumniated  our  church,  by  placing  it  for- 
ever  in  a  sepulchre,  with  no  other  guardians  than  St.  Chrysostom  and 
St.  Augustine.  Behold  this  church,  which  throws  aside  the  stone  from 
the  sepulchre,  and  rises,  eight  centuries  after,  to  shine  with  the  aureola 
of  St.  Bernard.  Had  not  Sadolet  a  right  to  declaim  against  the  incon- 
sistency  of  the  Calvinistic  word. 

We  have  seen  with  what  holy  freedom  the  bishop  ofCarpentras  has 
avowed  that  the  crown,  which  some  of  the  pontiffs  bore,  was  not  always  a 
crown  of  thorns,  but  sometimes  a  worldly  diadem,  too  much  burdened  with 
gold  and  precious  stones;  but  he  showed  also -that  the  christian  has  no  right 
to  make  this  a  ground  of  accusation  against  the  church,  which  placed 
it  upon  their  heads,  and  which  was  the  first  to  bewail  the  faults  ^  of 
her  own  children  elevated  to  the  throne.  This  is  an  argument  which 
Calvin  seizes,  and  with  great  complacency  extends,  but  which  is  demol- 
ished by  a  Protestant  writer,  of  the  present  age.  "  To  desire,"  says 
M.  Naville,  "  to  explain  the  Catholic  system  in  an  exclusive  manner, 
by  the  frauds  and  ambitious  schemes  of  the  clergy,  is  to  do  an  injury  to 
the  whole  of  Christianity,  and  to  reject  the  most  simple  notions  of  his- 

Now  that  the  discussion  is  throusrh,  let  Calvin  cause  to  be  heard  the 


*De  Baudry,  Religion  du  cceur.  p.  273. 

tLuthcr's  works,  Concerning  the  private  mass.  t.  vii.  p    231. 

:fBeza,  on  3d.  chap.,  to  Romans,  on  acts  of  Apostles,  in  reply  to  Brent. 

jDe  Serres,  anti-jesuit.  j|Thesis  sustained  at  Geneva  in  1839. 


184  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

trumpet  which  shall  awake  the  dead,*  and  let  him,  at  the  sound  of  this 
divine  peal,  approach  the  throne  of  the  Lamb  to  ask  for  justice.  It  is 
not  Sadolet,  nor  St.  Jerome,  nor  St.  Augustine  who  shall  judge  him. 
It  is  Luther,  it  is  M.  Naville,  it  is  M.  Vinet,  it  is  the  whole  priest- 
hood of  Wintenberg,  of  Geneva,  of  Lausanne.* 

Alexander  Morus  has  said:  " Let  him  who  would  know  the  force 
and  beauty  of  Calvin's  style^  read  the  response  which  he  made  to  Sado- 
let, He  will  not  be  able  to  do  so  without  feeling  his  heart  moved,  and 
without  becoming  better  and  more  holy."  Alexander  Morus  should  al- 
so celebrate  the  reformer's  politeness,  and  as  an  example,  quote  this 
passage. 

"  Nourished  as  it  were  in  the  arms  of  pope  Clement,  and  of  recruit, 
made  cardinal  at  Rome,  in  that  shop  of  all  artifice  and  cunning."t 

If  we  were  attached  to  forms  only,  we  should  avow  that  Calvin's 
epistle  deserves  the  esteem  and  often  the  admiration  of  the  scholar. 
He  has  made  a  marked  progress  since  the  time  of  writing  his  Institutes. 
His  phrase  has  less  dryness  and  barrenness  ;  but  in  general  he  is  destitute 
of  what  superabounds  in  the  Iialian  writers  of  the  epoch,  colour  and 
inspiration. 

In  reading  Sadolet  you  think  yourself  at  Rome,  you  breathe  the  per- 
fumes  which  traverse  the  Janiculum ;  you  see  the  sun,  which,  with  its 
tints  of  gold,  colours  the  monuments  o-f  the  eternal  city;  in  reading 
Calvin  you  have  before  you  that  high  mountain,  which  is  beheld  from 
every  part  of  Geneva,  the  Saleve,  abrupt  and  naked,  but  proudly  seated 
upon  its  base  of  granite,  destitute  of  flowers  and  verdure. 

But  let  us  follow  Calvin  to  Berne. 

*Aures  arrigamus  ad  ilium  tubee  clangorem  quern  ipsi  quoque  mortuorum 
cineres  e  sepulchris  suis  audient. 

tis  homo  prope  a  pueiitia  imbutus  romanis  artxbus,  in  ilia  versutiarum  ac- 
calliditatis  officina— 'Calvin  published  his  Latin  letter  in  iaSQ",  and  his  Frene^ 
translation,  in  154i. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

CALVIN  AT  BEENE. 1538. 

Journey  of  Calvin  to  Berne. — Dispositions  of  the  populations. — Arrival  at 
Berne. — Conz. — Portrait  of  this  minister. — Dispute  of  Conz,  Calvin  and  Fa- 
rel. — Berne  exerts  herself  for  the  recall  of  the  exiles. — The  Genevan  people, 
in  general  assembly,  confirm  the  decree  of  exile  against  Calvin. — The 
church  of  Geneva  and  its  ministers  judged  by  the  reformer. — Debauchery, 
hypocrisy,  ignorance  of  the  reformed  clergy. — Calvin  at  Bale. — At  Stras- 
bourg. 

Berne  had,  with  disapproving  eye,  contemplated  the  efforts  of  Cal- 
vin to  reject  the  regulations  of  the  synod  of  Lausanne.  Berne  had 
preached  a  revolt  against  the  church  of  Rome ;  but  once  that  the  tri- 
umph of  the  new  word  was  accomplished,  it  desired  that  the  new  church 
should  live  in  peace  and  union.  Of  the  ancient  religion  it  had  pre- 
served some  ceremonies  in  order  to  strike  the  multitude,  and  it  held  to 
these  external  forms,  as  to  written  symbols.  All  the  troubles,  which 
agitated  the  populations  of  Switzerland,  were  very  displeasing  to 
Charles  V.  whose  friendship  the  republic  was  anxious  to  preserve.  It 
was  said  that  the  emperor  designed  sending  an  ambassador  to  Switzer- 
land to  study  the  condition  of  the  public  mind.  Berne,  therefore,  made 
haste  to  repair  the  half  ruined  churches,  to  clean  out  the  temples  made 
filthy  by  the  troops  quartered  in  them,  to  convert  the  still  standing  mon- 
asteries  into  charity  schools,  to  clothe  and  feed  its  new  priests,  to  col- 
lect the  objects  of  art  which  had  been  dispersed,  and  above  all,  to 
preach  concord  to  the  citizens,  that  it  might  be  able  to  say  to  the  impe- 
rial legate  i  You  see  that  there  has  been  no  struggle  as  in  Germany ; 
that  the  presbyteries  are  almost  all  entire  ;  the  schools  in  order ;  the 
ministers  of  the  Lord  have  done  nothing  but  alter  their  vesture.  .  .  . 
Behold  only  a  few  ruins  which  shall  soon  disappear,  but  all  hearts  are 
united  in  the  same  faith.     Glory  be  to  God  ! 

In  proportion  as  Calvin,  in  his  travel  of  some  days,  drew  near  to 
Berne  in  company  with  Farel,  he  could  divine  that  the  people  were  ag- 
itated by  hostile  passions ;  the  peasants  murmured  as  they  saw  the  Ge- 
nevan ministers  pass.  They  had  been  at  Berne  for  eight  days,  uselessly- 
asking  for  a  hearing,  without  having  received  any  response,  "  as  if," 
says  Calvin,  "  it  had  been  designed  to  tire  out  tlieir  patience."*     Conz, 

*Ita  ex  composito  putavimus  patientiam  nostram  tentari,  ut  si  tasdio  fracti 
caussam  istam  abjecissemus  tota  culpa  speciose  in  nos  conferri  posset — Pien- 
tissimo  et  eruditissimo  viro  D  Bullingero,  Tig.  Eccl.  pastori,  fratri  carissimo 
— mense  junio  1538. 

16*        ' 


186  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIlf^ 

(Kuntzen)  pastor  of  the  church  of  Bern^i,  gave  them  an  asylum  in  hf$ 
house.  Conz  was  a  choleric  logician,  a  IxifFoon,  and  a  peevish  man. 
Calvin,  in  a  letter  to  Bucer,  in  which  he  disclaims  the  spirit  of  the  slan- 
derer,* declares  that  Conz  is  "  a  ferocious  beast,  with  the  gestures,  the 
epeech,  and  the  appearance  of  a  fury."t 

Conz  did  not  allow  Calvin  time  to  manifest  his  complaints  against 
the  church  and  government  of  Geneva ;  he  commenced  by  blaming  the 
conduct  of  the  two  ministers,  whom  he  accused  of  having  introduced 
trouble  into  the  Canton.  Calvin  and  Harel  vainly  essayed  some  words- 
in  justification  of  their  conduct;  they  .were  at  each  instant  interrupted 
by  the  orator,  who  wished  to  do  all  the  speaking  himself.  Farel,  as- 
tonished to  find  himself  in  front  of  an  organization  so  choleric,  hid  him-  ' 
celf  behind  Calvin,  and  long  after  he  trembled  at  the  remembrance  of 
this  scene.  I  Sebastian  Meyer  and  Erasmus  Ritter,  who  assisted  at  the 
conference,  finally  succeeded  to  pacify  Conz.  The  accused  had  a  mo- 
ment of  respite  and  silence,  for  Calvin  and  Farel  were  in  reality  before 
a  tribunal.  Then  Conz  resumed  speech,  and  proffered  the  exiles  the 
opportunity  of  a  formal  discussion  before  the  Bernese  senate.  On  the 
next  morning  Calvin  and  Farel  attended  at  the  entrance  of  the  senate 
chamber,  at  the  hour  which  had  been  specified  by  Conz;  but  after  wait- 
ing two  hours,  some  one  came  to  inform  them,  that  the  council,  burden- 
ed with  business,  had  not  time  then  to  give  them  a  hearing,  but  would 
receive  them  after  dinner.  Conz  was  the  first  to  speak,  and  addressing 
Calvin  said:  "You  are  but  marplots;  the  Helvetic  church  was  in 
peace,  you  have   disturbed  it  by  the  novelties  which  you  introduced." § 

It  was  not  we,  replied  Calvin,  who  brought  to  Geneva  the  leavened 
bread,  long  before  us  in  use  in  the  ancient  church;  even  under  the  pa- 
pigm,  we  find  vestiges  of  the  ancient  Lord's  supper  ;  they  there  distribu- 
ted leavened  bread. 

Conz  cried,  stormed,  gesticulated,  and  twisted  his  fingers;  it  was  a 
scene  after  the  order  of  tliose  enacted  by  Luther  ;  one  would  have  said 
that  the  minister  had  passed  his  whole  life  at  Wittenberg.  He  so  boil- 
ed over  "with  wrath,"  that  he  sprang  up  from  his  seat,  menacing  the 
Genevan  ministers  with  his  clenched  fists.  ||  They  succeeded  to  make 
him  resume  his  seat. 

Calvin's  part  was  singularly  retrenched;  he  stuttered,  his  tongue  em- 
barrassed itself  in  phrases,  which  his  adversary  did  not  allow  him  to 
conclude.  Behold  then,  said  Conz,  their  bad  faith  !  it  is  not  with  ser- 
vants  of  Christ  that  we  are  here  disputing,  but  with  marplots,  who 
have  promised  to  receive  the  decision  of  the  synod  of  Lausanne,  and 
who  to-day  refuse  to  obey  the  voice  of  the  Helvetic  church  !     The  ac- 

*Rixari  non  est  certe  mci  moris.     Calv..  Bucero.  Gen.   12,  Jan.   1538. 

fBcIlua  rabiosa.  Vultus,  gestus,  verba,  color  ipso  furias  spirabant.  Calv. 
Bucero. 

:|:L)asz  Farol  doch  ini  spatcn  Alter  davon  sprach. 

^Conzensus  exprobavit  ecclesias  omncs  Germanise  ac  quae  alloqui  tranquillac 
erant,  importuna  novirtatis  alTectatione  fuisse  a  nobis  perturbatas — Calv.  Bul- 
lingero. 

Ijlllic  vcro  non  clamoribus  solis  contontus,  ex  abaco  se  proripuit,  ac  tota 
oorpore  sic  ebuliiebat  ut  injecta  manu  rotin&ri  a  coUegis  non  posset.  Calv. 
BuUingero. 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  187 

fcusation  was  precise.  Calvin  and  Farel  maintained  that  they  had,  on 
the  contrary,  promised  to  obey  the  synod ;  and  that  they  were  yet  in 
the  same  disposition  ;  but  Conz  still  insisted,  and  desired  that  the  dis&i- 
dents  should  not  be  heard.     They  separated. 

As  Calvin  was  descending  the  great  street  of  Berne,  Sebastian  Mey- 
er ran  after  him,  and  plucking  him  by  the  skirt  of  his  robe,  said  :  — 
Tell  me,  is  it  true  that  some  of  your  brethren  treat  as  wolves  and  £is 
false  prophets,  those  who  have  taken  your  place  at  Geneva  ? 

"  Yes,"  answered  Calvin,  "  and  we   in  turn,  hold  them  to  be  true 

wolves  and  false  prophets.* 

Then,  said  his  interrogator,  you  will  say  the  same  of  us,  who,  after 

having  expelled  Megander,  hold  his  place  in  the  church  of  Berne  ?t 

Oh!  rejoined   Calvin,  that  is  another  thing  :  we  say  why  it  is,  we 

treat  those  in  our  places  as  wolves. 

Meyer,  not  satisfied  with  this  polite  distinction  of  Calvin,  altered  his 
tone  immediately  and  abandoned  Calvin's  cause.  "  He  was  a  true 
marplot,  this  Meyer,:]:  of  an  inconstant  nature,  and  always  agreeing 
with  him  w^ho  last  spoke  to  him." 

Erasmus  Ritter  still  remained,  who  had  a  particular  regard  for  Calvin, 
but  was  led  away  by  his  colleagues. 

The  grand  council  assembled  soon  after,  summoned  Calvin,  ar>d 
three  times  intimated  to  him  an  order  to  submit.  The  Genevan  min- 
isters yielded,  *'  for  fear,"  they  said,  "  lest  their  obstinacy  should 
afflict  the  good." 

The  council  decided  that  two  legates  should  accompany  the  exiles  to 
within  a  short  distance  of  Geneva,  and  then  should  proceed  and  nego- 
ciate  for  their  recall ;  in  case  of  success,  they  were  to  return  for  the 
ministers,  and  see  that  they  were  reinstated. 

But  the  exiles  asked  for  a  new  message ;  for,  they  said,  it  will  ap- 
pear  as  if  we  came  imploring  our  restoration  like  guilty  persons ;  and 
why  also  should  not  some  minister  of  the  gospel  be  joined  to  the  depu- 
tation ?  The  council  granted  their  request.  The  legates  and  the  ex- 
iles were  to  enter  the  city;  Erasmus  Ritter  and  Viret  were  to  be  mem- 
hers  of  the  deputation. 

The  rumour  of  Calvin's  return  had  thrown  Geneva  into  commotion; 
the  people  loudly  manifested  their  anger ;  the  deputation  was  only 
about  the  distance  of  one  league  from  the  city,  when  a  courier  arrived 
to  prohibit  its  entrance.  This,  said  Calvin,  was  an  outrage  on  the  law  of 
nations  and  on  political  liberty,  against  which  the  exiles  were  deter, 
mined  to  protest,  by  entering  Geneva  with  uncovered  heads.  But  the 
deputies  did  not  deem  fit  to  brave   the  sovereign   order,  and  very  fortu- 

*An  verum  putaremus  quod  narrabatur  a  quibusdam,  tantam  esse  in  certis 
fratribus  scvcritatem  ut  eos  lupos  vocarent  et  pseudo  prophetas,  qui  in  locum 
nostrum  irrepsissent  :  rcspondiraus  nostrum  non  esse  aliud  de  ipsis  judicium 
— Calv.  Bulliagero. 

tMegander  and  Leo  Judee  labored  for  the  translation  of  the  holy  scriptures  in- 
to German  ;  their  translation  was  published  at  Zurich  in  1529,  and  1531. 
John  Scott's  Calvin  and  the  Swiss  reformation,  p.  116. 

^Sed  quid  aliud  potest  quam  suis  deliramentis  invertere  Evangelii  purita- 
tem  1    Calv.  Bucero.  I2tli  Jan. 


188  LIFE    or   JOHJf    CALVllT. 

nately  it  was,   says  Calvin,  **  for   twenty  banditti   watched  in  ambus- 
cade at  the  gates  of  the  city."* 

In  face  of  these  very  energetic  manifestations,  the  authorities  decided 
that  the  people  should  pronounce  definitively  upon  the  lot  of  the  exiles^ 
The  people  were  assembled.  Louis  Anriman  and  Viret  pleaded  the 
cause  of  the  ministers  with  so  much  ardour,  that  the  plebeian  wrath 
seemed  about  to  become  extinct.  But  after  their  departure,  one  of  the 
syndics  began  to  read  the  charges  against  the  exiles,  amid  murmurs  of 
indignation,  exclamations  of  surprise,  laughter,  and  cries  of  rage. 
They  were  accused — with  having  called  the  church  of  Berne  our 
church; — with  having  named  the  Bernese  without  their  ordinary  quali- 
fications ; — with  having  erected  excommunication  into  a  dogma. 

Then  did  the  public  place  in  Geneva  become  another  forum.  See  ! 
exclaimed  a  thousand  voices ;  our  church  !  as  they  would  speak  of  a 
field  or  a  house  If  To  the  Rhone  !  to  the  devil ! !  with  their  excom- 
munication, we  wish  to  hear  no  more  of  it !  Exasperation  was  at  the 
utmost  height ;  and  if,  at  that  moment,  Calvin  or  Farel  had  shown  him- 
self, the  people  would  have  proceeded  to  violent  extremities  :  they 
had  ready  two  open  tombs  :   the  Lake  and  the  Rhone. 

The  deputies  had  with  them  articles,  which  they  were  to  read  to  the 
people  only  in  presence  of  the  ministers.  But  it  appears  that  Calvin 
was  betrayed  by  Conz,  who  made  use  of  Peter  Vandel  to  spread  them 
secretly  among  the  people;  a  thing  quite  frightful,  says  Calvin,  but 
worthy  of  a  man  who  had  exclaimed  at  Noyon  :  "  They  desire  to  re- 
call the  exiles ;  but  I  swear  that  I  would  sooner  abandon  the  ministry 
and  Switzerland,  than  behold  the  return  of  such  marplots,  who  have 
done  me  so  much  evil." 

Calvin  and  Farel  resumed  the  road  to  Berne. 

Calvin  then  deceived  us  in  giving  an  immoral  motive  to  his  banish- 
ment. It  was  not  a  debauchee,  who  revolted  to  drive  away  an  impor- 
tunate witness  and  an  inexorable  judge  ;  he  was  banished  because  he  out- 
raged the  liberties  of  the  city,  because  he  wished  to  invest  his  despotism 
with  the  cap  of  a  bishop,  and  to  arm  his  tyranny  with  a  sword  and  cro- 
zier.  He  has  himself  taken  care  to  absolve  the  people,  by  causing 
them  to  assemble,  at  the  grand  assizes  of  April,  to  ratify  the  sentence 
of  the  commune. 

The  recital  which  we  have  just  read  cannot  he  suspected  ;  it  was 
written  by  the  hands  of  Calvin  and  Farel,  and  was  reposing  in  the  ar- 
chives, where  it  was  allowed  to  sleep  in  quiet,  till  exhumed  by  a  Pro- 
testant historian,  perhaps  with  more  imprudence  than  love  for  historic 
truth  ;  for  Calvin  had  from  the  first  condemned  it  to  oblivion,  by  wri- 
ting at  the  bottom  of  the  narrative  : — "  Remember  well,  that  I  confide 
all  this  to  your  discretion." 

But  why  has  M.  Paul  Henry  in  his  translation,  given  to  the  German 
reader  only  some  informal  fragments  of  these  babblings,  and  why  has 
he  placed  the  Latin  account  among  the  justificatory  pieces,  where  as- 
suredly the  reader  will  not  go  to  hunt  for  them  ? 

*Nam  postea  constitit  non  procul  mcGnibus  collocatas  fuisse  insidias  ;  in  ip- 
sa autem  porta  considebant  arrnati  viginti  gladiatores — Calvin.  BuUingero. 

tEcce  ut  ccclcsiam  ausint  vocare  suam  quasi  in  ejus  possessionem  vener- 
int Ecce  ut  ad  tyranaideni  aspireut. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  189 

But  in  this  letter  of  Calvin  there  are  other  revelations. 

When  Sadolet  gave  a  picture  of  the  disorders  introduced  into  Gene- 
va by  the  reformation,  Calvin  responded  to  the  bishop  :  Thou  art  a  ca- 
lumniator  ;t  and  he  added  : 

*'  As  to  myself,  Sadolet,  I  am  very  desirous  you  should  know,  that  I 
am  one  of  those  against  whom  you  speak  with  such  great  wrath  and  fu- 
ry. And  although  the  true  religion  was  already  arranged  and  estab- 
lished, and  the  form  of  their  church  corrected,  before  I  was  called  there, 
nevertheless,  as  I  have  not  only  by  my  vote  and  opinion  approved,  but 
also  exerted  myself  to  the  utmost,  as  much  as  was  in  my  power,  to 
preserve  and  consolidate  the  things  before  instituted  by  Farel  and  Vi- 
ret,  I  cannot  be  foreclosed  nor  separated  from  them  in  this  cause. 
Had  you  taxed  me  individually,  without  doubt  I  could  easily  have  for- 
given all,  because  of  your  learning,  and  for  the  honor  of  literature. 
But  when  I  behold  my  ministry  (which  I  know  to  be  founded  and  con- 
firmed by  the  vocation  of  the  Lord)  wounded  and  injured  by  the  blow 
you  inflict  on  me,  it  would  be  disloyalty  and  not  patience,  if,  by  my  si- 
lence, I  should  dissimulate  in  this  matter." 

Now,  let  us  listen  to  Calvin,  whispering  quite  low  into  the  ear  of 
Bullinger,  who  is  not  to  breathe  a  word  to  any  person  of  what  he 
learns  : 

"  It  is  satan  who  has  driven  us  from  the  city,  in  order,  afterwards,  to 
deliver  it  up  to  disorders  still  greater  than  those  under  which  it  was 
groaning.  One  could  not  imagine  in  what  a  slough  of  licentiousness 
all  these  impious  persons  are  floundering  !  their  petulance  in  offering 
insult  to  Christ,  their  mockery  of  the  gospel,  their  fury  and  tlieir  folly ! 
Woe  to  those  who  have  been  guilty  of  this  scandal !  This  Conz,  who 
could  not  ruin  us  without  ruining  the  church,  has  betrayed  this  holy 
church,  in  betraying  us.  Better  it  were  widowed,  than  live  under  such 
men  who  conceal  themselves  under  the  garb  of  pastors  !" 

Calvin  and  Farel  undertake  to  trace  for  us  the  character  of  those 
who  had  their  places  : 

"  First  there  is  the  guardian  of  the  Franciscans,  who  at  the  aurora  of 
the  gospel,  obstinately  rejected  the  light  of  truth,  until  the  Christ  ap- 
peared to  him  under  the  form  of  a  young  maiden,  whom  he  seduced 
and  corrupted  ;{  a  filthy  monk,  who  does  not  even  take  pains  to  hide 
his  infamies,  and  goes  on  teaching  that  St.  Paul  does  not  require  that 
the  bishop  should  have  lived  in  chastity,  but  that  he  should  amend 
when  he   desires  to  have  the  charge   oi^  souls ;  a  heart,  destitute  of  all 

fear  of  God,  and  of  every  pious  sentiment Then,  there  is  that 

other  priest,  steeped  in  hypocrisy,  and  who  struts  about  in  his  leprosy  of 
sin;  both  of  them  ignorant  preachers,  brawlers,  and  venders  of  silly 
things  :  behold  the  third,  a  known  debauchee,  who  has  been  indebted 
for  his   absolution  to  the  favour   of  certain  wicked  good-for-nothings. 

tDabo  operam  ne  qua  vox  asperior  a  me  exeat.  .  .  .  simplex  et  moderata 
innocentias  meae  adversus  calumniosas  tuas  criminationes  eril  defensio. 

ijiDonec  christum  aliquando  in  uxoris  forma  contemplatus  est,  quam  simul 
atque  habuit  secum,  modis  omnibus  corrupit. — Calvin,  BuUingero. 


190  LIFE    OF    JOHH    CALVIN. 

Oh  !  beautiful  office   which  they  have  stolen,  and  which  they  adminis- 
ter as  they   have  usurped  it !     Not  a  day  passes,  in  which  they  are  not 
convicted  of  some   felony,  by  men,  by  women,   and  even  by  children  I 
Now,  this  letter  raises  a  very  grave  question. 

If  the  ministers,  who  occupy  the  place  of  Calvin  at  Geneva,  be  '  de- 
vouring Avolves,'  what  is  he,  then,  himself?     From  whom  does  he  hold 
his  mission  ?  who  has  imposed  hands  on  him  ?  who  has  conferred  on 
him  the  sacrament  of  orders  ?     If  he  has  received  his  mission   from  re- 
volt, revolt  could  confer  the  same  on   others.     M.  Vinet  pretends  that 
"  the  man,  whose   office  it  is  to  repeat  the  message  brought  by  infalli- 
ble  men,  has  no   need  of  any  other    mark  of  his   mission,  than   his  fi- 
delity  in  the   exposition  of  his   message  known  to   all   and  within  the- 
reach  of  all."     Very  well.     But,  in  order  that  he   should  efface   from 
their  brows   the  sacerdotal  sign,   the  faith  of  his  successors   must  have 
perished.     "  The  imposition  of  hands,"  says  Calvin,§  "which  is  used 
for  the  installation  of  new  priests,  is  not  vain,  it  is  a  sign  of  the  spiritu- 
al grace  of  God."     And  why,  then,  does   he  withdraw  this  grace  from 
the  guardian  of  the  Franciscans?     Should   it  be  doctrine  which  must 
distinguish  the  legitimate  pastors  ?     Then  let  him  inform  us  what  is  the 
rule  of  the   doctrine   of  the   church.      Is  it   the  confession   of  faith? 
Who  drew  up   this   confession  ?     the  pastors  :  thus  it  is  the  doctrine 
which  shall  judge  the  pastors,  and  the  pastors  who   judge  the  doctrine. 
What  a  chaos  !     What  an  abyss  !  But  the  Franciscan  has  sworn  to  the 
formulary  of  Farel.     With  what,  therefore,  does  Calvin  reproach  him  ? 
With   notorious   debauchery ;  and  with  Avhat  does  he  reproach  the  se- 
cond ?  with  refined  hypocrisy ;    and  the  third  ?  with  proverbial  silliness. 
But  of  what  use,  then,  to  him,  was  that  terrible  weapon,  excommunica- 
tion, which  he  has  usurped  as  the  choice  of  spoils  ?     Instead  of  driving 
from  the  church  that   young  woman  whose  curls   drooped  too   low  on 
her  temples,  he  should  have  reserved  his  wrath  for  that  ancient  Francis- 
can,  who   came  to  the   temple   bearing   his   leprosy  of  impurity.     In 
place  of  making  war   upon  the   Eidgenoss,  he  should   have  instructed 
his  ignorant   colleague  in   sacred   learning.     In  place   of  refusing  the 
Lord's  supper  to   poor  labourers   who   played  cards,  he   should   have 
snatched   the  serpent's   skin  from   his  hypocritical   preacher.     Yet  he 
continues  at  Geneva,  living  with  these  devouring  wolves,  preaching  the 
holy  word  in  conjunction  with  them,  adoring  God  in  the  same  temple, 
and  kneeling  at  the  same    communion  table.     And,  it  is  only  when  he 
beholds  them  clothing  themselves   with  his  ministerial  robe,  that  he  de- 
nounces them  to  the  indignation  of  christian  souls. 

Thus  repelled  by  the  Genevan  population,  Calvin  returned  to  Berne^ 
which  soon  after  he  abandoned,  in  order  to  take  the  road  to  Strasbourg* 

ilnst.  lib.  4.  cap.  2» 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

CALVIN    AT    STRASBOURG. HIS      MARRIAGE. 1539-1540. 

Religious  physiognomy  of  Strasbourg. — John  Sturm. — Capito. — Hcdio. — Bu» 
cer, — At  what  price  the  marriages  of  priests  were  effected. — Calvin  arrives 
at  Strasbourg. — He  is  named  professor  of  theology. — He  undertakes  to  get  a 
wife  for  Viret. — He  espouses  Idelette  Steerder. — He  loses  his  first  born,  and 
sheds  no  tears. 

Strasbourg,  in  the  middle  ages, — a  city  of  painting,  of  sculpture,  of 
philosophy  and  the  liberal  arts, — by  the  urbanity  of  its  language,  repre- 
sented Athens  ;  by  its  love  of  letters,  Venice  ;  and  by  its  theological 
disputations,  Wittenberg. 

At  each  hour  of  the  day,  they  were  there  disputing  upon  all  kinds  of 
psycological  questions ;  upon  free-will,  justification,  grace,  the  divine 
concurrence  with  the  action  of  the  creature,  and  other  intimate  phe- 
nomena, about  which  the  schools  have  ever  been  occupied.  The  work 
of  Erasmus,  de  servo  arbitrio,  was  looked  for  there  with  great  anxiety; 
one  of  Lather's  pamphlets  agitated  every  mind;  and  even  Carlstadt,  with 
his  lucubrations  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  was  certain  to  meet  with  some 
there  to  sympathise  with  him."-'^  All  religious  opinions  were  in  that 
place  represented.  There  were  Lutherans,  Anabaptists,  Zwinglians, 
CEcolampadians,  Munzerians.  It  was  a  sort  of  pantheistical  Olympus, 
where  each  sectary  could  have  his  altar  and  his  God.  It  frequently 
happened  that  these  men  of  noise,  from  misunderstandings  with  each 
otlier,  threw  the  city  into  commotion  by  their  discussions.  Then  the 
Stettmaster  was  forced  to  intervene,  and  to  preach  peace.  Peace, 
meant  silence,  and  none  of  these  theologasters  was  willing  to  be  silent; 
the  municipal  council  was  therefore  obliged  to  conduct  the  refractory 
preacher  politely  beyond  the  walls  of  the  city.  Plato  did  not  treat 
poets  with  greater  respect.  Soon,  the  sectary  came  back  by  another 
gate,  his  lungs  refreshed  by  the  perfumes  of  the  Vosges,  or  by  the 
waters  of  the  Rhine,  and  he  relapsed  again  into  his  habitual  malady  : 
loquacity. 

Moreover,  these  magistrates,  men  of  the  people,  with  admirable  in- 
difference, passed  from  one  god  to  another.  Every  new  tongue  had  the 
art  to  seduce  them.  When  a  disciple  of  Zwingle,  descended  from  the 
mountains  of  Schv.-ytz,  had  appeared  to  announce  to  them  the  word  of 
his  master,  they  had  listened  to  him,  feasted  him,  and  welcomed  him  as 

•Carlstadt,  driven  away  from  Wittenberg,  published  his  opinions  about  tho 
real  presence,  at  Strasbourg:  his  doctrine  was  adopted  by  the  Protestant 
preachers.     Nouvelle  description  de  Strasbourg,  1538.  p.  231. 


192  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

an  apostle.  On  that  day,  Strasbourg  ceased  to  believe  in  the  dogma  of 
the  real  presence,  and  Zwingle  was  adored,  and  his  teaching  enclosed 
in  the  catechism  for  the  use  of  children.*  Bucer,  reconciled  with  the 
doctrines  of  Luther,  comes,  preaches  impanation,  and  Strasbourg  aban- 
dons the  curate  of  Ensiedeln  for  the  monk  of  Wittenberg,  and  from  its 
catechism  retrenches  the  dogma  of  a  figurative  Lord's  Supper  :t  it  is 
no  longer  the  blood  and  body  which  the  child  drinks  and  eats  spiritual- 
ly, but  the  very  reality,  under  the  material  appearances.  But  Bucer 
has  returned,  and  arranged  the  Lutheran  confession  ;  a  new  angel  has 
come  down  from  heaven,  to  whom  Strasbourg  listens,  until  an  Anabap- 
tist of  the  sect  of  David,  cuts  away  from  the  seraphim  his  wings,  and 
puts  them  on  his  own  shoulders.  Then  Strasbourg  has  not  a  sufficien- 
cy of  water  to  have  itself  rebaptized.  Each  sectary,  who  comes  to  ask 
the  right  of  citizenship  from  the  hospitable  city,  brings  to  it,  in  ex- 
change, a  lamp,  which  it  lights  up  in  order  to  make  new  studies,  and 
to  each  of  these  literary  pilgrims,  of  these  apostles  of  the  liberty  of 
thought,  of  these  religious  propagandists,  Strasbourg  offers  a  roof  to 
shelter  him,  a  bed  for  his  repose,  and  food  for  his  support. 

We  must  make  acquaintance  with  some  of  these  erratic  intelligences, 
who  said,  on  beholding  this  city  :  *'We  are  well  off  here,  let  us  build 
here  a  lent." 

John  Sturm  inhabited,  near  Luxhof,  a  small  castle,  which  almost 
touched  the  skies  :  an  airy  habitation,  where  the  bird  could  sing  at  his 
ease,  without  having  his  concerts  troubled  by  the  noises  of  the  city. 
Sturm,  after  having  made  good  studies  at  Liege,  had  set  up,  at  Louvain, 
a  printing  press,  in  company  with  Rutger  Rescius,^professor  of  Greek  in 
the  University  of  that  city.  On  beholding  the  first  copy  of  a  beautiful 
Homer,  which  he  had  printed  with  type  expressly  cast  in  Italy,  he  had 
been  seized  with  a  real  transport  of  the  brain,  and  fled  from  Louvain, 
carrying  with  him  several  trunks  quite  filled  with  his  chef  d'(£uvref 
which  he  sold  for  high  prices  at  Paris.  J 

While  in  Paris  he  had  associated  with  the  humanists,  whom  Brico- 
net,  bishop  of  Meaux,  had  attracted  there  from  Germany,  and  he  was 
injured  by  contact  with  these  disputatious  gentry ;  he  had  embraced  Lu- 
theranism,  when  heresy  had  but  one  representative  :  afterwards,  he 
made  himself  Zwinglian.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  old  books ;  it 
was  his  joy  to  sift  manuscripts,  to  compare  their  texts,  and  discuss  their 
variations.  When  he  had  found  out  a  new  sense  for  explaining  some 
rusty  word,  he  felt  himself  uneasy,  and  deafened  all  ears  with  his  good 
fortune  :  it  was  Archimedes  turned  vender  of  second-hand  books.  The 
introduction  of  the  Lutheran  idea  into  Strasbourg,  came  to  draw  him 
down  from  his  sun  and  his  muses.     John  Pappus§  had  presented  him- 

^''Isagogc,  de  puecris  institucndis  ecclesiee  argentinensis,  an.  1527.  Mense 
Augusto.  ** 

tSuum  corpus  cdimus,  sanguinemque  bibimus,  sed  spiritualiter  cum  ingenti 
commodo. 

^Bailct,  jiigt,  dcs  Savants,  t.  VI.  p.  313. 

^  John  Pappus  tried  to  prove  that  St.  Augustine  was  a  frank  Lutheran,  whilst 
Whitakcr  maintains  that  lie  was  a  Calvinist,  and  Andrew  Volanus,  the  Socini- 
an,  that  ho  was  quite  simply  an  idolator. — Weislinger,  Frisz  Vogel,  p.  297, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  193 

self,  after  the  manner  of  Francis  de  Sickingen,  quite  barbed  in  steel, 
and  with  lance  in  hand,  to  sustain  the  Saxon  dogma,  in  a  book  entitled  : 
De  Charitate  Christiana  questiones  duce,  a  pamphlet  in  which  there 
is  no  sign  of  charity,  except  in  the  title.  Sturm  had  opposed  to  him 
his  Anti-pappus,  a  little  book  which  we  should  say  had  escaped  from 
some  antique  street-porter,  metamorphosed  into  Calvinist.  Pappus  had 
found  means  to  displace  his  rival  from  the  post  of  rector  of  high  studies, 
(hochschule,)  and  he  boasted  of  this  victory  as  of  an  argument  beyond 
reply.  The  victory  would  have  been  more  complete,  had  Pappus  been 
able  to  apply  to  his  enemy  the  decree  of  excommunication,  which  the 
church  of  Strasbourg  still  kept  in  its  catechism  :*  but  Sturm  had  ren. 
dered  to  the  city  too  important  services  to  allow  his  being  struck  so 
violently. 

Capito  (Koepflein)  was  one  of  those  souls,  of  whom  there  existed 
many  in  the  learned  world  of  the  sixteenth  century,  resembling  the 
children  of  Plato,  that  wished  to  leap  over  their  own  shadows.  He 
had  tormented  himself  to  find  truth  beyond  the  limits  of  authority,  and 
he  had  traversed  all  those  neologies  of  the  reformation,  in  his  effort  to 
throw  off  the  burden  of  doubt,  when  he  might  have  been  so  happy, 
living  under  the  benefits  of  Leo  X.,  who  had  bestowed  upon  him  a 
canonicate  in  the  cathedral  of  Bale  If  Fatigued,  harrassed,  he  had 
fallen  on  the  way,  and  allowed  to  escape  him  these  sighs  :  "All,  then, 
is  going;  all  is  lost;  every  thing  disappears;  ruins  on  every  side!  The 
people  say  to  us,  behold,  you  want  to  establish  a  new  tyranny,  another 
papacy  ;  God  has  made  me  know  what  a  charge  the  office  of  pastor  is, 
and  how  much  we  have  injured  the  church,  by  rejecting  the  authority 
of  the  Pope,  with  so  much  imprudence  and  precipitation.  The  people, 
fed  upon  licentiousness,  say  to  us  :  we  know  enough  of  the  gospel ; 
what  need  have  we  of  you  in  order  to  find  Christ  ?"  J 

Capito  slept  at  Strasbourg,  in  the  bed  of  the  ancient  cure  of  St. 
Pierre  le  Jeune,  the  pastor  of  which  he  had  driven  away,  and  he  was 
living  in  the  midst  of  the  numerous  children  whom  he  had  by  two  wives, 
the  widow  of  (Ecolampadius,  and  a  young  nun.  He  was  a  learned 
Hebraist,  an  astute  theologian,  a  skillful  physician,  and  above  all,  an 
ardent  missionary  of  matrimony.  His  sermon  against  celibacy  had 
gained  over  some  vicars,  who,  by  marrying,  were  certain  of  obtaining  a 
rich  prebend.  It  was  by  preferring  marriage  to  burning,  that  Bucer 
had  obtained  the  living  of  Aurelia,  Thibault  le  Noir,  that  of  St.  Pierre 
le  Vieux,  and  an  apostate  of  the  order  of  St.  John,  that  of  St.  Nicho- 
las. §     With  a  wife,  the  incontinent  priest  secured  a  parsonage,  lodging, 

*Excommunicantur  quidam  ut  ab  eorum  et  vita  et  doctrina  alii  cavere  pos- 
slnt.  Ad  Hiaec  ut  excommnnicatus  pudore  snffusus,  ciiret  et  Deo  et  homini- 
bus  vitos  emendatione  reconciliari  sese. — Beitrage  zur  GeschicJite  der  Reform. 
t.  I.  •* 

tLeo  X.  had  formed  so  high  an  opinion  of  Capito,  that  he,  unsolicited,  con- 
ferred  on  him  a  provostship  or  deanery,  probably  that  of  the  cathedral  of  Bale. 
— John  Scott's  Calvin  and  the  Swisf;  Reforviaiion,  p.  33. 

:j:Ep.  ad  Farel.  ep.  Calv.  p.  5. — The  book  of  the  Roman  Catholic  churcB, 
by  Charles  Butler. 

^  History  of  the  Province  of  Alsace,  Histoire  de  la  •province  d' Alsace,  t.  II.  p. 
6,  and  the  following. 
17 


194  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIIf. 

fire  for  winter,  a  little   garden,   and   a  good   cellar   of  Rhenish  mnt. 

Medio,  another  married  priest,  had  left  Mayence,  and  withdrawn  to 
Strasbourg,  where  the  magistracy  had  nominated  him  preacher  of  the 
cathedral;  a  function  which  he  continued  to  discharge  sweetly,  until 
the  Lord  summoned  him  to  the  supreme  tribunal.  In  giving  up  this 
life,  he  slipped  into  his  papers  this  little  testament : 

"  God  has  left  me  without  care,  until  this  hour,  by  giving  me  his  well 
beloved  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  as  a  certain  pledge  of  eternal  life.  Go  forth, 
then,  my  little  soul ;  thy  Saviour  waits  for  thee^  to  bear  thee  away  in 
his  arms."* 

But  the  most  illustrious,  of  all  those  intelligences,  which  Strasbourg 
at  that  hour  boasted,  was  Bucer.  Reared,  fed,  instructed  at  the  con- 
vent of  the  Jacobins  of  Selestad,  he  had  apostatized,  and  married  a 
nun,  byname  Lebenfeltz,  who,  for  dowry,  had  brought  him  nothing  but 
a  doubtful  virginity.  He  was  one  of  those  adroit,  cunning  natures, 
who  do  nothing  without  calculation ;  who  change  faith  as  they  do  a 
garment,  according  to  the  season  ;  who  appeal  to  God  for  justification 
of  every  one  of  their  transformations,  and  have  always  at  their  service 
a  good  blade  to  defend  the  dogmas  which  they  present  to  the  world. 
His  protector  was  Frank  de  Sickingen,  who  hated  a  monk  almost  as 
much  as  he  did  temperance.  Luther  knew  Bucer  well.  One  day,  the 
Saxon  was  amusing  himself  by  shooting  with  a  cross-bow;  at  the  fir&t 
shot,  he  pierced  the  heart  of  a  bat ;  the  night-bird  shuddered  and  fell 
dead  : — Thou  shalt  see,  says  Luther  to  Vitus,  that  this  conceals  a  myste- 
ry :  I  have  transfixed  the  heart  of  a  bat.  On  the  next  morning,  he 
was  at  his  window,  looking  out  upon  the  fields,  when  he  perceived 
Bucer  approaching  from  a  distance.  Vitus,  come  here  now,  says  he, 
leaping  for  joy,  behold  my  bat;  was  I  mistaken  ?t 

It  was,  in  fact,  Bucer,  who  came  to  Cobourg  to  treat  concerning  re- 
ligious matters.  The  monk  arrived,  infatuated  with  Zwinglianism,  and 
went  away  converted  by  Luther,  whom  he  was  to  deny  again  at  the  first 
breath  of  a  new  doctrine,  to  abandon  it,  or  confess  it  anew,  as  his  Holy 
Ghost  should  illumine  him.  Of  all  the  reformers,  there  is  not  one^ 
who  could  have  been  able  to  institute  so  many  suits,  as  Bucer,  against 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  happily,  to  gain  them,  he  had  the  coat  of  mail  of 
Sickingen. 

Calvin  had  left  Berne  without  taking  leave  of  the  senate,  his  soul 
irritated,  and  exhaling  wrath  against  his  enemies  in  every  one  of  his 
letters.  It  appeared  that  God's  malediction  accompanied  him  on  the 
road.  Storms  had,  in  one  moment,  barred  up  the  way  to  Bale.  The 
torrents,  rushing  from  the  mountains,  were  so  furious,  that  he  came  near 
being  swallowed  up  by  them. 

"But,"  says  he,   recounting  his  travels   to  Viret, ''the  waves  were 

•Gott  hat  niich  ohnc  mcinc  Sorg  lebcn  Ir.sscn  bis  auf  clicse  Stund,  dazu  mir 
seinen  lieben  Sohn  Jesiim  Christum  zum  gewissen  theuern  Pfand  des  ewigen 
Lebens  geschenckct;  darum  fahre  hin,  meine  liebe  Seele,  du  hast  einentreuen 
Heiland  der  dich  zu  seinen  Handen  aufgenommen  hat.    Cited  by  Freherus. 

tPfizpr,  Luther's  Leben.— See,  regarding  Bucer,  Melancthon^s  Epistles,  1. 1, 
op.  fol.  24. 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  195 

more  merciful  than  men."*  The  men  drove  hhn  away,  the  waves 
spared  him.  Calvin  has  none  but  bitter  w^ords  to  speak  of  the  injustice 
of  his  fellows;  every  where  the  same  spectre  haunts  him.  He  finds  it 
at  Berne,  under  the  mantle  of  Conz  :  he  beholds  it  in  the  senate,  vest- 
ed in  grand  livery ;  he  meets  it  at  Geneva,  in  the  council  of  the  two 
hundred ;  at  the  tavern  of  the  rue  des  Chanomes,  at  the  temple  of  St. 
Peter,  and  even  on  the  public  place,  it  appears  brandishing  the  popu- 
lar  sword- 

At  length,  he  can  find  repose  at  Bale,  where  he  may  forget  the  in- 
gratitude  of  the  Genevese,  seated  at  the  table  of  Simon  Gryneus,  who 
regarded  his  bosom  friend,  "as  the  ornament  of  their  common  church."! 
At  Bale,  Farel  lived  for  more  than  a  month  in  the  house  of  Oporin, 
which  he  left  to  go  to  Neuchatel,  where  the  people  and  senate  confided 
to  him  the  administration  of  their  church.  Bucer  ceased  not  to  in- 
vite  Calvin  to  Strasbourg,  and  at  length  induced  him  to  bid  adieu  to 
Bale,  and  take  up  his  w^ay  on  foot  for  the  imperial  city. 

The  scene  played  at  Geneva  on  Calvin's  arrival,  was  to  be  repeated 
here; J  only,  that  Bucer,  instead  of  causing  God  to  descend,  in  person, 
to  retain  his  friend,  called  to  his  aid  the  prophet  Jonas  :  and  Calvin 
allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded,  and  consented  to  remain  at  Strasbourg 
to  preach  the  gospel  there  :  *'So  that,"  says  the  exile,  "being  frightened 
by  the  example  of  Jonas,  which  that  excellent  servant  of  God,  Martin 
Bucer,  had  proposed  to  me,  1  continued  the  office  of  teaching  theol- 
og7*"§  Sturm,  in  his  Antipappus,  has  furnished  us  with  some  details 
concerning  the  literary  life  of  the  reformer  at  Strasbourg  :  "  After  three 
years'  abode  in  that  city,"  says  he,  "I  saw  Calvin  come,  who  was,  by 
the  magistrates  and  theologians,  appointed  lecturer  of  the  academy,  and 
preacher  at  the  French  church  of  St.  Nicholas.  The  gospel  of  St. 
John  was  the  first  book  that  he  expounded.  He  disputed  in  the  gym- 
nasium. He  had  a  dispute  with  the  dean  of  Passau,  who  maintained 
that  works  engender  faith.  James  Sturm  had  been  selected  to  preside 
at  the  discussion,  assisted  by  other  professors.  He  here  revised  his  book 
of  the  Institutes,  completed  his  work,  chastened  his  thought,  and  ex- 
punged those  antilogies  or  contradictions  with  which  he  had  been  re- 
proached." || 

Calvin  led  a  laborious  life  at  Strasbourg.  He  preached  in  the  even- 
ing, gave  lessons  in  theology  in  the  morning,  and  laboured  till  late  in 
the  night,  to  prepare  a  new  edition  of  the  book  of  his  affection.  In  the 
first  edition  of  ike  Institutes,  he  had  interjected,  so  to  speak,  some  few 
phrases  of  pity  in  favour  of  the  heretic,  whom  he  did  not  exile  from 
christian  society,  but  allowed  to  dwell  in  quiet  in  the  midst  of  the  evan- 

*Epist.  Petro  Tiret.  sub,  fine  Mail.  1538.  MSS.  Gen. 

+Nos  enim  te  fratrem  in  Domino  Ubenter  ac  cum  gaiidio  agnoscimus,  ac  pro 
«ximio  ornamento  ecclesise  amplectimur. — Epist.  23.  1540. 

:{:Er  ffihrte  sogar  das  Beispiel  des  Jonas  an,  und  das  erschreckte  mich  so, 
idasz  ich  von  Neuem  das  Lehramt  ubernahm. — Paul  Henry,  i.  I,  p.  212. 

^  Calvin's  preface  to  the  Psalms. 

flJoh.  Sturmii  Rectoris  Arg.  Antlpappi  tres  1579.— Quarti  Antipappi,  Nea- 
poli  Palatinorum,  1580.  p.  20,  21. 


196  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

gelical  flock.*  His  exile  from  Geneva  had  rendered  him  cruel,  and  in 
his  revision,  some  passages  relative  to  innovators  are  remodeled.  He 
foresees  the  future;  he  fears,  if  ever  he  shall  condemn  a  heretic,  that 
they  will  be  able,  by  opening  his  book  of  Institutes,  to  reproach  him 
with  the  blood  which  he  will  shed.f  He  has  even  put  his  inflexible 
dogma  into  practice.  Strasbourg  had  excommunicated  a  christian, 
named  Alexander ;  Calvin  having  been  consulted,  forbids  his  brethren 
to  receive  him ;  he  will  not  even  have  an  interview  with  him ;  he 
drives  him  away,  when  he  comes  to  knock  at  the  door  of  his  dwelling.  J 

Moreover,  he  was  imitating  the  Saxon  monk,  who  at  first  invoked 
the  word  only  against  his  adversaries,  when  he  was  in  his  nest  of  Wart- 
bourg,  and  who,  at  a  later  period,  threw  far  away  this  blunt  weapon,  to 
seize  a  sword  with  which  he  smote,  with  edge  and  hilt,  all  who  troubled 
him.  The  reformation  has  always  begun  by  the  word,  and  ended  with 
the  sword. 

The  sermons  of  Calvin  were  fortunate;  he  had  converted  to  his  doc- 
trine, concerning  the  Lord's  Supper,  some  of  those  christians  who  re- 
sembled the  Hecebolics  of  Erasmus,  and  changed  religion  as  they  did  "a 
shirt."  The  senate,  to  testify  its  gratitude  to  the  French  preacher,  con- 
ferred on  him  the  rights  of  citizenship. §  The  oral  lectures  of  the  theo- 
logian had  the  power  to  assemble  the  crowd,  and  to  attract  from  France- 
numerous  pupils,  and  some  humanists  who  were  desirous  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  Calvinistic  doctrines.  \\ 

But  all  the  thoughts  of  the  exile  stiJl  reverted  to  Geneva;  it  was  a 
cherished  image  which  haunted  him  day  and  night.  In  each  of  his 
letters  to  Farel,  we  perceive  the  spite  of  a  vain  nature,  who  found  pre- 
ferred before  him  men  without  science,  such  as  those  who  were  preach- 
ing the  evangelical  word  at  St.  Peter's ;  the  wrath  of  the  theologian, 
who  delights  to  ferret  into  their  private  lives,  to  justify  his  murmurs  and 
complaints ;  the  malignant  joy  of  the  exile,  who  is  pleased  to  display 
the  miseries  of  the  church  which  has  driven  him  away ;  the  hope  of  the 
despot,  who  beforehand  is  making  arrangements  in  turn  to  oppress  his 
oppressors.  We  have  no  need  to  read  his  epistles,  in  order  to  lander- 
stand  all  the  gall  there  is  in  him,  all  the  bitterness  and  hatred ;  the  super- 
scription by  itself  shows  the  state  of  his  soul.      He  writes  to  the  Gene- 


*Quibus  (Institutionibus)  nihil  post  addidit  quod  eum  primis  pugnet., — Joh. 
Sturmius. 

tSee  chapter  concerning  the  Christian  Institutes,  in  this  work. 

:j:Epist.  Far^Ho,  27  Oct.  1539. 

^In  the  archives  of  Gotha,  fol.  738  and  739,  we  find  the  passages  relative  to 
the  right  of  citizenship  conferred  on  Calvin. — "Johannes  Calvinus,  hatt  das 
burgerecht  kauff't,  vnnd  diedt  zun  schneidern.  Dd.  Dinstages  des  29ten  July 
An.  1539.  Jo  Beyer,  v.  Thomas.  Heinrich  von  Dacxstein  Rentmeister." — 
Vff.  den  30  tag  July  1539,  ist  Johannes  Calvinus  vfF  vnnser  Herren  dcr  statt 
Strasburg  Stall  erschienen  vnnd  sich  angeben  let  der  ordnung  vnnd  vill  dienen 
mit  den  schnydern.     Die  drin  vcrodnete  Herrn  vff  der  Statt  Stalle." 

II  Placebet  enim  turn  sanatui  quod  ecclesia  Gallorum  apud  nos  quotidie  magis 
atque  magis  augeretur,  et  quod  ex  Gallia  multi  propter  Calvinunv  accedeBeja,6» 
studiosi  adolescentes,  atque  etlam  literati  viri. — Antii>app.  IV..  pv  2ll« 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIl^.  197 

vese  : — "To   the   faithful   of    Geneva  during  the   dissipation   of  the 
church."* 

For  Calvin,  there  is  at  Geneva  no  more  church,  no  more  ministry,  no 
more  gospel,  no  more  religion ;  Geneva  has  relapsed  into  papism,  and 
into  that  idolatry  wherein  it  was  waiting  for  the  light.  Bonnivard, 
in  his  manuscript  history,  affirms  to  us,  that  ''the  city  had  opened  its 
eyes  to  the  rays  of  the  gospel,  in  1535."  What,  then,  has  become  of 
these  rays  ?  they  are  obscured  since  the  exile  of  Calvin.  Geneva,  how- 
ever, has  no  more  Catholic  priests ;  it  has  proscribed  images ;  it  has 
overturned  statues,  prostrated  the  cross,  demolished  monasteries,  driven 
away  the  nuns ;  does  it  not  behold  the  signs  of  evangelical  resurrection? 
Its  church  is  dissipated,  because  it  has  exiled  one  of  its  pastors  !  This 
is  the  crime  which  Calvin  did  not  know  how  to  pardon.  He  makes  out 
that  "it  has  been  by  the  vocation  of  God  that  he  was  joined  to  the  Gene- 
vese,  and  for  which  it  could  not  be  in  the  power  of  men  to  dissolve 
such  a  tie." — Admire  the  logic  of  passion.  Calvin  refuses  to  his  church 
the  right  to  drive  away  one  of  its  members,  and  at  that  very  moment, 
he  introduces  into  his  new  edition  of  the  Institutes,  a  chapter  on  eccle- 
siastical discipline,  wherein  he  divides,  between  the  magistracy  and 
the  priesthood,  the  charge  of  correcting  abuses,]  and  confers  upon  the 
minister  the  power  of  banishing  from  the  table  of  communion,  "the 
pagan  sufficiently  bold  to  approach  it."  He  does  not  repent  for  having 
refused  the  Lord's  Supper  to  the  faithful  at  St.  Peter's ;  he  believes 
that  he  fulfilled  the  duty  of  a  good  pastor,  and  obeyed  the  discipline  of 
the  true  church.  Behold,  then,  he  writes  to  Farel,  the  sad  condition 
of  a  society,  which  should  not  have  the  power  to  repulse  unworthy 
men,  branded  with  infamy,  and  who  bear  shame  written  on  their  fore- 
heads!:): 

Of  all  the  ministers,  Calvin  was  the  only  one  at  Strasbourg  not 
married.  Erasmus  laughs  at  this  carnal  fury,  with  which  the  reformed 
society  was  tormented.  In  Saxony,  they  gave  as  definition  for  a  preach- 
er, "a  man  to  whom  a  wife  is  more  necessary  than  daily  bread. "§  At 
Strasbourg  this  malady  already  dated  far  back.  In  1525,  some  priests, 
after  having  perused  the  writings  of  Zwingle,  had  got  married.  The 
bishop  was  desirous  to  cite  them  before  the  tribunal  of  the  official,  but 
the  magistrates  invoked  the  privileges  of  the  commune,  and  enjoined 
on  the  married  priests  to  decline  the  episcopal  jurisdiction.  The  bish- 
op had  summoned  them  to  Hagenau.  During  this  struggle  between 
the  two  powers,. these  priests  published  their  memoirs;  a  real  confes- 
sion, written  in  some  bad  place,  in  which  they  accused  themselves  of 
multiplied  infractions  of  the  sixth  commandment  of  God,  in  a  style 
which  would  bring  blushes  to  the  brow  of  the  reader.  The  magistrates 
thought  well  of  this  courageous  effrontery,  and  rewarded  them  by  driv- 
ing away  some  old  vicars,  whom  they  divested  of  their  livings,  in  order 

^Strasbourg,  October  1st.,  1538. 

t  In  corrigendis  vitiis  mutuee  debent  esse  operae.  p.  440-444. 

iMSS.  Gen.  May  1540. 

i  Prsedicans  Lutheranus  est   vir,   uxore    magis   necessario   instructus  quara 
pane  quotidiano. — Laurentius  Forer,  cited   by  Weislinger.     Frisz  Vogel,  oder 
Stirb.  p.  cclxxxvi. 
17* 


198  LIFE    OP    JOHX    CALVIBT. 

to  give  them  to  these  men  of  scandal.  Celibacy  was  no  longer  regard- 
ed as  any  thing  but  an  impure  state,  which  the  christian  soul  has  not 
sufficient  strength  to  sustain.  Power  had  turned  theologian  :  did  it 
come  across  a  young  Levite,  it  quoted  to  him  the  text  of  St,  Paul :  "It 
is  better  to  marry  than  to  burn,"  fortified  by  certain  glosses^  stolen  from 
Capito,  Bucer,  Hedio,  or  John  Sturm.  When  power  had  not  the  gift  to 
convince,  it  resorted  to  force,  and  drove  the  disobedient  priest  from  his 
charge.  There  were  at  Strasbourg  some  great  falls  :  the  church  de- 
plores them. 

The  Catholic  priest  was  then   living   by   the   altar ;  when  he  was 
driven  out  of  the  presbytery,  he  had  no  resource  for  nourishaient  but  the 
charity  of  the  faithful.     At  that  time,  the  sympathising  christian  was  the 
poor  labourer,  whom  the  pest,  common  at  that  epoch,  whom  sickness 
and  misery  often  prostrated  upon  his  couch.     The  rich  man,  was  then 
generally  a  great  vassal,  who  coveted  the  treasures  of  the  abbeys,  the 
coffers  of  the  church,   the   chalices   of  the   sacristy,  and  who  laboured 
with  all  his  might  for  the  emancipation  of  convents.     By  each  secula- 
rization of  a  monastery,  he  gained   a   meadow,  a  vineyard,  a  house,  for 
which,  hitherto,  they  only  paid  him  rent.     When  the  poor  man's  door 
could  no  longer  be  opened  to  him,  the  dispossessed  priest  had  only  one 
of  two  parts  to  take  :   either  to  address  himself  to   the  magistrate,  that 
IS,  to  deny  his  faith  and  to  marry,  or  to  set  forth  on  the  way  of  his  exile. 
Now,  this  way,  infested  by  robbers,   who,   perhaps,  might  have  let  him 
pass,  was  guarded  by  the  armed  men  of  great  seigniors,  who  killed  him 
as  an  accusing  victim.     Sickingen,  who  had  vast  possessions,  reaching 
to  the  very  gates  of  Strasbourg,  delighted  to  use  this  expeditious  justice. 
When  the  way  of  controversy  had  not  been  successful,  he  resorted  to 
water  and  the  sword.*     You   can   now   understand  the  fallings  of  the 
Catholic  priests.     These  were   more  numerous  at  Strasbourg  than  any 
where  else,  because  the  feudatories  of  the  empire  had  enveloped  the  city 
as  with  a  net.     The  more  remarkable   was  the  fall,  the  richer  was  the 
reward  given  by  the  magistrate.      The   richest   living   of  the  city  was 
bestowed  upon  a  vicar,  who  had  published  the  bans  of  his  own  marriage 
at  the  Sunday  sermon. f      The   reformation  should  not  show  itself  so 
proud  of  these  apostacies,  purchased   at   so   high  a  price.     Beza  and 
Laplace  have  seen  in  these  forced   marriages  nothing  but  the  finger  of 
God;  had  they  wished,  they  might   have  found,  at  the   nuptials  of  the 
priest,  a  knight,  quite  cased  in  steel,   with  gauntlet  sharp  as  the  claws 
of  the  eagle,  first  witness,  and  gentleman  of  honor  to  the  bridal  parties. 
The  marriage  of  Calvin  was  a  cause  of  joy  to  Strasbourg  ;  at  Gene-- 
va  it  occasioned  no  surprise.     Calvin  had  been  for  a  long  time  meditat- 
ing this  measure.     In  the  midst  of  his  literary  labours,  absorbed  by  his 
books,  with  his  head  full  of  his   commentary   upon   the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  and  of  his  treatise  upon  the  Lord's  Supper,  he  occupied  him- 
self with  his  bosom  friends  about   the   choice  of  a  wife.     He  traces  ta 
Farel  the  portrait  of  her,  whom  he  desires  for  a  companion. 

*  Sickingen  had  a  tliird  means  of  converting  the  traveler  Uy  the  gospel—^ 
Etnasculabat  virum. 
t  History  of  the  proviEce  of  Alsace,,  t.  IL 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIK.  199 

The  form  is  not  for  him  a  matter  of  consideration  ;  the  young  maiden 
will  be  deemed  a  pearl  of  beauty,  if  she  be  chaste,  modest,  economical, 
a  good  housewife,  patient,*  and  above  all,  if  she  love  to  wait  on  the 
sick.  Calvin  had  frail  health,  an  enfeebled  stomach,  a  brain  of  fire, 
the  ardours  of  which  could  not  be  moderated  by  sleep,  and  also  he  had 
dispositions  to  the  gravel.  Pie  added,  laughingly,  that  his  friend  should 
procure  him  such  a  treasure,  as  soon  as  possible,  that  he  would  be  hap- 
py to  possess  it.f     Farel  did  not  find  this  treasure. 

He  was  offered  a  person  of  good  family,  who  would  have  brought 
him  a  fine  dowry;  but  Calvin  objected:  he  dreaded  lest  the  child 
should  be  too  proud  of  her  birth;  lest^  into  his  household,  she  should  in- 
troduce a  pomp  and  display,  which  would  have  been  in  marked  contrast 
with  the  simple  tastes  of  the  husband.  Besides,  she  did  not  know 
French,  and  Calvin,  in  marrying,  Avould  be  very  glad  to  get  a  person 
who  might  serve  him  as  secretary,  as  nurse,  and  as  cook.  The  father 
and  mother  were  urgent  with  the  refugee,  who  did  not  dare  give  an  ab- 
rupt refusal,  but  ended  by  making  it  the  condition  of  his  consent,  that 
their  daughter  should  learn  French.  The  lady,  on  her  part,  feeling  her 
pride  wounded,  asked  time  for  consideration.  Calvin  was  saved.  He  had 
despatched  his  brother  to  Geneva,  who  was  to  bring  back  for  him  a 
Swiss  girl,  without  fortune,  but  endowed  with  all  the  virtues  dreamed 
of  by  the  reformer,  who,  beforehand,  had  arranged  the  nuptials,  deter- 
mined their  celebration  for  the  10th  of  March,  and  invited  Farel  and 
the  ministers  of  Neufchatel,  in  case  his  friend  could  not  come  to  Stras- 
bourg ;  and  Calvin  leaped  for  joy,  like  a  child,  at  the  risk  of  appearing 
very  ridiculous  if  his  dreams  were  not  realized,  which,  in  fact,  occurred. 
For,  some  days  after,  at  the  moment  when  every  thing  for  the  nuptials 
had  been  arranged,  he  wrote  :  "Do  you  know,  Farel,  if  you  wait  for 
my  marriage,  before  coming  to  visit  me,  you  will  wait  yet  a  long  time  ? 
Nothing  is  wanting  to  me  but  a  wife,  and  I  do  not  think  that  I  ought  to 
hunt  one  any  longer.  J  Claudius  and  my  brother  had  lately  made 
espousals  for  me;  but  three  days  after  their  arrival,  I  was  informed  of 
certain  particularities  which  forced  me  to  send  my  brother  back,  and  the 
marriage  has  been  broken  off." 

Calvin  was  not  more  fortunate  in  behalf  of  his  friends.  Viret,  who 
was  anxious  to  get  married,  was  seeking  a  wife  on  every  side,  and  no 
one  would  have  him.  At  last,  he  resolved  to  address  himself  to  Cal- 
vin, who,  in  his  turn,  undertook  to  search  out  a  companion  for  the  pas- 
tor of  Lausanne,  and  found  one  immediately;  good  news,  which  he 
hastened  to  announce  to  Viret :   "I  have  found  what  you  asked  for ;   I 

*Hsec  sola  est  quae  me  illectat  pulchritudo,  si  pudica  est,  si  morigera,  si  non 
fastuosa,  si  patiens,  si  spes  est  de  mea  valetudine  fore  sollieitam. — Epist.  Fa- 
rello,  19  Maii,  1539. 

t  Quanquam  ridiculttm  me  facia  si  contigerit  me  ista  spe  decidere;  sed  quia 
Dominum  mihi  adfuturum  confido,  perinde  ac  de  re  certa  delibero. — 6  Februa- 
rii,  1541.  MSS.  Gen. 

:t:Sed  vereor  ne  si  expectare  velis  meas  nuptias  sero  veuturus  sis.  Nondum 
inventa  est  uxoret  dubito  an  queerere  amplius  debeam.  Nuper  mihi  puellam 
desponsaverant  Claudius  et  frater  meus.  Triduo  postquam  redierant,  delata 
sunt  ad  me  nonulla  quae  me  coegerunt  fratrem  remittere  quo  a  eonyentione  ilia 
nos  expediret. — Farello,  21  Jun,  1540.  MSS.  Gen. 


200  LIFI    OF    JOHK    CALVIN. 

have  the  best  information  concerning  the  maiden  ;  I  am  now  sounding 
the  father,  and  when  I  shall  learn  something,  I  will  tell  you  :  be  ready 
for  the  affair.  I  dine  to-day  with  the  family.  I  have  seen  the  young 
person;  a  modest  air,  fine  countenance,  and  something  noble  and 
beautiful  in  every  feature,  and  in  the  whole  person  ;  they  say  that  she  is 
wise ;  the  little  John  is  desperately  in  love  ;  adieu.'"'* 

But  Perrin  and  Corneus,  who  were  desirous  of  marrying  Viret  to  the 
daughter  of  Ramee,  spoiled  the  work  of  Calvin,  who  was  left  at  a  loss 
to  explain  the  matter  to  the  father  and  mother.  He  wrote  to  Viret  let- 
ter after  letter,  and  the  responses  always  arrived  too  late.  We  are  cer- 
tain that  his  system  of  predestination  cost  him  less  anxiety  than  the 
marriage  of  his  colleague.  It  is  manifest  that  he  is  at  the  end  of  his  pa- 
tience,  and  weary  of  that  part  of  go-between,  which  he  played  so  badly; 
a  part  not  suitable  for  him,  a  young  man  of  sententious  phrase,  of  aus- 
tere forms,  and  whose  lips  are  not  more  accustomed  to  a  smile  than  is 
his  style.  In  Germany,  all  important  matters  are  disposed  of  at  table, 
between  two  pots  of  beer  ;  now,  Calvin  loved  neither  beer  nor  bar-rooms. 
Viret  had  selected  a  poor  matrimonial  agent.  If  there  was  ever  in  this 
world,  a  man  who  did  not  understand  how  to  marry  off  young  ladies,  it 
was  Calvin.  Luther,  the  pamphleteer,  orator,  poet,  musician,  would 
not  have  failed  in  such  a  mission.  He  would  have  summoned  the  fa- 
ther, and  poured  down  his  throat,  in  copious  draughts,  Rhenish  wine, 
stolen  from  the  cellars  of  some  monastery,  all  the  time  plying  the  ears 
of  his  boon  companion  with  sallies  against  monks  and  celibacy,  against 
the  Pope  and  the  bishops  ;  and  the  last  bottle  would  not  have  been  un- 
corked before  the  father  would  have  pledged  his  hand  to  the  match. 
Calvin  repeated  to  Viret :  ''Come,  then,  come  and  arrange  all  that  for 
yourself."  Viret  could  not  budge.  The  father  at  length  grew  angry, 
declared  that  he  would  marry  his  daughter  only  at  Geneva^  and  not  at 
Lausanne.  Calvin  would  not  yield  but  in  the  last  extremity.  He  said 
to  the  father  :  '*lt  would  not  become  us  to  abandon  our  churches  to  fol- 
low our  wives  :  an  unfortunate  hymen,  formed  under  such  oaths ;  an 
impious  compact,  which  would  be  displeasing  to  both  parties ;  a  bad 
example,  which  you  would  give  to  the  city  !  And,  besides,  Lausanne 
is  not  so  far  from  Geneva,  that  you  could  not  easily  visit  it  when  you 
might  wish.''t 

The  father  would  not  listen  to  reason. 

Calvin  tried  to  console  Viret,  by  offering  him,  as  wife,  a  widow  of 
whom  much  good  was  spoken.:}: 

Farel  had  not,  like  Calvin  and  Viret,  time  to  wait.  His  back  was 
bent  by  age,  his  hair  was  quite  white ;  his  fine  red  beard  had  assumed 
the  colour  of  snow  :  he  sought  less  for  a  wife  than  a  nurse;  he  found 
one  in  his  servant. 

Calvin  finally  succeeded  to  meet  with  the  wife  he  desired,  a  little  dark, 

*Bis  earn  vldi :  moclestissima  est,  vultu  et  toto  corporis  habitu  mira  decora. 
De  moribus  ita  loquuntur  omnes,  ut  Johannes  parvus  mihi  dixerit  se  esse  in  ea 
captum.     MSS.  Gen. 

t  Ostendi  quam  foret  absurdum  nos  relictis  ecclesiis,  sequi  quo  uxores  voca- 
rent,  infelix  fore  conjugium  quod  hac   lege   sancitum  foret.     MSS.  Gen. 

:j:De  quadam  vidua  locutus  est  quam  tibi  asserit  mire  placere. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK.  201 

as  to  the  skin,  says  the  chronicle,  bat  beautiful  and  well.formed ;  the 
widow  of  an  Anabaptist,  whose  house  he  frequented  at  Strasbourg,  and 
whom  he  had  converted.  She  was  called  Idelette,  or  Oudelette  de 
Bures;  her  husband  was  named  Stcerder.  If  we  are  to  credit  the  ac- 
counts of  Protestant  writers,  all  these  wives  of  the  reformers  were  an- 
gels of  meekness,  of  modesty,  of  virtue,  whom  God  seems  to  have 
created  expressly  to  be  the  ornaments  and  happiness  of  their  husbands. 
Lucas  Cranach  has  left  us  a  portrait  of  Catliarine  Bora,  the  wife  of 
Luther,  with  her  cheeks  covered  with  burning  vermilion,  with  auburn 
tresses,  with  an  eye  surmounted  by  a  soft  silky  brow ;  a  true  beauty  of 
Bubens.  Beza  represents  Idelette  as  a  grave,  honest,  agreeable  wo- 
man. * 

The  nuptials  of  Calvin  were  celebrated  enfamilU;  the  consistories 
of  Neufchatel  and  Valengin  were  represented  by  their  most  distinguish- 
ed members.  At  the  festal  board,  they  sang  German  and  French 
verses.  Idelette  was  a  good  manager,  very  careful,  very  neat,  and  for 
dowry,  brought  her  husband  several  children,  whom  she  had  by  Stcer- 
der, and  whom  she  loved  with  a  mother's  true  love.  Calvin  renders 
her  this  fine  testimony ;  and  he  adds,  that  she  gave  an  example  of  all 
the  domestic  virtues.} 

Papire  Masson  and  James  Desmay  have  written, 'that  '^Calvin  never 
had  a  child,"  and  Florimond  de  Bemorid  said,  that  "iiis  nuptials  were 
condemned  to  perpetual  barrenness,  notwithstanding  that  Idelette  was 
still  young  and  beautiful."  This  is  an  error  which  Beza  has  removed. 
It  is  certain  that  he  had  a  son,  who  died  at  his  birth.  Calvin  supported 
this  loss  with  a  courage  rather  too  pagan.  The  godfather  was  selected, 
but  the  mother  had  received  a  hurt,  and  was  delivered  before  her  term  : 
two  lines  directed  to  Viret  inform  us  of  this  misfortune  :  "My  brother 
will  tell  you  of  my  grief;  my  wife  was  delivered  of  a  dead  infant : 
may  God  watch  over  us  !"J  And  in  another  place,  he  says  :  "God 
has  been  pleased  to  strike  us  by  the  death  of  this  child;  but  he  is  a 
father  who  knows  well  what  is  best  for  his  son ;  may  God  assist  you. 
I  would  be  glad  it  were  permitted  you  to  come  here.  We  should  'chat* 
together  for  half  the  day." 

And  this  is  all !  not  a  word  more  about  this  child,  whom  God  had 
taken  from  him;  about  this  first-born,  whom  he  was  not  allowed  to 
embrace,  and  in  whom  he  was  to  centre  all  his  joy,  and  all  his  hooes 
for  the  future.  Is  this  the  language  of  a  father  ?  God  did  not  forbid 
him  to  w^eep,  to  pour  forth  his  sorrows  into  the  bosom  of  his  friend,  to 
tell  him  of  his  tears,  and  of  those  of  the  poor  mother.  Calvin  is  rio-ht  ; 
God  does  well  all  that  he  does ;  he  does  not  permit  John  of  Noyon  to 
become  a  father  a  second  time. 

While  God  thus  smote  Calvin,  the  city  of  Geneva  presented  to  the 
view  a  sad  spectacle  .  The  word  of  God  was  delivered  up  to  certain 
preachers  of  the  lower  rank,  who  scarcely  knew  how  to  read,  and  who, 

*Gravis,  honestaque  foemina,  et  lectissima. 
fSingularis  exempli  foemina. 

ifUxor  enim  parturit  nonsine  extreme  periculo,  quod  nondum  uterus  partui 
maturus  erat;  sed  Deus  respiciat  nos. — Ep.  308,  Lausanne  edition. 


202  LIFE    OF    JOHM    CALVIIf. 

in  their  sermons,  as  often  assaulted  doctrine  as  they  did  grammar.  As 
their  symbolism  reproduced  the  contradictory  teachings  of  Luther  and  of 
Zwingle,  of  Osiander  and  of  (Ecolampadius,  of  Carlstadt  and  of  Me- 
lancthon,  the  idiom  which  they  used  was  a  medley  of  German,  Italian, 
French,  Latin,  and  of  Savoyard  patois.  The  commune,  which  had 
laid  a  greedy  hand  upon  the  goods  of  the  clergy,  left  these  ignorant 
ministers  in  a  state  of  destitution.  Calvin,  in  his  correspondence  with 
his  friends,  often  finds  occasion  to  blast  the  imbecility  of  his  successors, 
but  he  would  not  wish  that  they  should  cause  them  to  die  by  famine. 
At  a  later  period,  he  had  an  opportunity,  as  well  as  at  this  moment,  to 
explain  himself  with  regard  to  the  alienation  of  church  property.  He 
does  not  comprehend  how  the  civil  power  could  appropriate  to  itself 
what  did  not  belong  to  it  by  any  title,  to  give  it  away,  or  to  sell  it  at  a 
low  price.* 

"It  is  a  spoliation,"  he  writes  to  Viret,  "which  they  to-day  attempt. 
What  belongs  to  Christ  and  the  church,  belongs  neither  to  the  commune 
nor  to  the  magistrate;  when  the  church  shall  be  despoiled,  it  will  re- 
main u^aste  and  solitary.  The  reformation  has  no  other  rule  to  follow, 
than  that  established  by  king  Josias  :  'Inspection  belongs  to  the  magis- 
trates,  administration  to  the  deacons.'  "f 

*Hac  conditione  emit  Petrus  Vendelius  prioratum  mille  quingentis  corona- 
tis,  alii  vites,  alii  agra,  alii  domos. — Ep.  Vireto.  MSS.  Gen. 

tNon  esse  niagistratus,  quod  christo  et  ecclesiee  semel  fueri  consecratum.  ,. 
Fieri  posse  ut,  cum  nihil  ecclesiee  reliquum  fuerit,  ea  occasione  relinqua- 
tur  deserta  ac  solitaria.— Vireto.  MSS.  Gen. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

DOCTRINES  OF  CALVIN. 

PREDESTINATION FREE  WILL— 1539 1540. 

The  Sacristan  of  St.  Pierre-le-Jeune  at  Strasbourg. — Dispute  at  the  tavern  of 
the  Green  Tree. — That  with  God,  the  only  motive  to  save  or  reprobate  is  his 
own  a^ood  pleasure. — There  is  no  innocent  man. — The  Lord  does  not  per- 
mit, he  ordains.— The  horrible  decree.' — God  wills  the  salvation  of  the  elect 
only. — He  commands  sin. — The  work  of  the  sinner  is  the  work  of  God. — In 
man  there  is  no  liberty. — Concupiscence. — An  exposition  of  Calvin's  system 
of  predestination. — The  reformed  church  vs.  the  Protestant  church. — The 
Sacristan's  tomb.* 

In  1524,  when  the  reformation  drove  away  the  cure  of  St.  Pierre-le- 
Jeune,  at  Strasbourg,  the  sacristan  of  the  church  was  involved  in  the 
disgrace  of  the  pastor.  This  sacristan  was  an  ancient  enfant  du 
ch(Eur,  who,  in  the  convent  of  the  Dominicans,  had  received  a  monas- 
tic education,  and  had  studied  the  scholastics  with  a  kind  of  passion. 
His  memory  was  happy.  He  easily  retained  all  that  he  heard  or  read. 
The  scholastics  had  infused  into  him  a  taste  for  disputation.  Often, 
after  having  served  the  mass,  he  would,  upon  the  church  pavement, 
engage  in  a  discussion,  with  any  passer  by,  upon  some  point  of  dogma, 
or  of  Catholic  discipline.  On  the  day  on  which  the  Lutheran  min- 
ister, by  order  of  the  magistrate,  had  taken  the  keys  of  St.  Peter's 
church,  Gerard  Kaufmann  attended  the  intruder  to  the  sacristy,  in 
order  to  engage  with  him  in  a  regular  disputation  concerning  the  mis. 
sion  of  the  new  comer.  The  Lutheran,  for  his  only  response,  order- 
ed that  Gerard  should  be  driven  away,  who,  as  he  departed,  mur- 
mured to  himself  against  the  ignorance  of  the  prebendary.  Gerard 
had  an  aged  mother,  whom  he  was  supporting;  the  magistrate  had 
pity  upon  the  son,  to  whom  he  offered  the  post  of  guardian  of  the 
cemetery  of  the  city.  To  prevent  his  old  mother  from  perishing  with 
hunger,  Gerard  accepted  the  place.  It  was,  besides,  a  post  much  cov- 
eted in  the  city,  which  was  often  visited  by  the  pest.  In  1541,  so 
cruel  was  this  scourge,  that  they  were  forced  to  double  the  number  of 
grave-diggers.  It  had  raged  on  the  Rhenish  banks,  where  it  struck, 
as  if  designedly,  the  most  illustrious  heads  of  the   reformation.     The 

*■!  must  inform  the  reader  that  this  chapter,  in  which  Calvin's  doctrines  are 
exposed  so  dramatically,  is  translated  from  a  Latin  work,  published  in  1743,  at 
Strasbourg,  under  this  title  :  Joh.s  Calvini  de  predestinatlone  s]/ste?na,  in  12. 
containing  144  pafyes,  which  I  met  with  in  the  library  of  Mayence,  under  no. 
26.  160.  A.  B. 


204  LIFB    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

cemetery  was  common  to  the  two  religions ;  but  each  denomination 
had  there  a  separate  corner  of  earth. 

In  1540,  on  the  vigil  of  the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  two 
coffins  entered  this  asylum  of  peace  at  the  same  moment;  the  one 
belonged  to  a  Lutheran ;  the  other  to  a  Calvinist.  Each  minister 
recited  the  liturgical  prayers;  then  the  grave-digger  took  his  shovel, 
threw  in  the  earth,  and  covered  up  the  coffins  one  after  the  other. 
This  accomplished,  Gerard  shut  the  gates  of  this  city  of  the  dead. 

It  was  summer.  The  cemetery  was  sufficiently  distant  from  the  city. 
At  the  entry  of  the  suburb,  there  stood  a  public  house,  whose  sign 
was  a  green  tree,  and  where  on  Sundays  persons  assembled  to  drink, 
and  especially  beer ;  the  best,  it  was  said,  of  the  whole  city  and  neigh- 
bourhood. The  two  ministers  were  seated  at  the  same  table  to  rest, 
having  each  before  him  one  of  those  enormous  pewter  pots,  which 
/boast  the  faculty  of  keeping  the  liquor  long  fresh.  Their  glasses 
were  full,  and  the  conversation  was  animated,  when  Gerard  Kaufmann 
entered.     He  had  recognised  the  heretics. 

*'  Brethren,  your  health,"  said  he,  swallowing  at  one  draught  a  full 
glass.     The  ministers  made  a  slight  sign  with  the  head. 

"  Beati  mortui  qui  in  Domino  moriuniur,'^  said  Gerard.* 

Nobody  answered. 

Then  Kaufmann,  casting  on  the  table  some  pieces  of  copper : 
"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  *'are  your  two  souls  worth  these  three  gr(es- 
chen  ?" 

*'  I  hope  firmly,"  said  the  Calvinist,  without  emotion,  "  that  the  soul 
of  my  brother  has  seen  the  face  of  the  Lord." 

**  And  yours  ?"  said  Kaufmann  to  the  Lutheran,  smiling. 

"  God  is  faithful  to  his  word,"  said  the  Lutheran,  "  and  I  also  hope 
that  my  brother  is  in  the  glory  of  God." 

"Truly !"  added  Kaufmann,  "and  what  then  must  one  believe  in 
order  to  gain  heaven  ?  Let  us  know ;  teach  me,  if  you  have  any 
concern  for  the  living." 

It  was  easy  to  perceive  that  the  tavern  was  about  to  be  transformed 
into  a  school  of  theology.     The  assistants  had  drawn  near. 

<*  What  must  one  believe  ?"  said  the  Calvinist :  "  Master  John 
teaches  thee,  each  day,  at  the  French  church.     Listen  then  ! 

PREDESTINATION. 

"  In  drawing  his  creatures  out  of  nothingness,  God  had  a  double 
will ;  to  save  somef  and  damn  the  rest.  Open  the  holy  books;  does 
he  not  predestine  Jacob  to  life  without  regard  to  the  works  of  the  pa- 
triarch ?     Esau  to  death,  who  was  soiled  by  no  sin  ?"} 

"  Behold,"  cried  Gerard,  "  a  word  which  seems  to  me  very  hard  : 
durus  est  hie  sermo.'^ 

*'  And,  however,"  added  the  vicar  of  the  French  church,  "  It  is  a 
■word  of  truth,   which  thou   findest  hard,   because  thy  priests  have  not 

♦Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord. 

tCalv.  Inst.  lib.  3,  c.  21,  no.  5.         ijiCalr.  Inst,  book  3d,  c.   22,  no,  11. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN.  205 

taught  this  to  thee.     How  could  they  have  comprehended  it;    they, 
from  whom  the  Lord  has  taken  away  understanding  ?" 

"  Very  well !"  said  Kaufmann,  "  Master  Bucer  has  devoutly  al- 
lowed  to  be  adjudged  to  himself  the  charge  of  the  pastor  of  St.  Aure- 
lia,  with  the  presbytery,  the  garden,  the  furniture,  the  cellar,  and  the 
soutans  out  of  which  he  has  fitted  a  garment  to  his  own  stature,  and 
made  a  bonnet  larger  than  that  of  Storch  the  Anabaptist ;  and  behold, 
you  now  speak  evil  of  the  priests  whom  you  have  driven  away,  pillaged, 
robbed,  probably  to  accomplish  the  divine  precept :  "  Thou  shalt  not 
take  the  goods  of  another."  But  proceed  then :  Master  Andrew, 
proprietor  of  this  establishment,  who,  I  think,  has  been  re-baptized 
and  is  a  re-baptizer,  has  made  more  than  one  grimace  while  listening 
to  you." 

"  What  does  it  matter !"  said  the  Calvinist.  ''  What  I  say,  I  hold 
it  from  the  Lord,  whose  word  I  preach,  in  spite  of  all  papists  and 
Anabaptists,  even  should  they  have  three  crowns  on  their  heads.  I 
continue : 

"  The  good  pleasure  of  God,  is  the  sole  motive  of  the  grace  which 
he  gives  to  his  elect,  as  of  the  punishment  with  which  he  strikes  the 
reprobate."* 

Kaufmann  arose,  quite  angry.  "  Thou  calumniatest  Master 
John  Calvin,"  exclaim-ed  he,  striking  his  glass  on  the  table  where  he 
had  been  seated;  "I  have  often  listened  to  the  preaching  at  the 
French  chapel  on  Saturdays,  and  never  did  my  ear  listen  to  such  a 
doctrine." 

"  It  is,"  responded  the  Calvinist,  "  because  thou  hast  ears  to  hear, 
and  dost  not  understand.  The  rest  of  you,  papists,  are  all  thus ; 
you  have  not  the  understanding  of  the  divine  word." 

"  Luther,  the  ecclesiastes  of  Wittenberg,  has  often  reproached  you," 
interposed  the  Lutheran,  "  with  being  nothing  but  blockheads,  moles, 
hogs,  dogs,  asses. "t 

"  Gather  these,"  said  the  grave-digger,  bowing  to  the  Calvinist ;  "  it 
is  to  you  sacramentarians,  that  Master  Martin  addresses  these  soft 
words." 

"  But,  by  what  right,"  he  added,  still  speaking  to  the  Calvinist, 
*'  does  the  good  God  thus  damn  creatures  from  whom  he  has  received 
no  offence  ?  He  is  almost  as  unjust  as  Sickingen,  who  judges  the 
faith  of  a  man  by  the  dress  he  wears.  He  is  a  capricious  tyrant, 
senseless,  whom  I  deny  for  my  Lord." 

"It  is  thou,  that  art  senseless,"  responded  the  minister.  "Who 
has  permitted  thee  to  measure  God  by  man  !  to  cry  out :  'Why  !  why  !' 
It  is  because  he  has  willed  it ;  because  out  of  himself  there  is  no  de- 
termining cause ;  he  wills  because  he  wills ;  dost  thou  well  under- 
stand ?  Life  arid  death,  suffering  and  joy,  hell  and  paradise,  every 
thing  is  just,  since  he  has  willed  it.  Thou  insistest ;  take  care,  thou 
tryest  to  fathom  an  abyss  impenetrable  to  thy  eye  and  to  mine."f 

*Inst,  book  3d,  c.  22,  no.  11. 

tAuscuUa    tu,  porce,    canis,    asine ;    Contra   fanaticos    sacramentariorum 
errores.  t.  vii.  p.  379. 
lUbi  ergo  quaeritur  cur  ita  fecerit  Dominus,  respondendum  est,  quia  yoluit, 
18 


206  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Gerard,  while  listening  to  the  orator,  was  seeking  in  his  head  for 
a  text  which  might  close  the  Calvinist's  mouth ;  on  a  sudden,  his  eye 
lighted  up  with  joy,  his  lips  smiled,  and  seizing  the  hand  of  the  dis- 
puter,  he  said:  "  Thou  hast  not  then  read  St.  Augustine : — 'Thy 
God  is  unjust,  who  condemns  the  innocent.'  "* 

"  And  who  has  said,  that  1  was  speaking  of  the  innocent  ?  There 
is  no  one  innocent.  Man  has  sinned.  It  is  original  sin  which  is 
the  cause  of  his  damnation,  or  of  his  predestination."! 

"  I  have  thee  there,  bad  scholar,"  rejoined  Gerard.  "  Therefore,  it 
is  no  longer  as  creator,  but  as  judge,  that  he  saves  or  damns,  that  he 
gives  life,  or  kills  !  Therefore,  out  of  himself,  there  is  cause  of  sal- 
vation or  of  reprobation  !     This  is  clear  !" 

*'  Not  so  clear  as  thou  thinkest ;  for,  before  original  sin,  the  repro- 
bate had  been  already  predestined  to  damnation,  by  a  divine  decree; 
a  decree  which  from  all  eternity  is  in  God.  If  they  perish,  it  is  be- 
cause they  bear  the  pain  of  the  fault,  into  which  Adam  fell,  by  the 
order  of  God.  Therefore,  as  Master  John  has  said  and  taught,  glori- 
fication or  fall,  life  or  death,  happiness  or  misery,  every  thing  flows 
from  the  good  pleasure  of  God ;  God  has  willed  all."} 

"  Shouldst  thou  exclaim  louder  than  Capito ;  shouldst  thou  make 
finer  gestures  than  Bucer,  I  would  still  answer  thee  :  Thou  enclosest 
thyself  in  an  argument  for  which  I  would  not  give  thee  a  glass  of 
beer.  For,  if  Adam  has  been  condemned  because  of  his  sin,  there 
was  then  in  his  punishment  a  determining  cause  out  of  God.  But 
tell  me,  does  thy  Master  believe  in  angels  ?" 

"  In  good  and  bad  angels  ;  the  former,  servants  and  messengers  of 
God ;  the  latter,  fallen  natures,  whose  chief  .is  the  demon,  who  has 
resisted  the  will  of  his  creator,  the  sovereign  master  and  regulator  of 
that  resistance;  a  demon  who  can  do  nothing  but  evil,  but  who 
could  not  do  this  without  the  will  of  the  Lord ;  able  to  torment  the 
good,  but  not  to  overcome  him.  If  the  faithful  angel  has  persevered 
in  the  love  of  his  creator,  it  is  because  God  has  sustained  him ;  if 
the  bad  angel  has  fallen,  it  is  because  God  had  abandoned  him.  He 
has  abandoned  him  because  he  had  been  reprobated.  §  Dost  thou  de- 
mand why  ?  Because  that  fall  and  that  glory  were  in  the  eternal  de- 
crees of  providence."  || 

"  Master,  take  care ;  thou  resemblest  a  man  who  by  night  should 
have  fallen  into  one  of  the  ditches  of  the  city ;  he  may  turn,  and 
turn  again,  as  he  pleases,  he  swims  there  and  finds  nothing  but  mud. 

Quod  si  ultra  pergas  rogandocur  voluerit  1  majus  aliquid  quaeris  et  sublimius 
voluntate  Dei,  quod  inveniri  lion  potest,  lib.  3.  c.  22.  no.  2. 

♦Quemquam  vero  immeritum  et  nulli  obnoxium  peccato,  si  Deus  damnare 
creditur,  alienus  ab  iniquitate  non  creditur. — Ep.  106. 

tinst.  lib.  3,  c.  22,  no.   3.  •  ilnst.  lib.  3.  c.  23,  no.  4, 

tAngelos  qui  steterunt  in  sua  integritate  Paulus  vocat  electos  :  Si  eorum 
constantia  in  Dei  bene  placito  fundata  fuit,  aliorum  defectio  arguit  fuisse 
derelictos.  Cujus  rei  causa  non  potest  alia  adduci  quani  reprobatio  q use  in 
arcano  Dei  abscondita  est. — Lib.  3,  c.  23.  no.  4. 

yConsilio  nutuque  suo,  ita  ordinat  ut  inter  homines  nascantur  ab  utero 
certae  morti  devoti,  qui  suo  exitio  ipsius  nomen  glorificent. — Inst.  lib.  3,  c. 
«3.  no.  6. 


LIFK    or   JOHW    CALVIir.  207 

The  argument  crawls  in  blood  as  soon  as  it  ceases  to  repose  in  the 
mud ;  my  why  erects  itself  against  thee  still,  like  the  crest  of  a  ser- 
pent." 

"  Why  ?  God  wills  it  because  he  is  the  master  of  his  creatures ;  has 
he  not  produced  them  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power  ?  could  he  not 
have  left  them  in  nothingness  ?  If  he  has  destined  them  to  life  in 
this  world,  to  death  in  the  next,  it  is  because  he  has  willed  that 
life,  as  well  as  death,  temporal  or  eternal,  should  serve  for  the  glori- 
fying of  his  name ;  heaven   or   hell  equally   sings  the  Lord's  glory."* 

"  Dost  thou  mean,"  resumed  Kaufmann,  "that  God  permits  the 
soul  to  lose  itself  in  its  way  ?  Then  I  am  ready  with  the  school  to 
repeat :  concedo,  I  grant  it, 

"  No,  I  tell  thee,  dull  intellect,  thy  soul  does  not  perish  permissive, 
by  permission ;  for  God  does  not  permit,  he  ordains ;  his  will  is  ex- 
istence, necessity,  irremediable  fatum  or  fate.  How  then  does  it 
happen  that  so  many  generations  have  been  enveloped,  as  with  a 
winding  sheet,  in  the  fault  of  their  first  parents  ?  I  know  nothing 
about  it.  Be  silent  tongue  of  a  magpie,  be  silent,  and  cease  to  inter- 
rogate me Thou  wishest  that  I  should  answer  thee ;  I,  worm 

of  the  earth,  clay  formed  by  the  hand  of  God,  unclean  dust !  What 
am  I,  to  fathom  God  ?  Pious  ignorance  is  worth  more  than  rash 
knowledge."! 

"  Then,  why  dost  thou  dogmatize  ?"  demanded  Kaufmann.  *'  Why 
dost  thou  make  appeal  to  scripture  ?  Why  then  dost  thou,  mere  dust 
of  the  earth,  set  thyself  up  for  doctor  in  Israel  ?  Oh  man,  who  glo- 
rifiest  thyself  in  thy  misery ;  who  goest  forth  to  teach  the  nations, 
who  treatest  as  rash  and  senseless  all  science,  that  seeks  to  give 
thee  an  explanation  of  the  mysteries  which  God  has  hidden  in  the 
abyss  of  his  supreme  justice.  J  But,  in  my  turn,  I  urge  thee,  I  press 
upon  thee,  I  seize  hold  of  thy  robe  and  ask  thee,  if  God  has  not  sent 
his  Son  for  the  salvation  of  that  man  whom  thou  hast  just  laid  in  the 
sepulchre,  and  who,  in  two  days,  will  be  tlie  food  of  worms,  as  also 
thyself  and  thy  master  will  be  in  your  turn." 

*'  Thou  hidest  thyself  under  the  robe  of  Pelagius,  a  worn  out 
robe,  old  even  to  the  thread.     St.  Paul  has  never   spoken  of  the  in- 

*=God  has  predestined  the  reprobate  not  only  to  damnation,  but  also  to  the 
causes  of  dananation. — Beza. 

titerum  qusero  unde  factum  est  ut  tot  gentes  una  cum  liberis  eorum  in- 
fantibus  aeternae  morti  involveret  lapsus  Adae  absque  remedio,  nisi  quia  Deo 
ita  visum  est.  Hie  obmutescere  oportet  tarn  dicaces,  alioqui  linguas. — Lib. 
2.   c.  23. 

Tu  homo  expectas  a  me  responsum,  et  ego  sum  homo.  Itaque  ambo 
audiamus  dicentem  :  O  homo,  tu  quis  es  }  Melior  est  fidelis  ignorantia 
quam  temerariascientia. — Lib.  3,  c.  23. 

:|:To  day  the  Protestant  school  recognizes  the  value  of  Gerard's  argu- 
ment ;  it  accuses  Calvin  of  formal  contradiction  in  the  deduction  of  his 
system  concerning  foreknowledge.  Die  letzen  Worte  melior  est  fidelis 
ignorantia.  .  .  .  Sind  eine  kritik  Calvins  selbst — Demi  er  geht  hartnackig  ge- 
gen  seinen  grundfatz,  so  weit,  dasz  sein  Wissen  auch  venoegen  ist,  U7id  er  stellt 
als  nolhwendige  Glauhens  Regel  in  den  coufesslons-Schriften  auf,  was  nuT 
angedeutet,  und  sehr  gefarlieh  ist,  fur  die  gewohnliche  Gemuther.—Faul  Hen- 
jy,  p.  319,  t.  i.  Life  of  Calvin. 


208 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 


dividual,  in  persona,  but  of  the  individuality ;  of  the  genus  and  not 
of  the  species  :  non  singulos  generum,  sed  genera  singulorum.''* 

"Master,"  rejoined  Kaufmann,  "this  is  a  distinction  which  smella 
singularly  of  the  school,  and  I  imagine  that,  on  entering  here,  thou 
hast  left  at  the  door  the  girdle  of  some  monk,  whom  thy  predestined, 
Francis  Sickingen,  has  robbed,  being  no  more  a  lover  of  monkery 
than  of  monks,  of  the  variety  than  of  the  species ;  singulos  gene, 
rum  et  genera  singulorum.  Thy  God  appears  to  me  to  be  made  . 
to  his  likeness,  and  I  do  not  compliment  you  in  his  regard." 

"  My  God,"  responded  the  minister,  "  hates  no  one." 

"  How  then,"  resumed  Gerard,  emptying  a  large  glass  of  beer^ 
"is  it  not  hating,  to  predestine  a  poor  creature  to  eternal  punish- 
ment ?" 

"  Thou  dost  never  distinguish,  thou  bad  Thomist;  to  predestine  to> 
death  is  not  to  hate,  but  to  destine  unto  hatred,  which  is  something: 
very  different."! 

"Again,"  said  Gerard,  " like  thy  Frank  de  Sickingen,  who  con- 
ceals his  armed  men,  true  wolves,  upon  the  route  from  Bale  to  Wald^ 
shut,  rushes  upon  our  monks,  robs  them,  mutilates  them  out  of  love 
for  chastity.  I  say  and  maintain  that  thy  God  is  a  wicked  gauntlet 
of  iron,  whom  I  neither  love  nor  could  love.  His  decrees  are  hor- 
rible decrees." 

"  My  God,"  said  the  minister,  "  has  no  form,  and  thou  desirest  tc* 
give  him  one,  and  to  judge  him  by  an  image  created  in  thy  brain  : 
I  say,  like  thee,  a  horrible  decree,  for  we  could  not  deny  that  the  Lord^. 
by  his  foreknowledge,  knew  the  fall  of  Adam  beforer  he  had  created 
him,  and  that  he  foresaw  it  only  because  he  had  ordained  it  by  his. 
decree. "f 

*Inst.  c.  23  and  24,  concerning  eternal  predestination. 

fExitio  prsedestinare  non  est  odisse,  sed  odio  destinare. 

:|:Decretum  quidem  horribile  fateor,  inficiari  tamen  poterit  nemo  quin  praes- 
civerit  Deus  quern  cxitum  habiturus  esset  homo,  antequam  ipsum  conderet, 
et  ideo  preesciverit  quia  decreto  suo  sic  ordinavit.     Inst.  1.  3.  c.  23.  no.  7. 

"It  is  said  that  Calvin  here  utters  a  blasphemy  in  using  the  word  horrible 
in  this  passage.  It  is  pretended  that  he  calls  all  the  decrees  of  God  horri- 
ble, as  if  he  spoke  in  general.  It  is  certain  that  this  remark  is  very  mali- 
cious, and  it  is  used  only  with  a  view  to  render  Calvin  odious,  but  very  un- 
justly :  For  Calvin,  by  these  words,  has  pretended  to  say  nothing  else,  but 
that  this  decree  ought  to  till  us  with  dread.  Rivet  t.  3.  in  his  treatise  : 
Apologeticus,  contra  Hugonis  Grotii  votum,  &c. — Ancillon  Melanges  Cri^- 
tiques,  p.    87. 

Rivet,  Ancillon,  and  Morus  the  panegyrist  of  Calvin,  in  translating  rfe- 
crehan  horriMle,  by  the  words  "  which  ought  to  fill  us  with  dread,"  give 
proof  of  profound  ignorance  of  the  Latin  language,  or  of  very  bad  faith. 
The  embarrassed  annunciation  of  Calvin,  decretum  quidem  horrihile  fateor j. 
sufficiently  shows  that  the  translation  or  meaning  given  by  Catholic  writers^ 
is  that  which  Calvin  designed  to  express.  Beausobre,  author  of  "The  de- 
fence of  the  doctrine  of  the  reformers  on  providence,  predestination,  grace 
and  the  Eucharist,"  does  not  understand  the  passage  differently  from  Cath- 
olics. 

In  more  than  one  place  of  his  writings,  Lu<herhas  taught  the  same  doc- 
trine as  Calvin.  He  writes  :  Bass  Gott  etliche  Meiischen  verdammei,  die  es 
nicht  verdient  haben.  Also,  Dasz  Gott  eiliche  Menschen  zur  verdamnisx 
verordnet  habe  ehe  siegebohren  worden.  Luther's  works  t,  lii.  Jen.  lat.  fol.  207. 
a.  t.  vi.  Wit.  germ.  fol.  534.  535.  a. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  209 

"  You  may  use  your  utmost  efforts,"  said  Gerard,  *'  you  could 
sooner  give  to  the  red  stones  of  our  Munster  the  colour  of  garlic,  than 
to  the  doctrine  of  thy  'master  the  appearance  of  truth.  Thy  dogmas 
are  impious  and  horrible  :  if  thou  hast  come  into  the  world  only  to 
preach  such  doctrine,  thou  hadst  no  need  to  be  born." 

Among  the  guests  of  the  tavern  of  the  Green  Tree,  who  were  listen- 
ing in  silence  to  the  dispute  on  predestination,  there  was  one  who 
had  often,  by  shrugs  of  the  shoulder  and  head,  applauded  the  argu- 
ments of  the  Calvinist  minister.  He  had  open  before  him  a  book, 
and  amused  himself  by  turning  over  the  leaves.  At  the  moment 
Gerard  concluded  his  last  speech,  he  put  up  his  book,  and  spoke  in 
these  terms  : 

"  There  is  one  way  to  shut  the  papist's  mouth  ;  God  has  not 
willed  the  death  of  the  impious,  in  words,  I  grant ;  but  by  his  impen- 
etrable will,  I  deny :  non  vult  peccatoris  mortem  verbo,  mdt  autem 
earn  voluntate  ilia  imperscrutabili,  as  master  Martin  of  Eisleben, 
preacher  of  Wittenberg,  prophet  of  God,  and  his  evangelist,  teaches 
in  folio  446,  de  servo  Arhitrio.  The  God  who  is  preached  to  us 
wishes  to  save  all  men  ;  he  has  sent  his  Son  to  call  us  by  his  word 
to  salvation  :  but  by  his  will  he  damns  and  reprobates."* 

"  What  a  fine  comedian  is  thy  God,"  exclaimed  Gerard,  turning 
to  the  unknown.  "He  resembles  Bucer,  who  acts  the  dog; 
crouching  to  the  sacramentarians  of  Strasbourg,  he  whines,  flatters 
them,  gives  his  paw,  and  afterwards,  at  Wittenburg  yelps,  barks  at 
them  in  company  with  the  big  dog  Luther  !  Thy  hypocritical  God 
is  worth  no  more  than  Calvin's  tyrannical  God.  Am  1  a  vessel  of  elec- 
tion or  a  vessel  of  perdition  ?  Has  the  word  been  spoken  for  me  ? 
has  Jesus  Christ  poured  out  his  blood  for  the  former  sacristan  of  St. 
Peter's  church  ?" 

"  God  w^ills  only  the  salvation  of  the  elect,"  resumed  the  Calvin- 
ist; "it  is  for  them  only  that  he  took  flesh,  that  he  descended  upon 
earth,  that  he  suffered  and  died.  Also,  he  as  not  prayed  for  all ;  his 
elect  are  those  whom  his  father  wills  to  save."t 

"  But  if  God  have  destined  me  to  eternal  damnation,  what  shall  I 
do?" 

"  To  the  reprobate,"  said  the  minister,  "  God  sends  a  preacher  of 
his  word  to  make  them  more  deaf;  he  causes  his  light  to  shine  in 
their  eyes  to  make  them  blind ;  he  announces  his  law  to  stupify  them  ; 
he  puts  the  honey  of  truth  on  their  lips  to  poison  them. "J 

"  So  then,"  said  Kaufmann,  "  God  wills  sin." 

"He  wills  it,  he  prescribes'  it — he  excites  us  to  it," — responded  the 
minister.  § 

*In  hoc  missus  est  ut  loquatur  :  verbo  salutis  ad  omnes  salvandos  venit  — 
Luther. 

tOn  the  gospel  of  John.— Inst.  lib.  3.  c.  29. 

tEcce  vocem  ad  eos  dirigit,  sed  ut  magis  obsurdcscant ,  lucem  accendit, 
sea  ut  reJdnntur  cseciores  ;  doctrinam  profert,  sed  qua  magis  obstupescant  ; 
remedium  adhibet,   sed  ne  sanentur.— Calv.  Inst.  1.  3.  c.  24.  n.  13. 

Unst.  lib.  3.  c.  24.  p.  13,  14,  15. 
18* 


210  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIW, 


FREE-WILL. 

"  It  is  God,  therefore,"  resumed  Kaufmann,  after  a  moment's  silence^ 
*'  who  has  sent  us  Bucer,  to  dishonor  our  nuns,  to  rob  our  churches,  ta 
drive  away  our  priests,  and  introduce  the  abomination  of  desolation  in- 
to Strasbourg  ?" 

"  If  Bucer  be  guilty,  his  work  is  God's  work,"  answered  the  Calvin- 
ist,  ''as  are  the  incest  of  Absalom,*  the  furies  of  Achab,  the  treachery 
of  Judas,  and  the  deicide  of  the  Jews.     It  was  satan  who,  by  the  mouth 
of  Judas,  said  :  how  much  will   you   give   me,  and  I  will  deliver  him 
up  ?  who  exclaimed  :   tolle  !   toUe  !  take  him  away  !  take  him  away  ! 
But  satan  is  only  the  minister  of  the  Most  High,  his  submissive  slave, 
who  does  nothing,  and  can  do  nothing,  without  the  order  of  God,  whom 
he  must  obey,  willing  or  not,  as  the   clay   obeys   the  hand  of  him  who 
gives  it  form.     God  calls   satan,   and  says  to  him  :  take  possession  of 
this  body,  I  deliver  it  up  to  you ;    and   satan,   the  minister  of  divine 
wrath,  sets  forth  more  rapidly  than  the  lightning.     God  has,  beforehand, 
blinded  the  poor  creature  :  he  has   hardened   his  heart,  and  impelled 
him  to  sin,  by  taking  away  from  him  the  power  to  accomplish  his  com- 
mandments."! 

*Absalonincesto  coitu  patris  torum  polluens  detestabile  scelus  perpetrat ; 
Deus  tamen  hoc  opus  sum  pronuntiat. — Inst.  lib.  3. 

t  Inst.  liv.  3,  c.  24. 

In  the  sixteenth  century,  poesy  itself  did  not  disdain  to  speak  theology- 
Here  is  the  title  of  a  very  curious  book  which  appeared  in  the  year  1559. 

"Les  dispvtcs  de  Gvillot  le  Porcher  ctde  la  Bergere  de  St.-Denis  en  France* 
contre  Jean  Caluin,  predicant  de  Genesue,  Paris,  par  Pierre  Gaultier." 

The  work  is  in  form  of  a  dialogue.     We  cite  an  extract  from  it. 

CALVIN. 

Or  pour  bien  entendre  le  poinct 
De  ce  merite  ou  ie  me  fonde 
C'est  pour  ce  que  I'liomme  n'a  poinct| 
De  liberal  arbitre  au  monde, 
Car  de  I'ofTence  trcmebonde 
Qu'Adam  fit  par  Mort  mortifaire, 
Sa  semence  en  fut  si  immonde 
Qu'onque  depuis  ne  sceut  bien  faire* 

Et  cette  cause  nous  disons 
Et  maintcnons  pour  verite 
Qu'en  cc  monde  icy  nous  faisons, 
Tous  OBUvres  par  necessite, 
Et  que  Dieu  en  Eternite 
Prenoit  par  diuin  pensement 
Tout  bien  et  toute  iniquite 
Dont  ne  so  peut  faire  autrement, 

LA  BERGERE. 

Si  tu  as  quelque  bonne  rob© 
Ou  autre  riche  habillcment, 
Et  que  quelqu'vn  te  le  derobe, 
II  ne  S9ayt  done  faire  autrement. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN,  211 

»'  But,"  urged  Gerard,  *'man,  in  the  opinion  of  thy  master,  is  not 
then  a  free  agent  ?" 

*'Look,  now!"  exclaimed  the  Calvinist,  ''thou  comest  with  thy  great 
question  of  free-will,  Avhich  Thomists,  Danetists,  Lombardists,  and 
Papists,  have  never  been  able  to  comprehend.  There  is  no  one  truly 
free,  except  God.  Satan  is  not  more  so  than  Absalom,  Judas,  or 
Achab.  If  satan  come,  it  is  because  God  has  called  him.  If  he  de- 
part  like  lightning,  it  is  because  God  has  given  him  wings  of  fire. 
When  the  sinner  falls,  it  is  because  God  drives  and  precipitates  him 
into  the  abyss.*  I  have  already  said  to  thee,  that  God  had,  for  his  own 
glory,  predestined  Adam  to  sin  ; — for  the  glory  of  God,  dost  thou  un- 
derstand ? — and  that,  in  our  first  father,  and  in  his  children,  he  had  ef- 
faced the  celestial  ray,  with  which  he  had  encircled  their  brows.  In 
place  of  that  divine  light,  he  has  placed  impurity,  impotence,  vanity, 
and  that  hereditary  train,  which  is  termed  conacpiscence,  the  portion  of 
every  creature  on  earth. f  From  that  concupiscence,  sin  is  born,  as  the 
worm  springs  from  filth,  and  corruption  from  fermentation." 

"  Master,  I  stop  thee,"  said  Kaufmann.  "Is  this  a  new  doctrine 
thou  bringest  us,  like  that  of  John  in  the  desert,  or  of  the  Son  of  Man 
in  Judea  ?  or  hast  thou  fished  it  up  out  of  some  unclean  sink  of  heresy?" 

"  It  is  a  new  letter  wdiich  I  teach.  Master  John  avows  that  the 
dogma  of  free-will  has  been  proclaimed  in  the  eastern  and  western 
church  ;  but  what  signifies  the  voice  of  your  fathers,  your  doctors,  and 
your  pontiffs  ?  There  is  in  man  no  such  free-will  as  is  taught  by  the 
Catholic  school.  Man,  the  fruit  of  sin,  can  only  produce  the  fruits  of 
death ;  his  will,  since  tlie  fall  of  Adam,  has  been  chained  with  a  chain 
of  adamant ;  it  is  like  a  bad  tree,  which  necessarily  produces  bad 
fruit."; 

*'  Then  man  is  but  an  incarnate  slave  ?" 

Et  si  ton  voysin  mesmement 
Te  donnoit  d'un  cucur  despite, 
Dessus  la  joue  fermement 
Feroit-il  de  necessitel 

Si  par  contrainte  necessarie 
Un  briirant  la  ^or^e  te  couppe, 
Et  qu'il  ne  puisse  autrement  faire, 
II  n'y  a  point  en  lui  de  coulpe. 

:  CALVIN. 

^         Dieu  n'est  point  autheur  pour  cela 
Des  grefs  peclies  que  nous  faisons. 
Mais  le  dit  Adam  qui  uous  a 
Perdu  la  libcrte  qu'eussions; 
Comme  petits  Dieux  nous  fussions: 
Et  sans  iamais  auoir  faict  mal, 
Ce  que  plus  faire  ne  s^aurions 
Faulte  d'arbitre  liberal. 

*In  eo  obliterata  fuit  caelestis  imago. — Inst.  I.  c.  II.  No.  5. 
tinst.  lib.  II.  c.  I.  No.  4.  and  7. 

X  Libertate  abdicatam,  voluntatem  dice  necessitate  in  malum  vel  trahi,  vel 
duci,— Inst.  lib.  II.  c.  3.  n.  5. 


212  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

"  Thou  art  mistaken  here  :  thou  goest  too  far.  As  God  does  good 
necessarily,  without  ceasing  to  be  free ;  as  satan,  who  has  no  power  ex- 
cept for  evil,  sins  voluntarily ;  so  man,  nailed  to  sin,  does  not  the  less 
act  voluntarily.*  This  necessity  is  neither  the /a^e  (fatum)  of  pagans, 
iiov  the  fortune  of  christians  ;  it  is  a  necessity  which  shall  be  termed 
volmitanj,  because  its  mother  is  the  human  will,  which  has  freely  em- 
braced sin,  and  made  itself  the  slave  thereof. "f 

Kaufmann  could  not  restrain  himself  any  longer  :  he  rolled  his  glass 
in  his  hands;  shrugged  his 'shoulders,  stamped  his  foot,  and  produced 
that  amusing  mimicry,  which  Luther  lends  to  Eck,  while  listening  to 
Carlstadt 

"  Enough,  enough,"  he  repeated  ;  *'you  have  burned  the  benches  of 
our  schools,  and  made  a  bonfire  out  of  our  summaries,  and  now  you 
speak  to  us  a  jargon,  which  oar  monks  had  themselves  ceased  to  use, 
lono-  before  the  coming  of  Luther  !  A  pleasant  marvel,  is  your  volun- 
tary necessity  !  And  what  a  foolish  figure  is  your  creature  free  amid 
the  chains  of  sin  !  But  would  you  please  tell  me,  what  is  the  principle 
or  motive  of  action,  in  that  man,  made  by  your  hands,  for  I  deny  that 
he  was  created  by  God  ?" 

"  Speakest  thou  of  the  reprobate  or  of  the  elect  ?"  asked  the  Cal- 
vinist. 

"Of  the  reprobate  and  the  elect,"  answered  Kaufmann. 

<'  With  the  reprobate,"  continued  the  minister,  "it  is  the  attraction 
of  pleasure,  J  or  the  sensual  appetite.  The  reprobate,  inclined  by  his 
will  to  evil,  is  dragged  to  it  by  the  whole  weight  of  the  flesh ;  the  elect 
abandons  himself  to  good,  because  he  is  sweetly  conducted  to  it  by  the 
Spirit.  With  the  elect,  this  entirely  immaterial  delectation  is  called 
grace,  a  sweet  charm,  which  attracts  us  to  God,  by  the  allurement  of 
the  felicity  which  he  promises  us,  as  said  by  master  John  :  nos  adipsum 
amandum  et  expetendum  praemiorum  dulcedine  voluit. — Inst.  lib.  IL 
c.  8.  Behold  Saul ;  what  attaches  him  to  the  Lord  ?  Is  it  not  the 
sweetness  and  goodness  of  the  Creator  ?"§ 

"  But,"  said  Kaufmann,  "this  grace,  or,  to  use  your  term,  this  delecta- 
tion, could  not  always  be  efficacious." 

•''  Thou  speakest  like  a  true  disciple  of  Thomas,  whose  salvation  is 
very  problematical.  1|      This  grace  can  be  nothing  else  but  efficacious  . 

^Erjrosi  liberam  Dei  voluntatem  in  agendo  non  impedit  quod  necesse  est 
ilium  bono  agere;  si  diabolus,  quia  non  nisi  male  agere  potest,_  voluntarie  ta- 
men  pcccat;  quis  hominem  ideo  minus  voluntarie  peccare  dicet,  quod  sit 
poccando  necessitati  obnoxiusT — Inst.  lib.  II,  c.  3.  n.  5. 

+  Quia  voluntas,  cum  libera  esset,  servam  se  peccati  fecit. 

1  Delcctationc  rt  proprlo  appotitu  movetur._ 

^Ut  Deam  ainarct,  bonitatis    ejus   dulcedine    cnpicbatur. — Inst.  lib.  Ill,  c. 

12.  n.  12. 

liProbably  an  allusion  to  this  passage  of  Luther  on  St,  Thomas.: 
Per  pnpam  crrasse  sanctos  .Bernardum,  Franciscum,  Dominicum  et  multos 
sanctissimos  viros,  non  dubito,  etc. — De  quo  nuinero  et  sanctus  Thomas  Aqui- 
nas si  tamen  sanctus  est,  nam  vehementcr  dubito,  cum  adeo  nihil  olfiat  spiri- 
tus'in  eo. De  Thoma  Aquino,  an  damnatus  vel  beatus  sit  vehementissime  du- 
bito, citius  Bonaventunim  crediturus  beatum.  Thomas  multa  herctica  scripsi% 
et  alitor  est  regnantis  Aristotclis,  vastator  piee  doctrines.  Opera  Luthcri.  t.  II 
lat.  fol.  354>  355,  357,  in  resp.  ad.  lib.  Amb.  Catharini. 


L1F2    OF   JOHN    CALVI?.  *  213 

"  Whosoever  has  heard  of  my  Father,  cometh  to  me."  Does  not  the 
Saviour  say  this  ?  Whence  it  follows  that  this  delectation  necessarily 
produces  faith." 

"  Thou  flayest  the  text,"  said  Gerard.  "  If  it  be  true,  as  Erasmus 
has  said,  that  thy  brethren  have  never  yet  been  able  to  cure  a  lame 
horse,  we  must  avow  that  more  than  once  they  have  lamed  and  crippled 
a  text  like  this,  which,  before,  marched  perfectly  straight. 

"  In  St.  John,  chap.  6,  v.  45,  we  have  :  Omnia  qui  audivit  a  patre 
et  didicit,  venit  ad  me.  A  double  operation  :  the  Creator,  who  gives 
his  grace,  the  creature,  who  consents  to  receive  it ;  omnis  qui  audivit  a 
patre,  behold  the  gift  of  grace ;  et  didicit,  behold  the  act  of  fiee-will  ; 
the  father,  who  manifests  himself;  the  child,  who  consents  to  hear  him. 
But  in  spite  of  thee,  I  come  with  the  whole  force  of  my  argument,  and 
I  say  to  thee  :  if,  sinner  and  reprobate,  thy  grace  flies  from  me  and 
escapes,  because  I  am  marked  with  the  seal  of  reprobation,  I  have  an 
excuse  to  alledge ;  I  could  not  do  otherwise  than  I  have  done ;  I  would 
say  this  to  thy  God,  did  he  summon  me  before  him." 

"  But  my  God  would  reply  to  thee  immediately  :  Israel,  of  what 
dost  thou  complain  ?  whence  has  come  to  thee  this  impotence  for  good, 
if  not  from  thy  corrupt  nature  ?  and  what  gave  thee  that  nature,  but  thy 
sin  ?*  Now,  allow  me  to  explain  to  thee  the  whole  economy  of  Cal- 
vin's system. 

"  God,  in  creating  man,  foresaw  the  fall  of  Adam,  from  all  eternity. 
Among  his  descendants  he  chose  a  small  number,  whom  the  apostle 
calls  the  elect  of  the  Lord,  for  eternal  felicity ;  the  rest,  for  an  endless 
reprobation  ;  that  the  salvation  of  the  blessed  might  manifest  his  mercy, 
and  the  fall  of  the  damned,  his  justice.  He  took  away  his  grace  from 
the  first  man  who  fell.  He  has  willed  only  to  save  the  elect;  it  is  for 
them  only  that  he  came  down  upon  earth,  that  he  was  crucified,  that  he 
died.  It  is  the  blood,  poured  out  by  the  word  made  flesh,  which  is  the 
pledge  of  the  salvation  of  the  elect ;  the  grace  infused  in  this  blood 
cannot  be  lost :  it  is  inamissaUe.  This  grace  consists  in  the  non-im- 
putation of  sins,  and  it  is  by  faith  only,  that  it  is  communicated  to  the 
creature.  Baptism  and  the  other  sacraments  are  but  signs  only.  The 
justice  of  God  being  infinite,  the  creature  to  wliom  it  is  imputed  has 
nothing  to  expiate,  either  in  this  life  or  in  the  next.  Therefore,  in  the 
other  life,  there  is  no  purgatory ;  therefore,  in  this  world,  ihere  are  no 
suffrages  for  the  living.  Every  action  is  sovereignly  good  or  naturally 
evil.  Without  grace,  man  can  do  nothing  but  sin, — sin  is  not  imputed 
to  the  elect.  To  the  elect,  God  gives  an  efficacious  grace,  which  inces- 
santly operates  good.  He  refuses  this  to  the  reprobate,  who  unceasing- 
ly commits  sin,  by  the  instigation  of  God,  of  satan  his  minister,  of  con- 
cupiscence, the  fruit  of  death,  and  itself  an  unceasing  death. 

"This  reprobate  had  been  destined  to  damnation,  antecedently  to  the 
foreknowledge  of  all  sins,  even  of  original  sin,  and  without  any  other 

•Si  quis  cum  eo  disceptare  velit  ethoc  praeteitu  judicium  subterfugere,  quia 
aliter  non  potuit,  habet  paratam  responsionem :  Perditio  tua  Israel.  Unde 
enim  ista  impotentia,  nisi  ex  naturae  vitiositate?  Unde  porro  vitiositas,  nisi 
quod  homo  defuit  a  suo  opifice.    Inst.  lib.  iv. 


214 


LIF3    OF   JOHH    CALVIIT. 


motive  than  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Creator.  He  has  sinned  in  the 
iiist  man,  sinned  in  the  womb  of  his  mother,  sinned  at  his  birth  ;  ha 
sins  unceasingly  during  this  life,  even  till  the  moment  he  falls  into  the 
hands  of  his  inexorable  judge." 

"  Behold,"  said  the  minister,  *«the  theological  system  of  John  Cal- 
vin, preacher  at  the  French  church  of  St.  Thomas,  and  which  thou 
canst  read  in  his  Christian  Institutes,  the  finest  work,  as  thou  knowest, 
which  ever  came  from  the  hands  of  man." 

'*  Let  it  sleep  there,"  replied  Gerard,  "till  the  day  of  the  final  judg- 
ment,  when  the  trumpet  shall  summon  the  dead  before  the  tribunal  of 
the  Lord.  Glorify  thy  master  as  much  as  thou  pleasest,  chant  him  as 
the  king  of  the  schools.  I  know  him,  even  I  :  and  I  tell  thee  that  his 
cloak  is  made  up  of  shreds,  stolen  from  the  princes  of  heresy,  who  ex- 
isted before  him,  from  Wickliff,  Godhescalc,  John  Huss,  and  Luther : 
but  this  Calvin,  or  Cauvin,  has  no  personal  life  !  He  is  an  automaton 
fashioned  upon  a  dry  carcass,  a  carcass  Avhich  the  worms  have  pierced 
to  the  very  heart,  and  into  which,  in  a  short  time,  the  eye  of  his  ov/ii 
disciples  will  not  dare  gaze." 

And  they  separated. 

An  age  later,  the  Lutherans  attacked  and  pulverized  the  system  of 
predestination.* 

And  an  age  and  a  half  later,  Jurieu,  the  Calvinist,  wrote  :  *'We  re- 
ject all  those  dogmas  of  predestination ;  we  reject  them  as  destructive 
of  ail  religion,  and  savouring  of  Manichoism  :  J.  say  with  regret,  and 
in  spite  of  myself,  none  of  ouis,  at  this  day,  any  longer  uses  those  modes 
of  speech  fit  to  cause  scandal. "f 

And  yet  Beza  had  said :  that  "the  theological  system  of  Calvin  v/as^ 
founded  on  truth. ":|: 

"  The  shade  of  the  old  sacristan  of  St.  Pierre-le-Jeune,  must  more 
than  once  have  leaped  in  its  sepulchre  at  the  noise  of  the  intestine  dis- 
cords of  Protestantism.  The  tomb  of  Gerard  still  exists,  (1743,)  in 
the  cemetery  of  Strasbourg.  What  religious  revolutions  have  come  to 
expire  at  the  base  of  this  stone,  which  covers  the  remains  of  a  poor 
creature,  who,  before  the  church  to  which  he  had  so  often  summoned 
the  faithful  to  prayer,  slept  in  the  Lord,  in  the  year  1560,  full  of  years! 
It  is  a  popular  belief  among  the  Catholics  of  Strasbourg,  that  Gerard 
died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity.  Also,  during  the  time  of  great  tempests, 
menacing  the  faith,  they  are  wont  to  pray  to  him,  as  to  one  of  the  bless- 
ed. The  tomb  of  the  sacristan  has  been  preserved  by  a  kind  of  miracle. 
We  were  desirous  to  behold  it.  He,  who  acted  as  our  guide,  knew 
nearly  all  the  inmates  of  this  valley  of  tears.     After  having  walked  for 

*Anii  Calvinianus  Elenchus,  wherein  is  examined  how  Calvinists  are  repro- 
bated  or  prcdcslined  to  liell  by  the  immutable  decree  of  God,  according  to  tho 
Lutherans;  by  Christopher  Seldiiis,  superintendent,  minister  of  Cobourg. 

Ami  Calvinianus  Speculator;  by  Christ.  Althoser,  professor  of  Altorff,  su- 
perintendent of  the  churcli  of  KuhTibach.     Altorff.  in  quarto.  1636. 

Anti  Calvinianus  Paulus;  by  Ananias  Weber.  Leipsick,  1644,  in  quarto. 

t  Jugt.  surles  methodes,  etc.  p.  143.  Consult,  de  ineund.  pace.  £14. 

^  At  Genevee  collegium  ministrorum  in  publico  ccEtu  veram  de  preedestina- 
tione  doctrinam  asseruit,  publicoque  scripto  a  Calvino  comprehensam,  coiji- 
probavit,  caput  hoc  christianee  religionis.    Beza,  vita  Calvini,  ad  ann.  1532. 


Lira  OF  JOHN  CALVijr.  115 

some  time  through  the  cemetery,  we  perceived  at  the  eastern  angle  a 
little  grove  of  mallows,  quite  fresh,  from  the  midst  of  v/hich  arose  a 
funeral  monument,  eaten  by  the  tooth  of  time,  but  on  which  the  eye 
could  still  read  these  words  distinctly  :  Melior  estfidelis  ignoraniia, 
quatn  temeraria  scientia.  We  felt  moved;  this  stone,  which  arose  out 
of  the  flowery  tuft,  presented  us  an  image  of  our  church,  erect  after  so 
many  ages  of  combat,  and  to-day,  as  lovely  in  her  eternal  youth,  as 
when  she  first  defied  the  doctors  of  the  reformation."* 

♦Calvini  de  Praedestinatione  systema,  p  37. 

The  question  of  predestination  in  the  several  systems  of  Wickliff,  Luther, 
and  Calvin,  has  been  profoundly  examined  by  the  Jesuit  Du  Chesne,  in  a  trea- 
tise in  4to.,  which  appeared  in  1724,  under  the  title,  Du  Predestinatianisme, 
Du  Chesne  is  a  skillful  and  polished  controvertist. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

CALVIN    AT    FEANCKFOET,    AT    HAGENAU,    AT    WOEMS,    AT    EATISBOK.— ' 

1540— 154L 

Double  labour  of  the  reformation. — Appeal  to  a  council  with  a  resolve  be- 
forehand to  reject  its  decision. — Calvin  at  Franckfort. — His  opinion  on  th» 
Lord's  supper  ; — On  the  ceremonies  of  worship. — His  discord  with  Melanc- 
thon.— Calvin  at  Hagenau. — Desires  of  Rome  for  peace. — Eck,  Bucer  and 
Calvin. — Accusations  brought  against  the  Genevan  reformer  by  his  co-re- 
ligionists. 

At  the  period  of  which  we  speak,  the  reformation  was  engaged  in 
a  twofold  work  ;  a  work  of  proselytism  and  a  work  of  concord. 
To  accomplish  the  former,  it  had  need  of  human  aid  ;  to  effect  the 
latter,  it  was  seeking  for  some  voice  able  to  still  the  waves  which  it 
had  excited.  It  was  by  an  abuse  of  the  holy  word,  that  the  reforma- 
tion had  entered  the  world ;  by  an  abuse  of  the  same  word,  it  de- 
sired to  settle  itself  down  and  consolidate  its  dominion  :  for  the 
struggle  which  it  had  maintained  had  been  ardent  and  protracted. 
It  had  neither  feared  the  tripple  tiara  of  Leo  X.  and  his  successors, 
the  iron  crown  of  Maximilian,  the  long  sword  of  Charles  V.,  nor 
the  devil  himself,  that  grand  knight  of  the  reformation,  whom  Luther 
caused  to  intervene  in  all  his  combats,  with  Cajetan  and  Carlstadt, 
Eck  and  Schwenkfeld,  Munzer  and  the  Anabaptists.  We  have,  else- 
where, invited  you  to  be  present  at  the  hatching  of  that  new  word, 
concealed  in  an  egg,  which,  it  is  said,  Erasmus  had  opened  with  the 
point  of  his  pen ;  a  word  which  at  Wittenberg,  invests  itself  with  a 
monk's  cowl,  to  affix  its  theses  on  the  walls  of  the  church  of  All- 
Saints  ;  assumes  the  robes  of  a  doctor,  to  speak  to  emperors  at  Worms ; 
then  disguises  itself  with  the  beard  of  a  knight,  at  the  castle  of  the 
Wartburg,  to  escape  the  eye  of  Charles  V. ;  and  finally,  seizes  the 
lance  of  Sickingen,  on  the  plains  of  Thuringia,  to  contend  with  the 
revolted  peasants ;  and  after  all  these  transformations,  again  becomes 
monk  and  doctor,  in  order  to  achieve  the  rights  of  German  citizen- 
ship, sometimes,  by  means  of  free  discussion,  and  at  other  times,  by 
fraud  and  artifice.  We  have  beheld  the  electors  hiding  their  faces 
and  wrapping  themselves  in  the  mantle  of  their  fears  in  presence  of 
this  word,  and  to  appease  its  rage,  casting  before  it  the  soutans  of  our 
priests,  the  capes  of  our  canons,  the  purple  of  our  bishops,  the  os- 
tensers  of  our  altars,  the  precious  stones  of  our  sanctuaries,  and  even 
the  crops  newly  gathered  from  the  fields  of  our  convents.     But  gold 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  2l7 

was  not  sufficient  to  sate  the  appetite  of  this  new  word.  It  desired 
to  be  recognized  as  the  legitimate  daughter  of  the  word  incarnate. 
There  are  moments  when  Charles  V.  might  be  supposed  to  carry  a 
distaff  instead  of  a  sword  :  he  amuses  himself  in  disputation  with 
revolt ;  to  discuss,  was  to  parley. 

The  new  religion  had  drawn  up  a  formulary  of  faith  which  it  had 
named  its  confession.  After  having  set  forth  its  symbol  at  Augsburg, 
it  had  expressed  itself  in  the  following  terms  ; 

''  If  our  discussions  cannot  be  amicably  terminated,  let  your  ma- 
jesty (it  was  addressing  the  emperor)  convoke  a  general  council ;  we 
will  be  present  there,  w^e  will  there  plead  our  cause  in  the  name  of 
God.     We  appeal  to  a  council."* 

The  reformation  here  was  trifling  with  the  emperor,  the  Pope,  and 
Christendom.  It  had  spoken  sincerely  by  the  mouth  of  its  apostle. 
In  more  than  a  hundred  places  of  his  epistles  and  books,  Luther 
had  rejected  all  compact  with  Belial.  Search  for  the  word  Belial 
in  the  protestant  dictionary  :  you  will  find  it  synonymous  with  Pope. 
But  at  Augsburg,  it  was  the  interest  of  the  reformation  to  deceive  the 
emperor. 

In  the  mean  time,  it  was  acquiring  cities,  provinces,  kingdoms, 
crowned  heads,  even  bishops.  So  that  when  the  court  of  Rome  had 
taken  it  at  its  word,  it  falsified  its  oath,  and  rejected  every  species  of 
council. 

At  Smalcald,  in  1539,  the  reformation  threw  aside  the  mask, 
changed  its  character,  and  resorted  to  open  force,  calling  to  its  aid 
all  its  partisans,  who  were  found  in  every  part  of  Germany.  Cath- 
olicism became  aware  that  its  very  existence  was  menaced,  and,  con- 
voking  its  allies  at  Nuremberg,  prepared  for  the  combat.  The  em- 
peror,  occupied  with  the  triumphs  of  his  arms,  could  not  leave  his  finest 
provinces  a  prey  to  doctrines,  which  threatened  the  quiet  of  the  whole 
world.  Moreover,  enough  of  blood  had  already  been  poured  out 
in  Franconia  and  Swabia.  He  had  recourse  to  his  ordinary  remedy ; 
he  convoked  a  diet  at  Frankfort.  Calvin  appeared  there  by  the  side 
of  Melancthon. 

Luther  was  growing  old;  God  had  smitten  him  prematurely  with 
all  those  maladies,  which  afflict  men  towards  the  end  of  a  protracted 
life.  He  had  become  deaf;  his  brain,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  was  full 
of  tempests  and  thunders;  his  hand,  as  if  struck  with  palsy,  could  not 

^Histoire  du  protestantisme  par  M.  Roisselet   de  Sauclieres,  t.  2.  p.  378. 

Luther  did  not  content  himself  with  protesting  in  his  writings  against  the 
holding  of  a  council,  he  amused  himself  by  ridiculing  it  in  caricatures, 
which  may  sometimes  still  be  met  with  on  the  stalls  of  the  venders  of  old  books, 
or,  as  they  are  called,  of  the  German  antiquaries.  In  one  of  these  images,  the 
Pope  is  represented  seated  on  a  hog,  and  holding  stercora  fumida  in  his  hand, 
the  odors  of  which  women  and  old  men  are  smelling  In  another,  the  Pope 
is  represented  surrounded  by  devils  of  every  colour  and  shape,  whom  he  is  in- 
voking with  joined  hands,  but  who,  without  mercy  are  breaking  to  pieces 
bis  crown,  and  collecting  the  wood,  with  which  he  is  to  be  burned  in  hell. 
Sleidan  has  given  the  description  of  these  two  caricatures,  lib.  16,  fol.  365  ; 
edit,  of  Strasbourg,  1608.  WelsUnger  has  re-produced  them  in  his  FrLss 
Vogel,  Oder  stirb,  p.  94,  97. 

19 


218  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVllf. 

pen  two  lines  without  causing  his  head  to  glow  and  ache.  And  as 
if  these  physical  sufferings  were  not  sufficient  chastisement,  the  wratb 
of  God,  according  to  the  just  remark  of  a  writer,  had  come  to  visit 
him  in  his  very  household.  During  the  lapse  of  a  few  years,  he  had 
lost  two  children,  one  of  them  a  cherished  daughter,  the  model  of 
beauty  and  innocence.  Henceforward,  his  part,  upon  the  world's 
theatre,  is  over ;  but  in  dying  he  left  a  disciple,  Melanctlion,  who 
was  to  continue  his  master's  work,  to  extend  it,  symbolize  it,  and  pro^ 
tect  it  against  the  just  wrath  of  the  Catholic  princes,  and  the  caprices  of 
the  Protestant  electors.  The  task  was  great,  and  far  above  the 
strength  of  a  single  man.  How  could  he  hope  to  give  unity  to  that 
word,  which  changed  its  signification  in  each  mouth  that  announced 
it  ?  Thus,  the  reformation  was,  at  Frankfort,  represented  by  three 
men,  Bucer,  Melancthon,  and  Calvin ;  Bucer,  that  bat  whom  Luther 
had  already  so  often  pierced  to  the  heart ;  Calvin,  whom  he  had  damn- 
ed in  the  person  of  Zwingle ;  and  Melancthon,  a  poor  traveler  in 
search  of  a  star  which  constantly  fled  from  before  him. 

Calvin,  before  leaving  Strasbourg,  had  developed  his  system  on  the 
Lord's  supper,  in  a  letter  to  Melancthon.  Philip  had  not  time  to 
reply.  "Master  John,"  he  said  to  Calvin,  on  seeing  him  for  the  first 
time  at  Frankfort,  "  I  think  as  you  do  concerning  the  Eucharist."* 
Calvin,  with  joy,  records  this  avowal  of  Melancthon,  in  a  letter  to 
Farel.f  He  did  not  yet  know  the  nature  of  the  man,  weak  even  to 
cowardice,  who  would  not  have  dared  offend,  face  to  face,  any  one 
devoted  to  the  common  cause.  In  the  evening,  when  returned  to  his 
lodgings,  Melancthon  resumed  courage,  hastened  to  reassure  and  con- 
sole his  father,  promising  to  remain  faithful  to  him  even  unto  death. 
And  Luther,  quite  joyous,  summoned  Justus  Jonas,  showed  him  the 
letter,  and  drank  a  large  glass  of  beer  to  the  perseverance  of  Philip, 
and  to  the  fall  of  the  papacy. 

The  imperial  legates  had  come  to  Frankfort,  in  quite  a  bad  humour. 
In  the  name  of  their  master,  they  threatened  to  destroy  the  reforma- 
tion in  blood,  if  it  refused  to  recognize  the  voice  of  reason.  The  em- 
peror consented  to  allow  the  Protestants  to  keep  the  churches  which 
they  had  seized  upon  by  violence,  but  he  wished  to  constrain  them  to 
make  restitution  of  the  goods  of  the  convents  and  presbyteries.  Me- 
lancthon, had  he  only  consulted  his  own  conscience,  would  have  yield, 
ed  willingly ;  but  in  presence  of  the  reformed  princes,  who,  accord- 
ing to  an  old  historian,  "suffered  cruel  pangs,  when  mention  was 
made  of  regorging  what  they  had  too  greedily  swallowed,"^  he  hesi- 
tated, asked  for  time,  advised  his  friends  "  to  brail  up  the  sails  amid  the 
tempest,  and  wait  till  God  should  make  his  sun  shine,  when  by  its 
light  they  could  labour  to  destroy  the  germs  of  discord,  generated  in  the 
bosom  of  the  reformation,  and  to  reunite  all  minds  in  one  faith  and  a 
common  symbol !" — A   carnal  soul !  said   Capito,  who  did  not  dare 


.  ♦Illos  enim  ad   cum   miseram   quo 'explscarer,  an   aliquid   esset  inter  noa^ 
dissensionis.     Antequam  responderet   conveni   eum   Francofordiae  ;    testatus 
est  mihi  nihil  se  aliud  sentire  quam  quod  meis  verbis  expressissem. 
tEpist.  Farelio,  Mart.  1539.  |Florimond  de  Reraofid. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIJJ.  219 

avow  his  God  before  men,  who  dreaded  the  princes  of  this  world !  My 
God  !  take  me  from  this  earth,  for  I  call  the  Lord  to  witness,  that  our 
poor  church  is  lost,  if  it  continue  to  march  upon  this  path  ;  if  all  those 
whom  the  Lord  has  called  to  the  light,  afflict  his  eye  by  their  intestine 
quarrels.*  Calvin's  apparition  at  Strasbourg,  had  no  other  success 
than  to  introduce  new  disorders  into  the  evangelical  church,  for 
he  brought  to  the  reformation  a  dogmatic  word,  which  he  was  deter- 
mined to  cause  to  prevail.  His  figurative  sign,  his  emblematic  bread, 
his  symbolical  flesh  of  the  Lord's  supper,  had  wrested  from  Lutheran- 
ism  many  wavering  souls,  who  began  to  be  revolted,  at  the  miracle  of 
the  real  presence,  and  who  believed  that  reason  alone,  was  the  shortest 
way  for  arriving  at  the  truth. 

Each  diet  was  like  a  halt  in  the  movement :  the  repose,  which  they 
essayed  to  establish,  soon  became  burdensome  to  minds  so  divided : 
(hey  recurred  to  oral  disputation,  which,  if  we  are  to  believe  them,  is  the 
only  means  of  terminating  religious  controversies.  At  Frankfort,  a  truce 
of  some  months  was  decreed,  during  which  some  king  of  the  two  camps 
was  to  be  selected,  who  should  impose  his  yoke  upon  all  rebellious  minds. 
The  monarch  of  the  reformation  was  Luther,  whom  God  then  held 
upon  a  bed  of  suffering,  and  whom  Germany  in  vain  summoned  to 
each  of  its  assizes,  where  his  voice  might  have  commanded  silence. 
Melancthon,  the  vicar  of  Luther,  had  not  sufficient  influence  to  recall 
the  dissenting  disciples  to  unity.  He  wanted  not,  as  was  desired  by 
Calvin,  a  worship,  without  life,  without  light,  flowers,  and  reflectors, 
despoiled  of  images,  of  priests,  of  bishops,  and  of  liturgies.  When 
Calvin  said  to  him,  that  all  the  ceremonies,  which  the  Saxon  church 
had  preserved,  savoured  of  Judaism,  Melancthon  did  not  dare  contra- 
dict the  preacher  of  Strasbourg;  but  he  represented  to  him  that  too 
many  blows  had  been  struck  at  Catholicism ;  that  the  abolition  of  all 
those  external  forms  which  had  the  power  to  address  the  imagination^- 
Ai'ould  arouse  the  complaints  of  the  canonists ;  and  he  appealed  to 
time  and  to  Luther.f  who  approved  the  pomps  of  the  Catholic  service 
no  more  than  he  did  the  nudity  of  the  reformed  worship.  Bucer  uni- 
ted  his  voice  with  that  of  Melancthon.  While  contemning  our  beau- 
tiful Latin  chants,  the  splendid  images  of  our  temples,  the  gold  of  our 
sacerdotal  vestments,  the  precious  stones  of  our  tabernacles,  he  was, 
like  Luther,  disposed  to  defer  to  some  future  time  the  consideration  of 
liturgical  questions  :  the  thing  most  important  for  the  reformation  was 
to  provide  itself  with  a  symbol.  J 

Calvin  departed  from  Frankfort,  surprised  at  the  science,  in  rap- 
tures with  the  mildness  of  Melancthon ;  but  believing  in  the  danger 
arising  from  visible  forms,  the  last  trace  of  which  he  would  have 
desired  to  efface,  that  the  wall  of  separation,  erected  by  the  Saxon 
monk  between  the  reformation  and  Catholicism,  might  be  completed. 
The  position  of  the  two  theologians  was  not  the  same ;  their  opinions 
ought  to  be  different.     Melancthon  had   assisted  at  all  the  phases  of  a 

♦Epist.  Farello.  Mart.  1539.  fEpist.  Farelo,  Ap.  1539. 

:J:P.  Henry,  p.  243,  and  the  following  t.  i.— Hess,  t.  i.  p.  367,  and  the  fol- 
iawing-i^EpistolaB  Calvini, 


820  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVl^-. 

revolution,  commenced  by  the  word,  and  prosecuted  amid  blood.  Cal- 
vin,  since  his  arrival  at  Strasbourg,  had  as  yet  only  witnessed  tourna- 
ments, in  which  on  both  sides,  ink  alone  had  flowed.  The 
professor  of  Wittenberg  was  aware  that  no  one  can,  with  impunity, 
sport  with  popular  convictions;  the  shade  of  Munzer  incessantly  reared 
itself  before  his  view,  to  testify  that  a  fanatical  spirit,  desirous  of  tri- 
umph, is  restrained  by  no  consideration,  not  even  by  the  peril  of  his 
life.  Besides,  at  the  appearance  of  each  neology,  he  had  a  vision  of 
new  ruins,  and  already  too  many  fragments  encumbered  the  path  of 
his  progress,  for  him  to  consent,  with  gaiety  of  heart,  to  march  the 
same  route.  He  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends  :  "  All  the  waters  of  the 
Elbe  would  not  furnish  me  with  tears,  sufficient  to  deplore  the  miseries 
of  the  reformation.  The  people  will  never  submit  to  the  yoke,  which 
the  love  of  liberty  has  induced  them  to  cast  off.  We  are  contending, 
not  for  the  gospel,  but  for  our  own  interests.  Ecclesiastical  discipline 
is  ruined."*  Towards  the  end  of  his  career,  he  would  have  wished  to 
cheer  his  eye  with  a  view  of  material  reconstruction  in  worship.  He 
sought,  before  dying,  to  leave  a  symbol  based  upon  palpable  forms, 
which  would  nourish  the  intellect  and  imagination.  Hence,  his  de- 
sires for  a  priesthood,  modeled  after  the  Catholic  priesthood,  having  its 
spiritual  hierarchy,  its  pontiffs,  its  priests,  and  its  altars. 

Melancthon  was  unable  to  assist  at  the  diet  of  Hagenau,  which 
was  opened  in  the  month  of  June,  1540.  He  was  retained  at 
Weimar,  by  sickness.  Calvin  had  set  out  from  Strasbourg  to  take 
share  in  the  conference;  his  part  was  destined  to  be  only  secondary. 
He  was  recognized  to  possess  science,  dexterity,  cunning,  but  not  the 
slighest  shadow  of  eloquence.  He  was  not  the  man  for  popular  as- 
semblies :  his  word  could  not  agitate  the  souls  of  men.  Involved 
but  recently  in  the  movement  of  religious  ideas,  he  had  but  a  false 
notion  of  men  and  things.  In  a  letter,  which  he  wrote  to  Henry  de 
Taillis,  he  manifests  complete  ignorance,  as  to  the  part  which  each 
personage  was  desirous  to  play  in  the  great  drama  of  Germany. 

"The  intention  of  adversaries,"  says  he,  "is  to  augment  their 
league,  and  diminish  ours;  but  we  hope  that  God  will  turn  aside  this 
fortune.  However  this  may  be,  ours  seek  to  extend  the  reign  of 
Christ  as  much  as  is  in  their  power,  and  have  in  no  wise  thought  of 
relenting.  We  do  not  now  know  what  it  will  please  the  Lord  to  send 
us.  A  portion  of  our  adversaries  ask  only  for  war.  The  emperor 
(Charles  V.)  is  so  much  embarrassed  that  he  dare  not  undertake  it. 
The  Pope,  on  his  part,  would  not  scruple  to  engage  in  it,  for  he  has 
already,  through  his  ambassador,  made  offer  of  three  thousand  ducats 
for  its  commencement.  Should  all  those  who  refuse  to  receive  our 
religion,  be  willing  to  assail  us,  the  emperor  would  make  no  difficulty 
to  lend  his  name,  were  this  only  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  to  pieces 
the  strength  of  Germany,  that  he  might  the  more  easily  subject  it. 
But  there  is  a  grand  obstacle ;  which  is,  that  all  the  electors,  with 
common  accord,  are  anxious  amicably  to  appease  all  dissensions, 
without  a  resort  to  arms.     The  duke  of  Saxony  and  the  uaarquis  of 

*Ep.  1.  iv.  ep.  100,  129. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALTIS.  221 

Brandenbourg  are  ours,    and   therefore  they   can  do  nothing  else   but 
prosecute  their  cause." 

Calvin  was  mistaken ;  Rome  desired  peace.  The  Catholic  depu. 
lies,  little  jealous  of  the  student  of  Noyon,*  were  solicitous  for  repose. 
*'  Eck  and  the  papists,"  says  a  historian  whose  testimony  will  not  be 
refused,!  "  desired  that  they  would  not  agitate  those  questions  which 
had  been  decided  at  Augsburg,  in  1.530,  in  the  confession  subscribed 
by  the  Saxon  church."  But  the  Protestants  wished  to  remodel  a  work 
which  included  doctrines  formerly  admitted,  but  now  rejected  by  them. 
They  withdrew,  one  by  one,  all  the  concessions  which  their  fathers 
had  made  to  the  Catholics.  Had  not  Eck  reason  to  say  to  them  : 
"  At  Augsburg,  you  gave  us  your  exomologesis  as  if  inspired  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  why  to-day  do  you  seek  to  revise  and  correct  a  divine 
revelation?"  They  could  not  agree.  They  separated,  appointing 
Worms  as  a  rendezvous  for  another  meeting.  Luther  had  foreseen  this 
result,  and  found  means  to  amuse  himself  with  it :  "We  are  in  for 
our  expenses,  said  he  :   they  did  worse  than  nothing  at  Hagenau."J 

Tile  conferences,  opened  at  Worms  and  Ratisbon,  seemed  destined 
to  be  more  successful  than  those  of  Hagenau.  The  two  communions 
had  their  representatives  there  :  Melancthon,  Calvin,  Capito,  and  Bu- 
cer  represented  the  reformation,  Eck  the  theologian,  Cropper  and 
Pflug,  Catholicism.  Calvin  has  sketched  the  portraits,  or  rather  the 
caricatures  of  these  last :  "Pflug  is  an  eloquent  man,  a  skillful  politi. 
cian,  a  vulgar  theologian,  a  courlier,  an  ambitious  man,  but  of  exem- 
plary  morals.  Gropper§  is  one  of  those  natures  divided  between  God 
and  the  world,  witli  whom  no  one  could  hold  a  discussion  for  the  ac- 
quisition of  glory.     You   know   Eck,  that  marplot,    who  spoils  every 

thing  he   touches If  we  come  to  an    understanding  with  such 

men,  I  shall  be  greatly  mistaken." 

Calvin  here  employs  the  ordinary  formula  of  his  master ;  he  calum- 
niates. Eck  was  an  enlightened  spirit,  who  read  the  very  thoughts  of 
his  adversaries.  This  intuition  was  the  result  of  long  experience  in 
the  human  heart.  If  he  had  not  the  radiant  fire  of  that  other  Eck  who 
so  often  disputed  with  Luther ;  if  he  knew  not  how  to  poetize  a  theo- 
logical question,  or  to  transform  an  argument  into  a  drama,  he  had  a 
different  gift,  which  was  the  talent  to  set  forth  a  question  in  an  admira- 
ble  manner.  The  theologians  of  Strasbourg,  had  prepared  themselves 
beforehand  for  an  ardent  struggle  ;  they  had  come  with  their  heads 
teeming  with  fine  discourses,  by  the  aid  of  which  they  expected  to  fas- 
cinate the  diet ;  but  they  found  themselves  taxed  with  the  costs  of  this 
work  of  memory,  when  Eck  said   to  them  :   "  The   Protestant  school 

*Fateor  ipsum  neque  docentem,  neque  scribentem  in  ornatu  verborum  et 
humana  eloquentia  exiruium.— David  Claude. 

tHosplnianus,  Historiae  sacramentarise.  t.  ii.  p.  310,  and  tlie  following 

:t:Es  ist  mit  dem  Reichstage  in  Hagenau  Dreck  ;  ist  meine  MQhe  und 
Arbeit  verloren,  und  Unkosten  verarebliche. — Luth.  an  seine  Fran  •  D/^ 
Wette,  t.  V.  p.  298,  299,     Paul  Henry,^p.  260.  t.  i.  ' 

♦Gropper,  in  reward  for  his  services  to  the  Catholic  cause,  received  tlie 
kftt  of  a  cardmaL 

19* 


022  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK. 

has  its  symbol,  as  we  have  ours ;  this  formulary  of  faith  is  th&^  one 
they  brought  us,  ten  years  ago,  at  Augsburg,  which  has  since  been 
obstinately  retained,  published,  and  spread,  by  thousands,  through  Ger- 
many. We  have  combated  this  formulary,  as  we  propose  still  to 
combat  it,  with  the  exception,  however,  of  some  of  its  articles,  for 
example,  those  relative  to  the  Lord's  supper,  which  in  part  we  admit. 
Do  you  wish  to  dispute  ?  We  are  ready.  The  papacy  has  manifested 
to  you  how  great  a  desire  for  peace  animates  it,  in  sending  to  you  car- 
dinal Contarini,  whose  mildness  is  sufficiently  known  to  you." 

Eck  said  the  truth  :  Catholicism  desired  peace  even  at  the  cost  of  large 
concessions,  not  in  doctrines,  but  in  various  points  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline.  Contarini,  the  friend  of  Sadolet,  and  one  of  the  glories  of 
the  Roman  purple,  admitted  the  necessity  of  religions  reform ;  the 
organ  of  an  enlightened  pope,  Paul  III.,  who  was  unwilling  to  de- 
scend to  the  grave,  before  he  had  assisted  at  the  reconciliation  of  his 
children  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  emperor  Charles  V.  thought  with  the  Pope ;  Melancthon  and 
Bucer  were  disposed  to  moderate  their  language  and  their  pretensions. 
A  reformed  historian  has  signalized  the  benevolent  dispositions  of  the 
two  communions.  Who  then  will  explain  to  us  that  sudden  transi- 
tion from  hope  to  deception,  from  charity  to  wrath  ?  Calvin,  who  had 
received  from  the  church  which  he  represented  a  special  mandate,  and 
who,  as  he  declared,  would  have  sooner  preferred  to  be  buried 
beneath  the  ruins  of  his  temple  at  Strasburg,  than  to  be  reconciled 
with  Rome.  It  was  necessary  then  to  recur  to  those  disputes,  in 
which,  according  to  the  expression  of  Melancthon,  the  Lord,  who  de- 
lights in  silence,  finds  his  cause  so  little  advanced.  The  order  of  the 
discussions  was  arranged.  The  first,  the  most  important,  regarded  the 
Lord  supper.  At  Augsburg,  the  reformation  had  recognized  the  real  pres- 
ence ;  it  now  maintained  its  word,  and,  by  the  mouth  of  Melancthon 
and  of  Bucer,  it  confessed — that  with  the  Catholic  church  it  held 
firmly,  that  after  the  consecration  of  the  bread  an^  wine,  the  body 
and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  are  in  the  Eucharist,  truly  and  really;  that 
the  faithful  receive  them,  not  enclosed  in  a  material  substance,  or  by 
a  carnal  manducation,  but  spiritually,  and  by  faith.* 

Catholicism  could  not  be  satisfied  widi  such  a  confession  of  faith, 
in  which,  by  torturing  it,  could  be  found  two  opposing  terms,  negation 
and  affirmation.  Hence,  cardinal  de  Granville  rejected  this  confes- 
sion, as  hostile  to  the  doctrine  which  it  appeared  willing  to  recognize. 
9ut  during  the  interval  of  the  dispute,  Bucer  and  Melancthon  had 
eissayed  to  draw  up  another  formula,  less  ambiguous,  it  is  true,  but 
which  pleased  the  Catholics  no  more  than  it  did  the  deputies   of  Strae- 

*Nam  et  illi  decent  vere  et  realiter  corpus  in  coena  preesens  esse  et  dari 
svimentibus  ;  at  non  in  pane  noque  ori  preesens  esse,  sed  lidei  et  omnibus 
quidem  cum  pane  et  vino  sumendum  ofTerri,  sed  solis  fide  sumentibiis  com- 
municari. 

Nam  perspicue  testati  sumus  nos  amplecti  et  tueri  omnem  eonsensum  ec- 
clesige  catholicee,  quod  in  coena  Domini,  consecrato  pane  et  vino,  realiter 
adsint  et  sumantur  corpus  et  sanguis  Domini.  Testati  snmus  nos  improbare 
eos  qui  negant  adosse  et  vere  sumi  corpus  christi. — Hosp.  Hist,  sacra.*  t.  ii.  314. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVm.  223 

hourg.  Calvin  bitterly  censures  Bucer  and  Melancthon  for  this  timid 
conduct  towards  a  creed,  which  he  stigmatizes  as  idolatrous.*  As  they 
were  unable  to  come  to  an  agreement  concerning  the  enunciation  of 
the  dogma,  they  deferred,  with  common  consent,  to  some  future  time, 
a  question  which  each  communion  regarded  as  fundamental. 

Eck  defended  the  Eucharistic  dogma  with  a  splendour  of  language 
which  moved  the  whole  assembly.  In  the  evening,  he  went  to  bed  to 
rise  from  it  no  more.  Some  days  after,  he  died  from  a  stroke  of  apo- 
plexy. For  a  moment,  the  Catholic  world  entertained  the  hope  that 
God  would  preserve  a  man  of  such  fine  talents  :  whilst  the  reforma- 
tion, watching,  with  unquiet  eye,  every  symptom  of  the  malady,  so 
licited  the  Lord,  by  the  mouth  of  Calvin,  that  he  would  deliver  it  from 
"  that  ferocious  beast. "f  How  does  it  happen  that  Calvin's  last  his- 
torian,  M.  Paul  Henry,  has,  from  his  hero's  letter  to  Farel,  effaced 
this  death-wish  ?  Did  he  think  it  would  remain  forever  buried  there, 
and  that  no  hand  would  come  to  drag  it  from  the  tombs  ?  Already,  in 
another  history,  Ave  had  surprised  Luther,  on  his  knees,  with  his  hands 
lifted  up  towards  heaven,  and  beseeching  God  to  deliver  him  from 
another  Eck,  ''  a  hornet,  which  troubled  and  importuned  him,  by  its 
stings." 

The  blood  of  Luther,  prematurely  frozen  by  diseases,  coursed 
through  his  veins,  as  it  did  at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  when  he  learned 
the  sad  issue  of  the  diet  of  Ratisbon. — God  had  heard  him,  he  said, 
and  spread  darkness  over  the  eyes  of  the  papists. — Courage,  he  wrote 
to  Philip,  thanks  be  rendered  thee  !  thou  hast  stript  from  the  mass  its 
finest  gem,  the  title  of  sacrament,  a  thing  which  I  should  never  have 
attempted  to  undertake.! 

Melancthon,  in  various  letters,  and  among  them,  in  his  letters  to 
Luther§  has  given  long  details  in  relation  to  the  conferences  at  Ratisbon 
and  Worms.  We  no  wherein  them  see  mentioned  the  name  of  Calvin. 
If,  however,  we  shall  credit  certain  historians,  the  Genevan  reformer 
had  a  dispute  at  Worms,  with  Robert  Mosham,  at  which  Luther's  dis- 
ciple was  present,  and  felicitated  the  sacramentarian,  on  whom  he  be> 
stowed  the  name  of  theologian,  jj  Melancthon  has  during  his  whole 
life  preserved  secrecy  in  regard  to  this  triumph.  Nor  do  we  find,  in 
Philip's  correspondence,  the  least  word  concerning  the  interviews 
which  he  should  have  had  with  Calvin.  W^hat  then  becomes  of  that 
symbolical  fellowship  with  the  Wittenberg  professor,  which  Calvin 
with  such  joy  proclaims  to   his  friend  Farel^  when  yesterday   he  was 

♦Philipus  et  Bucerus  formulas  de  transsubstantiatione  composuerunt  axr- 
biguas  et  facosas. — Calv.  Ep'si    12  maii. 

tEckius,  ut  aiunt,  convalescit.  nondum  meretur  mondus  ista  bestia  liberari, 
—12  maii  1541.     Farello. 

:j:IVIacte  virtute  et  pietate,  mi  Philippe,  tibi  debetur  gratia  qui  missae  potuisti 
sacramentum  adimere,  quod  ego  tentare  et  aggredi  non  fui  ausus.— Hospin, 
Hist.  Sacr. 

iDe  conventu  Ratisbonee.  D.  Martino  Luthero  1541,— Epistola  ad  lectorera 
de  colloquio  Wormaciensi,  1540. 

IJAderat  enim  Melancthon  Wormatiae  in  ea  disputatione,  qua  Passaviensem 
decanum  Calvinus  percelluerat,  territum  a  Calvino,  primo  Argentinensi  con- 
gressu.— Antip.  iv.  p.  21,  22. 


224  LIFE  or  joHir  calvin. 

still  talking  to  us,  concerning  the  lying  opinion  (fueosa)  of  Melanc- 
thon  on  the  Lord's  supper  ?  *'  It  was  immediately  after  their  inter- 
view at  Ratisbon."  says  Sturm,  "that  a  friendship,  which  nothing 
could  trouble,  was  established  between  these  two  souls."*  We  avow 
that  we  cannot  comprehend  the  possibility  of  a  union  between  two  or- 
ganizations  so  different ;  the  one,  pliable  and  affectionate,  the  other,  chol- 
eric  and  vindictive ;  the  one,  a  generous  combatant,  who  seeks  his  adver- 
sary, but  in  the  closed  lists,  in  open  air,  beneath  the  twofold  sunlight  of 
earth  and  heaven ;  the  other,  skulking  like  a  mole  in  his  lodgings,  cries 
out  to  God  :  '*  Lord,  deliver  us  from  this  wild  beast."  A  long  time 
after  Melancthon's   death,  Calvin   recalls  the   image  of  him,  whom  be 

had  beheld  at   Ratisbon  full   of  life,    and  he  invokes  this  shade 

"  Philip,  thou  who  art  in  the  bosom  of  thy  God,  where  thou  art  wait- 
ing  for  me  in  thy  happy  repose,  come,  my  voice  invites  thee.  How 
often,  when  tliou  wast  oppressed  by  chagrin  and  lassitude,  and  sweetl)^ 
reposed  thy  head  upon  my  bosom,  didst  thou  say  to  me  :  Ah  !  would  to 
God  I  might  die  upon  this  cherished  bosom  !  A  thousand  times,  have 
I,  on  my  part,  desired  to  live  with  thee  :  I  would  have  cheered  tliee  on 
to  combat ;  I  would  have  taught  thee  to  despise  envy  and  calumny ;  I 
would  have  placed  a  check  to  the  wickedness  of  thy  enemies,  whose- 
feebleness  augmented  their  insolence."! 

Calvin,  in  eternity,  beside  the  theologian  who  believed  in  the  real 
presence ;  in  the  same  glory  with  Melancthon,  who  so  often  exclaimed 
anathema,  against  the  sacraraentarians  ! 

Whence  happens  it  that  Calvin  has  so  sedulously  concealed  fromus- 
Melancthon's  marks  of  affection  for  his  person  and  his  writings?  I  open 
the  correspondence  of  the  professor,  I  discover  therein  abundant  effu- 
sions for  Sadolet,  who  is  calumniated  by  Calvin;  for  cardinal  Contar- 
ini,  whose  character  Calvin  tarnishes; J  for  Bucer,  whom  Calvin  de- 
picts as  having  the  nature  of  a  fox;  for  almost  all  our  Catholic  glo- 
ries of  the  epoch  of  the  revival,  whom  Calvin  either  knows  not,  or 
else  whose  talents  he  denies.  Heaven  had  given  him  a  true  friend  in 
Orynaeus,  who  died  suddenly.  With  what  tenderness  does  Melancthon 
speak  of  the  labours,  the  science,  and  the  zeal  of  the  minister  of  Bale  ! 
And  yet,  Calvin  announces  this  great  loss,  as  if  it  were  a  mere  ordi- 
nary event;  his  eye  had  even  no  tears  to  deplore  the  death  of  his  first 
born.  Never  do  you  find  him,  with  some  glow  and  affection  of  soul, 
recounting  the  labours  of  his  coreligionists;  his  was  a  soul,  jealous  of 
all  glory  not  dependent  upon  his  own  !  Let  him  then  cease  to  talk 
to  us  about  the  tenderness  of  Melancthon,  Avho,  during  the  space  of 
several  years,  writes  to  him  seven  or  eight  times,  and  terminates  a  little 


♦Etiam  in  colloquio  ita  inter  Mclancthonem  etCalvinum  constituta  notitia 
est,  ut  dum  viverent  ambo  nunquam  interrupta  fuerit  charitas. — Sturmius, 
in  Antip.  iv.  p.  21,  25. 

tO  Philippe  Melancthon  !  te  enim  appello,  qui  apud  Deum  cum  Christo 
yivis,  nosque  illic  expectas,  donee  tecum  in  beatam  quietem  colligamur,  etc. 
De  V.  part.  chr.  in  ccena  contra  Heshusium. — Op.  724. 

IQuod  Contarenus  mallot,  si  potest,  nos  sine  caede  reprimere.  Calv.  F&- 
rello.  MSS.  Gen, 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  225 

note  with  this  very  dry   formula  :     Bene   vale :  Philipjms  Melanc- 
thon. 

Moreover,  it  was  not  Calvin  who  bore  the  brunt  and  glory  of  the 
tournament  at  Ratisbon.  The  Senate  of  Strasbourg  knew  full  well, 
that  the  French  refugee  could  not  measure  arms  with  Eck ;  but  it 
calculated  on  the  theologian,  who,  a  cypher  in  the  pulpit,  might, 
in  this  conference,  take  his  revenge  at  his  own  lodgings ;  and  truly  it 
is  there  that  Calvin  might  have  been  able  to  combat  with  some  eclat. 
But  Bucer  ambitionod  all  the  honours  for  himself,  he  wished  to  dispute 
in  public  and  to  lecture  at  the  academy.  Nature  had  lavished  upon  him, 
as  upon  Luther,  those  exterior  gifts,  which  seduce  and  bear  away  the 
multitude ;  slie  had  given  him  a  large  forehead,  above  which  sported 
his  jet  black  hair,  teeth  of  showy  white,  a  smile  most  fascinating,  a 
brilliant  eye,  a  lofty  and  noble  stature,  and  a  woman's  hands.  His 
voice  distilled  honey,  or,  in  case  of  need,  fulminated  thunder ;  but  lan- 
guage was  the  most  precious  instrument  he  had  received  for  fascinating 
his  hearers ;  it  flashed  like  a  diamond ;  a  real  solar  spectrum,  in  which 
all  colours  were  produced,  so  that  after  having  listened  to  him,  each 
person  could  acknowledge  his  word,  because  he  found  reflected  in  it, 
his  own  opinion  ;  it  was  a  word,  tinctured  with  Judaism,  Lutheranism, 
Zwinglianism,  and  even  Catholicism  itself!  His  friends  would  have 
been  puzzled  to  say  to  what  religion  he  belonged.*  There  were  some 
who  loudly  accused  him  of  Papism. f  Never  was  a  student  of  Co- 
logne  or  Leipsic  more  refined  in  scholastic  subtilties.  Luther  said, 
that  as  Abraham,  before  sacrificing  Isaac,  had  left  his  ass  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain,  so  before  disputing,  should  we  tie  up  Aristotle  :  Bu- 
cer had  not  followed  the  precept  of  his  master.  At  each  discussion, 
he  appeared  always  with  the  same  ass,  burdened  with  relics  of  the 
school,  that  is,  with  enthijmemes  and  distinctions,  hunting  nets,  which 
he  spread  out  under  the  feet  of  his  adversaries,  but  in  which  Eck  was 
not  the  man  to  allow  himself  to  be  caught.  Unfortunately,  when 
Bucer  made  no  impression  on  his  judges,  he  had  recourse  to  calumny. 
One  day,  at  the  diet,  he  made  his  whole  auditory  laugh,  by  represent- 
ing the  grave  Eck,  running  like  a  veritable  student  to  all  the  princes, 
to  conjure  them  to  reject  the  articles  of  conciliation  proposed  by  the 
Protestants. 

— Am  I,  said  Eck  on  the  next  day,  a  light-footed  solicitor,  who  quite 
recently  have  had  three  attacks  of  fever ;  I,  who  am  afflicted  with 
dropsy,  and  compelled  to  keep  close  in  my  room !"{  Eck  got  the 
laughers  on  his  side. 

In  vain  did  Bucer  seek  to  take  refuge  in  his  thicket  of  sonorous 
words,  Eck  pursued  him  there,  muttering  : — poor  hydropic  as  t  am,  de- 

*Bucerus  ambiguis  et  obscuris  loquendi  formulis  sententiam  suam  pro- 
posuit,  ut  in  utram  partem  magis    propenderet  colligi  non   potuerit. — Lavater. 

tTraducebant  amici  Calvini  Bucerum  quasi  novum  papismum  erigere. — 
Vossius.  Ep.  437,  p.  103. 

|Qui  ter  febre  correptus,  aurigine  laesus,  proxima  dispositione  ad  hydropisim 
timidus,  qui  tot  septimanis,  nunquam  eedes  exire  potis  eram,  cucurri  per  aulas 
principum  et  eis  suggessi  ne  acceptarent  articulos  pro  conciliatis  eis  vendi- 
tosl — Apologia    pro  rever.  et  illust,  princip.  catholicis,  etc.  Parisiis»  1543. 


226  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

voured  by  fever,  bedridden,  whom  you  seek  to  transform  into  a  student, 
quite  hale,  rosy,  with  the  legs  of  Atlas,  and  the  lungs  of  Stentor ;  I 
ask  no  better  than  to  believe  in  the  miracle  :  it  will  be  the  first  of 
your  miracles. 

Calvin  at  last  recognizes  the  Protean  clay,  out  of  which  the  soul 
of  Bucer  had  been  kneaded.  It  was  in  one  of  those  moments  of  inti- 
mate confidence,  when  every  thing  in  the  heart  is  poured  out,  though 
afterwards  repented  for,  when  it  is  too  late  to  extract  the  shaft  from  the 
wound. 

"You  are  truly  right,"  said  Calvin  to  one  of  the  friends  of  his  whole 
life,  "in  censuring  the  obscurities  in  which  Bucer  loves  to  envelop 
himself."* 

When  he  perceived  the  fault  he  had  committed,  he  endeavoured  to 
pour  a  little  honey  into  the  wound.  Bucer  was  not  the  man  to  for- 
give :  in  a  moment  of  humour,  he  said,  but  it  was  to  Calvin  himself : 
— Thou  !  why  thou  judgest,  as  thou  lovest  or  hatest ;  and  thou  lovest  and 
hatest  without  reason.f 

Calvin,  at  the  diet  of  Ratisbon,  seemed  to  have  modified  his  opin- 
ions concerning  the  Lord's  supper  and  the  forms  of  worship  :  he  had 
hid  himself  in  clouds,  where  the  human  eye  could  scarcely  recognize 
him.  His  friends  themselves  censured  his  wavering  phrase  and  ambigu- 
ous language.  Know,  said  Lavater,  that  Calvin  was  not  forgiven  by 
many  for  his  tergiversations  regarding  the  Lord's  supper.J  Others  cen- 
sured him  for  his  ideas  on  con-substantiation. § 

Thus,  that  grand  organization,  which  the  prospect  of  exile  could  not 
cause  to  bend  at  Geneva,  diminishes  before  the  representatives  of  the 
Saxon  church.  The  reason  was,  because  Calvin,  like  all  the  other 
reformers,  dreaded  the  wrath  of  Luther. 

*Tu  Buceri  obscuritatem  vituperas  et  merito,  at  nihil  est  in  Bucero  adeo 
perplexum,  obscurum,  flexiloquum,  atque  ut  sic  loquar,  tortuosum. 

fjudlcas  pro  ut  amas  vel  odisti  ;  amas  antem  vel  odisti  pro  ut  lubet.. 

^Multi  offendebantur,  quod  Calvinus  diversum  quid  de  coena  Domini  tra- 
dere  videbatur  a  Tigurince  ecclesiae    ministris. — Hist.  Sacr.  p.  98. 

^Multis  videbatur  Calvinus  diversum  quid  a  Tigurinis  de  ccena  tradere  ac; 
consubstantiationi  non  nihil  favere. — Adam :  BuUinger's  Leben,  p*  489» 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

DE    CCEKA    DOMINI. 1539-1540. 

fi>ivergence  of  Protestant  symbols  regarding  the  Lord's  Supper. — Opinion  of 
Carlstadt, — Of  Zwingle,--'Of  Luther.---System  of  Calvin  exposed  by  Bos- 
suet,  and  refuted  and  condemned  by  Luther  and  the  Saxon  church. — The 
Catholic  dogma  of  Transubstantiation,  defended  by  various  Protestants. 

I  am  desirous  to  exhibit  to  you  all  the  misery  of  that  word,  which 
announced  itself  to  be  a  ray  from  the  eternal  sun,  a  shadow  of  the  word 
made  flesh,  a  drop  of  the  infinite  ocean;  you  shall  hear  it,  in  all  its 
splendour,  from  the  mouth  of  its  apostles,  and  you  shall  adore  it,  if  you 
dare.  Let  the  reformation  proceed  with  its  work,  for  it  has  just  im- 
plored  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  order  to  explain  these  very  clear  words  : 
This  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood. 

And,  first,  here  is  Carlstadt,  whose  old  German  shines  admirably  in 
the  translation  of  our  Bordeaux  counselor,  Florimond  de  Remond. 

"  This  sentence,  hoc  est  corpus  meum,  is  full  and  perfect,  which  the 
Lord  has  used  elsewhere,  without  making  mention  of  the  sacrament.* 
For  this  pronoun  Hoc,  has  a  capital  letter  PL  Now,  a  large  letter  indi- 
cates the  commencement  of  a  sentence.  These  words  have  been  in- 
scribed in  the  words  of  the  last  supper,  as  sometimes  various  expressions 
are  interlaced,  and  yet  the  sense  is  preserved  entire.  It  would  have 
been  well,  had  the  interpreters  left  the  Greek  pronoun  iouto,  and  inter- 
woven it  with  the  Latin,  saying  thus,  touto,  hoc  est  corpus  meurn  :  then 
it  would  have  been  known  what  this  word  iouto  signifies  :  it  is  a  Greek 
pronoun,  which  shows  a  neuter  noun.  Now,  the  Latin  word  panis  is 
masculine ;  therefore  the  pronoun  touto  cannot  agree  with  it,  and  can- 
not support  the  opinion  of  those  who  say  that  the  bread  is  the  body  of 
Christ,  for  the  Greek  phrase  will  not  allow  it  any  more  than  the  Latin: 
istud  panis  est  corpus  meurn.  ks,  to  myself,  I  have  always  thought 
that  Christ,  showing  his  own  body,  said  :  this  is  my  body,  which  shall 
1)6  delivered  for  you.  For  Christ  does  not  exhibit  bread,  and  does  not 
say  :  this  bread  is  my  body;  afid  those  lie,  who  say  that  the  bread  is  the 
body  of  Jesus  Christ.  These  words,  hoc  est  corpus  meurn  quod  vobis 
tradetur,  are  included  by  points,  both  at  the  commencement  and  end, 
showing  that  the  sense  is  not  attached  to  what  precedes  or  follows,  but 
is  separate  and  distinct.  Therefore,  of  necessity,  it  must  be  confessed 
that  Christ,  in  saying  :  this  is  my  body,  showed  his  own  body,  and  not 

the  bread As  to  myself;  I  as  little    believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is 

corporally  in  several  places,  as  I  believe  that  St.  Anne  had  five  heads, 

♦"Carlstadt,  in  dial,  de  Coena. 


228  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

and  that  the  poor  little  innocent,  of  whom  all  Germany  speaks,  was  born 
with  a  beard  on  his  chin  twelve  cubits  long."* 

Now,  Carlstadt  was  archdeacon  of  Wittenberg,  a  wretched  Hebraist, 
who  was  the  first  of  the  reformers  to  take  a  wife,  to  the  great  joy  of  the 
Saxon  church ;  Luther's  second,  at  the  dispute  of  Leipsic,  and  who 
boasted  that  he  had  obtained  the  secret  of  the  great  Eucharistic  myste- 
ry from  a  familiar  spirit,  that  had  appeared  to  him.  Carlstadt  entertain- 
ed  a  very  poor  opinion  of  the  science  of  Luther. t 

When  the  doctor  read  the  singular  interpretation  of  his  disciple,  he 
rubbed  his  eyes,  and  shook  his  long  locks,  as  if  the  mists  of  Witten- 
berg had  prevented  him  from  reading.  Then  he  began  laughing,  and 
with  him,  Justus  Jonas,  Aurifaber,  Pomeranus  and  Melancthon,  with 
such  loud  peals,  that  the  archdeacon  heard  him,  but  without  being  mov- 
ed the  least  in  the  world ;  for  he  believed  himself  favoured  with  a  divine 
inspiration  :  a  good  fortune,  of  which  all  the  chiefs  of  the  reformation 
made  boast.  Carlstadt  set  himself  to  commenting  upon  his  commenta- 
ry, in  the  pulpit  and  in  his  writings,  until  master  Martin  had  stifled  the 
author  amid  floods  of  Bavarian  beer.  Carldstadt,  driven  away,  went 
from  city  to  city,  with  this  writing,  which  Melancthon  had  stuck  upon 
his  back  :J  "A  barbarous  man,  without  intellect,  without  science,  des- 
titute even  of  common  sense,  who  lives,  like  drunkards,  amidst  pots 
and  glasses."  Poor  Carlstadt,  who  drank  nothing  but  water,  and  who, 
at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  had  been  transformed  by  Luther  into  a  saint 
of  Paradise  !§ 

In  1524,  an  angel  appeared  to  the  cur6  of  Einsiedeln,  whilst  he  was 
sleeping  in  the  arms  of  his  maid-servant,  and  this  aerial  visitant,  whose 
colour  Zwingle  was  never  able  to  remember,  revealed  to  him  the  signi- 
fication of  the  words  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Luther  resumed  his 
homeric  laugh,  which,  in  the  reformed  world,  never  after  left  him,  and 
Zwingle  wrote  : 

"  I  think  that  Carlstadt  has  had  a  glimpse  of  a  ray  of  light :  but  he 
has  not,  like  myself,  beheld  the  sun  of  truth ;  he  has  not  comprehended 
the  mystic  meaning  of  the  words  of  Christ.  The  body  of  Christ  can 
neither  be  under  the  bread,  nor  with  the  bread :  the  bread  is  only  the 
sign  of  an  absent  reality.  1|  A  sacrament  is  an  image,  and  nothing 
more ;  if  you  make  a  reality  of  it,  the  sacrament  becomes  God ;  then, 

*  .  .  .  .  Ut  innocentem  infantem  habuisse  barbam  duodecim  cubitis  pro- 
lixam. 

t  Langseus  in  vita  Carlostadii, — Schlusselburg,  de  Ccena  Dom.  p.  87.  For 
the  dispute  de  Cana  Domini,  consuli:  Marheinecke:  Geschichte  derdeutschen 
Reformation,  t.  II.  1816,  p.  236  and  the  folloiving: 

tHist.  de  Ccena  Aug.,  fol.  42,  in2  Conf.  Resp.  ad  Lutherum. 

i  At  the  mass  for  Carlstadt's  marriage,  the  celebrant  recited  a  prayer  which 
began  thus:  Deus  qui  post  longam  et  impiam  sacerdotum  tuorum  caecitatem, 
beatum  AndreamCarlostadium  ea  gratia  donare  dignatus  es,  ut  primus,  nulla 
habita  papistici  juris  ratione,  uxorem  duceie  ausus  fuerit,"  etc. 

HSi  sacramentis  fidendum  est,  jam  sacramenta  Deum  esse  opportet,  ut  non 
tantum  Eucharistice  sacramentum,  sed  et  baptismus  manuumque  impositio 
Deus  sit.  Sacramenta  veneramur  ut  signa  et  symbola  rerum  sacrarum,  non 
quasi  res  ipsas  sint  quarum  signa  sunt. — Christianee  fidei  a  Huldrycho  Zwin- 
glio,  ab  ipso  Zwinglio  paulo  ante  mortem  ejus  ad  regem  christianum  scripta, 
Tiguri,  1536. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  229 

of  the  Eucharist,  of  baptism,  of  the  imposition  of  hands,  you  will  say: 
a  God,  another  God,  a  third  God.  What,  then,  is  a  sacrament  ?  A 
sign,  a  symbol.  In  the  Lord's  Supper,  we  do  not  carnally,  but  spirit- 
ually, receive  the  body  of  Christ,  who  suffered,  died,  and  now  sits  at  the 
right  hand  of  his  Father,"*  The  humanity  of  Christ  is  neither  eternal, 
nor  infinite ;  therefore,  it  must  be  finite  :  if  it  be  finite,  therefore  it  is 
not  every  where.  Therefore,  the  sacramental  words  should  be  taken 
in  a  symbolical,  figurative,  metonymic  sense.  Let  us  say  : — this  is  my 
sacramental  or  mystical  body,  the  symbol  of  that  which  I  have  assumed 
and  offered  in  death. "f 

Suppose  the  reformation  had  been  registered  at  parliament,  and  ac- 
cepted as  a  lettre  de  cachet,  behold  in  what  embarrassment  the  ladies  of 
the  court, — the  duchess  d'Etampes,  and  queen  Margaret, — and  perhaps 
also  Morin,  the  life-guard,  would  have  found  themselves,  standing  be- 
tween the  figure  of  Zwingle,  the  impanation  of  Luther,  and  the  objec- 
tiveness  of  Carlstadt !  The  prince,  then,  did  well,  not  to  allow  himself 
to  be  ensnared  by  the  new  word ;  for,  at  each  royal  levee,  they  would 
have  announced  some  antique  dogma,  revised  and  corrected.  The  an- 
cient  faith  of  his  ancestors  was  worth  more  than  these  semblances  of 
doctrine.  Honor,  then,  to  Francis  L!  Let  him,  and,  especially,  let  his 
people  be  praised,  for  the  rude  war  which  they  waged  against  error,  al- 
though Zwingle  had  closed  his  heaven  against  them,  in  case  "they  did 
not  accept  his  angel  and  his  metonymy. 

When  the  Zwinglian  exegesis  was  thrown  into  the  Wittenberg 
cavern,  the  Saxon  lion  arose,  with  his  mane  erect,  he  lashed  his  flanks 
with  his  undulating  tail,  and  sent  forth  a  roar  which  resounded  even 
to  the  mountains  of  Toggenbourg,  and  Zwingle  was  goaded  and  cut 
by  it, 

*'  Come,  now,  my  good  friends  of  Switzerland,"  said  Luther,  roaring, 
''where  have  you  found  that,  this  is  my  body,  signifies  :  this  is  the 
figure  of  my  body  ?  Ask  the  meaning,  then,  from  the  little  children, 
who  have  not  yet  reached  iheir  seventh  year,  and  who,  at  school,  are 
learning  to  say  :  c,  e,  ce,  c,  i,  ci,  ceci.  There  are  bibles  in  Greek,  in 
Latin,  in  German  :  come,  now,  show  us  where  it  is  written  :  this  is  the 
sign  of  my  body.  You  cannot  do  so.  Therefore,  silence  !  simpletons, 
peasants !" 

Ml !  had  Melancthon  been  acquainted  with  Zwingle's  bible,  printed 
at  Zurich,  in  1525,  by  Chris.  Froschauer,  what  fine  food  he  would  have 
presented  to  the  teeth  of  Luther  !  A  bible,  in  which  the  mountaineer 
cure  has  translated  the  Greek  toutOf  the  hoc  est  corpus  meum,  by  these 

•T.  IL  de  subsid.  Eucharist.,  fol.  249.  a,  b. 

t  In  Coena  Domini  naturale  ac  substantiale  istud  corpus  Christi  quo  hie  pas- 
sus  est  et  nunc  in  coelis  ad  dextram  patris  sedet,  non  naturaliter  et  peressenti- 
am  editur,  sed  spiritualiter  tantum.  Christi  humanitas  non  est  seterna,  ergo 
neque  infinita;  si  finita,  jam  non  est  ubique.  Mens  reticitur  hac  fide  quam 
symbolis  tesiaris.  Igitur  verba  sacramenti  non  naturaliter  ac  pro  verborum 
proprio  sensu,  sed  symbolice,  sacramentaliter,  denominative,  metonumikios, 
captanda  sunt. — Christianee  fidei  expositio. 


20 


230  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

words;  das  bedeutet  mein  Leib,  das  bedeutet  melnBlut;*  this  is  the 
image  of  my  body,  this  is  the  image  of  my  blood.  Oh  !  three  times 
Avoe  to  the  angel  of  Zwingle  !  his  wings  would  have  been  torn  to  pieces 
by  the  Saxon  monk. 

Is  it  not  for  the  soul  a  melancholy   spectacle,    to  behold  these  lovers 
of  novelty,  coming,  one  after  another,  to  seize  upon  some  grand  Catho- 
lic truth,  in  order  to  subject  it  to   their   fooli&h   curiosity,  to  their  mole 
vision,  to  their  nocturnal    reveries,    and   proclaiming    the  imbecility  of 
our  great  doctors,  the  blindness  of  our  faith,  and  the  obscurity  of  our 
tradition  ?     Luther  himself  did  not   always   dare  laugh  at  the   folly  of 
his  disciples;  his  eye  pierced  the  future,   and   saw  the  work,  which  ho 
had  commenced  at  Wittenberg,  abandoned  to  disordered  intellects,  who 
would  destroy  its  whole  economy.     Then,    how  sad  were  his  lamenta- 
tions.    "  Poor  human  reason,"  said  he,    who  had  himself  proclaimed 
its  omnipotence  ;   "how  feeble  art  thou,  when  listening  only  to  thy  own 
inspirations!     Of  these  holy  words,    "this  is  my  body,"  Carlstadt  has 
miserably  tortured  the  pronoun   hoc  (this);  Zwingle   torments  the  verb 
est  (is);   OEcolampadius   applies   the   torture   to  the  substantive  corpus 
(body).     There  are  some  who  flay   the   whole  phrase,  who  translate  : 
take  and  eat  the  body,  which  is  given  for  thee,  it  is  this  here.     Others 
crucify  the   half  of  the   sentence,    and   say  :   take  and  eat,  this  is  my 
body,  which  I  give  thee,  not  really,   but  symbolically,  and  commemo- 
ratively.     Behold,  how  the  devil  mocks  us  !"t 

Then,  a  moment  after,  the  whim  again  seizes  this  man,  whose  laugh 
kills.  He  recollects  himself,  draws  his  hand  across  his  brow,  and, 
with  the  comic  volubility  of  a  student,  commences  to  recite  all  the  glo- 
ries of  these  modern  interpretations. 

This  is  my  body, — that  is  to  say,  the  use  of  my  body  and  of  my 

blood. — This  is  my  blood, — that  is,  the  glorification  of  my  passion  and 
my  resurrection. — This  is  my  body, — that  is,  the  quality  of  my  body. — 
This  is  my  body, — that  is,  the  mystery  or  symbol  of  my  body. — This  is 
my  body, — that  is,  the  form,  the  rite,  the  external  representation  of  my 
supper. — This  is  my  body, — that  is,  the  participation  of  bread  and  wine 
obtained  by  entreaty. — This  is  my  body, — that  is,  the  communion  and 
society  of  my  body. — This  is  my  body, — that  is,  the  testament  of  my 
will. — This  is  my  body, — that  is,  this  body,  which  I  have  created.! 

Then,  at  the  church  of  All-Saints,  the  hour  of  judgment  sounded. 
The  souls  of  all  these  doctors  appeared  before  the  tribunal  of  Luther, 

♦Conr.  Schlussclbnra:,  prsed.  Luth.  in  tlieol.  Calvin.,  lib.  3,  act.  vi,  p.  79. 

In  1549,  the  same  Froschauer  sent  Luther  a  translation  of  the  bible  by  Leo 
Juda,  or  Judse ;  the  reformer,  in  a  polite  letter,  entreats  him  to  desist,  for  the 
future,  from  sending  him  the  works  which  were  printed  at  Zurich. — Mart.  Lu- 
ther's Briefe,  t.  V.  p.  587.  Ed.  de  Wette. 

t  Op.  Luth.,  Jen.  t.  VII,  p.  192. 

:j:Hoc  est  corpus  meum,  id  est:  hie  est  usus  in  corpore  et  sangfuine  meo. — 
Hoc  est  meriiurnet  gloria  passionis,  mortis  et  resurrectionis  corporis  mei. — Hoc 
est  qualitas  propria  mei  corporis. — In  hoc  Sacramento  mysterium  mei  corporis 
designatur, — Heec  est  forma,  ceremonia  et  actio  cxternee  me£B  Coenae. — Panis 
et  poculi  impetrata  participatio. — Ha3c  est  communio  etsocietas  mei  corporis. — 
Hcec  est  extrema  voluntatis  meee  contestatio. — Hoc  est  corpus  quod  creavi. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  231 

who  did  not  even  take  the   trouble  to  hear  them,  but  drove  them  from 
before  his  face,  and  cast  them  into  hell.* 

Some  of  them  appealed  from  this  sentence,  ordinarily  pronounced  in 
the  bar-room,  at  Wittenberg ;  and  tliey  summoned  before  their  own  tri- 
bunal Luther  himself,  with  his  God  impanated,  and  made  by  the  pastry, 
cook,  and  they  condemned  them  to  eternal  fire.  The  reformation  then 
acted  the  part  of  Catholicism,  and  Rescius,  the  Sacramentarian,  took  the 
Dominican's  girdle,  and  exclaimed  to  Luther  :  "God  has  withdrawn 
from  thee,  and  abandoned  thee  to  the  spirit  of  darkness. "f  That  poor 
Prierias,  the  ardent  antagonist  of  the  Saxon  monk,  was  not  allowed, 
before  dying,  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  plucking  from  his  enemy's  brow, 
the  crown  which  had  been  placed  upon  it  by  his  disciples  ;  this  triumph 
was  reserved  for  doctor  Eck,  who  lived  long  enough  to  see  him,  who 
had  been  called  the  angel  of  Eisleben,  transfigured  into  a  spirit  of 
the  abyss. 

After  the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  we  are  astonished  at  the  influence 
which  the  apparition  of  a  new  heresy  was  able  to  exercise  upon  the 
christian  society  of  the  sixteenth  century;  we  smile,  when  they  inform 
us  that  an  insolent  or  comic  interpretation  was  hailed  with  acclamations 
and  peals  of  laughter,  by  a  whole  people  of  false  doctors,  because  it 
called  into  doubt  the  infallibility  of  the  church.  We  are  unable  to  esti- 
mate the  terror  of  simple  souls,  on  the  appearance  of  a  commentary, 
often  extravagant,  upon  a  dogmatic  word,  which  they  believed  without 
examination.  At  that  time,  theology  reigned  supreme  over  all  domina- 
tions, as  does  the  sun  over  the  other  planets.  There  was  but  one  focus  of 
truth  for  all :  tradition.  What  deception  for  the  poor  centenary,  when 
they  came  to  whisper  in  his  ear,  that  the  light  which  had  illumined  the  cra- 
dle and  tomb  of  his  father,  was  a  false  light ;  that  the  words,  murmured 
over  the  head  of  the  new-born  babe;  that  the  manna  of  the  desert,  dis- 
tributed to  the  adult,  at  the  table  of  the  Lord ;  that  the  peace,  imparted 
by  the  priest  in  the  confessional ;  that  the  prayers,  chanted  by  the  church 
for  the  repose  of  the  dead;  that  the  holy  oil,  with  which  a  sacerdotal 
hand  anointed  the  members  of  the  agonizing  christian,  were  gross 
fancies,  false  and  impotent  practices,  jugglings,  invented  during  the 
ages  of  darkness  !  He  must  overturn  all  that  he  had  adored  :  the  light 
of  his  doctors,  the  glory  of  his  martyrs,  the  halo  of  his  saints,  the  dia- 
dem of  his  popes.  At  each  hour  of  the  day,  some  one  came  and  told 
him  :  "A  star  has  beamed  forth  at  Eisleben,  at  the  Wartbourg,  on  the 
Hauenstein  of  Bale,  at  Geneva;  ye  nations,  arouse  from  sleep  ;  this  is 
the  star  of  the  Lord." 

Below  this  theological  world,  gravitates  another  world, — that  of  the 
arts  and  of  poesy, — to  which  the  first  is,  what  the  sun  is  to  the  rays  of 
light,  and  which  has  a  right  to  be  agitated,  for  commotion  in  one  must 
extend  to  the  other,  and  communicate  its  trouble.  Behold  what  tie 
imites  them  together.  Has  Carlstadt  convicted  the  veneration  of  images 
of  idolatry,  painting  loses    all  material   personifications,  the  enchant- 

•      ♦  Hospinianus,  Hist,  sacram.   fol.  344.  Lutheri  op.  contra   fanaticos  sacra- 
mentariorum  errores,  t.  VII,  fol.  379,  et  seq. 
tSchlusselburg,  in  lib.  contra  Hessium  de  ccena  Domini. 


232  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

ments  of  interior  life.  Does  (Ecolampadius  expunge  from  our  liturgy, 
ail  its  ancient  chants,  there  is  left  no  more  music  to  delight  the  ear. 
Has  Zwingle  broken  our  censer  into  pieces,  prayer  no  longer  ascends 
before  the  throne  of  God,  amid  clouds  of  perfume.  Does  Bucer  con- 
demn the  invocation  and  intercession  of  the  saints,  the  eye  of  faith  can 
no  longer  traverse  space,  in  order  to  contemplate  the  blessed,  beside  the 
eternal  ihrone,  presenting  to  God  the  tears  of  the  mother  or  the  child. 

Therefore,  awake  thyself,  fool,,  that  thou  art,  poor  imagination !  Thou 
kneel  est  before  the  image  of  the  Virgin;  knowest  thou  not  that  the  Virgin 
is  nothing  more  than  a  privileged  creature  ?  Do  not  longer,  at  the  ter- 
mination  of  the  evening  vigil,  murmur,  while  invoking  Mary  :  mysti- 
cal rose,  morning  star,  comforter  of  the  afflicted  ;  thou  art  deceived  : 
Mary  is  but  a  daughter  of  Adam,,  purer  than  his  other  daughters,  but 
unable  to  hear  thy  prayers.  Come,  take  away  the  flowers  which  thou 
hast  sown  before  the  door  of  thy  dwelling;  it  is  no  longer  a  God  made 
man,  that  is  to  pass  before  thee,  as  formerly  Jesus  proceeded  through 
the  streets  of  Jerusalem ;  dost  thou  not  see,  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
host  but  a  symbol  and  an  image  ?  Formerly,  every  thing  touched  by 
Catholicism  became  a  rose,  quidquid  calcaveris  rosa  Jiet :  now,  all 
things  touched  by  the  reformation,  become  briars  and  thorns. 

Hence,  therefore,  you  will  understand,  we  trust,  the  lively  emotions 
which  swelled  in  the  Catholic  soul,  when  informed  that  Calvin  was 
coming,  in  the  wake  of  so  many  other  innovators,  to  attack  one  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  church  :   the  real  presence. 

What,  then,  was  the  new  word,  which  Calvin  appeared  to  preach  ? 

Neither  that  of  Luther  nor  that  of  Zwingle,  but  a  word  producing  the 
realism  of  the  first,  and  the  symbolism  of  the  last;  figurative  andsensi- 
ble,  in  which  matter  and  spirit  amuse  themselves ;  in  which  man,  hav- 
ing become  God,  changes  visible  appearances,  by  means  of  faith,  and 
operates  the  miracle  of  the  Catholic  priest  at  the  consecration. 

Bossuet  has  admirably  exhibited  Calvin's  system  : 

"  Calvin,"  says  he,  "teaches  a  presence  quite  miraculoiis  and  divine. 
He  is  not  like  the  Swiss,  who  become  angry  when  you  tell  them  that 
there  is  a  miracle  in  the  Lord's  Supper :  but  on  the  contrary,  he  grows 
angry,  when  you  tell  him  there  is  non€.  He  ceases  not  to  repeat,  that 
the  mystery  of  the  Eucharist  surpasses  the  senses  ;  that  it  is  the  incompre- 
hensible work  of  divine  power,  and  a  secret  impenetrable  to  the  human 
understanding ;  that  words  are  wanting  to  him  to  give  expression  to  his 
conceptions,  and  that  his  conceptions,  far  superior  to  his  expressions, 
are  still  far  below  the  elevation  of  this  ineffable  mystery.  In  such  sort, 
he  says,  that  he  rather  experiences  than  understands  this  union  :  which 
manifests,  that  he  feels,  or  believes  that  he  feels,  the  effects,  but  the 
cause  is  above  his  reach.  This  also,  it  is,  which  causes  him  to  say,  in 
the  confession  of  faith,  that  this  mystery  surpasses  in  its  elevation  the 
measure  of  our  senses,  and  the  whole  order  of  nature,  and  that,  be- 
cause it  is  heavenly,  it  can  be  apprehended,  that  is,  comprehended,  only 
by  faith.  In  his  efforts  to  explain  in  his  catechism,  how  Jesus  Christ 
can  make  us  participators  of  his  own  substance,  whilst  his  body  is  Id 
heaven  and  we  are  upon  earth,  he  answers,  that  this  is  effected  by  tb^ 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


233 


incomprehensible  virtue  of  his  Spirit,  which  can  easily  unite  things 
separated  by  distance  of  place."* 

Calvin,  who  represents  body  and  soul  as  the  elements  of  the  hu- 
man being,  and  affirms  that  the  scripture  confounds  the  mind  and  soul 
in  the  same  attribute,  teaches,  that  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  soul,  or 
mind,  is,  by  means  of  faith,  nourished  with  the  flesh,  and  refreshed  with 
the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ ;  whilst  the  body  receives  nothing  but  sym- 
bols, that  is,  material  bread  and  wine.  He  wishes  the  flesh  and  blood 
to  leap,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  over  the  space  which  separates 
them  from  earth,  in  order  to  identify  themselves  with  the  soul,  if  the 
soul  be  elevated,  on  the  wings  of  faith,  towards  Jesus  Christ,  who  reigns 
in  heaven.  But  before  communion,  we  believe,  either  a  Christ  cloth- 
ed with  a  body,  or  a  Christ  who  cannot  come  under  the  senses  :  if  we 
believe  a  Christ,  dead,  resuscitated,  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God  his 
Father,  what  does  faith  operate  in  communion,  that  it  has  not  accom- 
plished before  receiving  it?  Thus,  the  philosophic  system  of  Calvin 
floats  between  the  reality  and  the  symbolical,  between  spirit  and  matter. 
Calvin  objects  :  the  flesh  must  be  flesh,  and  the  spirit,  spirit :  now,  his 
definition  is  defective,  precisely  on  account  of  the  absence  of  realism  or 
of  symbolism,  or  rather,  because  of  the  confusion  of  the  ideal,  and  the 
absolute;  and  notwithstanding  all  his  perspicacity,  the  reformer  was 
never  able  to  reconcile  these  artificial  contradictions.! 

We  perceive  that  Calvin  in  his  symbolism,  has  broken  with  the  school 
of  Zwingle,  while  seeking  to  conciliate  it;  for  he  admits  a  real  pres- 
ence, and  a  subversion  of  the  order  of  nature,  as  does  the  Catholic 
school ;  his  miracle  surpasses  that  of  the  Catholic  church,  as  is  remark- 
ed by  Pelisson.J  Every  manducation  supposes  a  substance,  and  every 
substance  a  place  which  it  occupies  :  therefore,  the  miracle  he  operates 
is  greater  than  that  of  the  Catholic  priest :  idealism  elevated  by  faith  to 
the  condition  of  body.  In  vain,  to  make  his  idea  comprehensible,  does 
he  have  recourse  to  the  image  of  the  sun,  which  strikes  our  eyes  with 
light,  for  this  light  is  itself  a  reality  :  the  sun  operates  by  the  effusion 
of  its  rays,  and  Calvin  rejects  the  eff'usion  or  impression  of  the  sub- 
stance. Claude,  therefore,  said  truly,  when,  on  the  principles  of  the 
reformation,  he  maintained  that  the  Calvinistic  dogma  could  no  more  be 
sustained  than  Catholic  transubstanLiation.§ 

A  political  idea  governed  Calvin,  in  his  interpretation  of  the  words 
of  the  Lord's  Supper.  He  hoped,  should  it  be  adopted,  to  reunite  the 
Zwinglians  and  the  Lutherans  in  the  same  faith;  this  idea  did  not 
escape  the  notice  of  the  two  communions,  who  censured  it  as  a  degra- 
dation of  spirit  to  matter.  Planck  has  acknowledged,  that  the  Calvin- 
istic word  was  aiming,  in  this  gloss  of  the  sacred  text,  to  please  the 
theologians  of  the  two  schools.  Down  to  the  year  154&,  the  Luthe- 
rans, who  were  unacquainted  with  the  book,  de  CcEiia  Domini^  thought 

*  Bossnet's  Variations. 

tDie  Gegenwart  Leibes  und  Blutes  Christi  im  Sakrament. — Allg.  deutsche 
Real-Encyclopedie. 

:|:  Pelisson,  Traite  de  I'Eucharistie,  in  12mo.  1694.  {Pelissan,  p.  95» 

20* 


234  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

that  Calvin  had  not  ceased  to  belong  to  the  Saxon  church.*  The  des- 
tiny of  this  theological  work  was  by  no  means  brilliant  in  Germany, 
since  Luther,  who  must  have  been  acquainted  with  it,  mentions  Calvin's 
name  but  once,  and  then  only  to  salute  it  with  an  ordinary  formula  of 
esteem,  t 

Moreover,  the  monk  of  Wittenberg  has  done  even  still  better  than 
Bossuet :  his  words,  with  the  reformed,  must  possess  an  influence  which 
Avould  be  denied  to  those  of  the  bishop  of  Meaux.  Luther,  to  refute 
the  opinion  of  Calvin,  has  seized  the  pen  of  a  father  of  primitive  Chris- 
tianity, of  the  Sieur  Bossuet,  as  Jurieu  terms  our  great  bishop. 

Calvin  said,  that  all  miracles  are  perceptible  to  the  senses,  and  that 
the  priest  at  the  altar  cannot  enact  the  part  of  the  Divinity. J 

"  But  who  has  told  thee,"  replies  Luther,  '*that  Jesus  Christ  has  re- 
solved in  his  counsels  to  operate  no  more  miracles  ?  Has  he  not  been 
conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  womb  of  a  virgin  ?  Hast  thou 
seen  this  miracle  ?  Has  not  the  Divinity  dwelt  in  the  flesh  of  Christ  ? 
Hast  thou  seen  this  miracle  ?  Thou  sayest  that  he  is  seated  at  the  right 
hand  of  his  Father ;  dost  thou  see  this  miracle  ?"§ 

Calvin  entrenched  himself  behind  the  verse  of  St.  John  :  the  flesh 
profiteth  nothing. 

Capharnite,  exclaimed  the  doctor,    with  what  right  darest  thou 

affirm  that  the  flesh  is  useless  ?  It  is  of  the  flesh,  fashioned  from  the 
slime  of  earth,  of  fermented  mud,  of  unclean  clay,  that  Christ  speaks, 
and  not  of  that  flesh  which  gives  eternal  life. 

Calvin  imagined  that  his  doctrine  would  re-unite  divided  minds. 

But  Luther  rejects  the  concord  offered  by  Calvin  :  Cursed,  he  ex- 
claims, be  that  concord,  which  thou  seekest  to  introduce  amongst  chris- 
tians,  cursed  in  this  life  and  in  the  next ! 

The  Genevan  church  had  declared  that, — as  the  church  of  the  Augs. 
burg  confession  agreed  with  the  others,  in  the  fundamental  points  of 
the  true  religion,  there  was  neither  superstition  nor  idolatry  in  their  wor- 
ship ;  the  faithful  of  the  said  communion,  who,  through  a  spirit  of  amity 
and  peace,  should  unite  with  the  Helvetic  communion,  might,  without 
making  any  abjuration,  be  received  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.|| 

But  in  his  prophetic  visions,  Luther  had  long  since  divined  the  fate- 
of  this  strange  hallucination,  and  cast  his  curse  upon  this  approxima- 
tion of  the  two  communions. 

Avaunt !  my  fine  sirs  ;  address  yourselves  to  some  other  than  to 

me.     Had  I  cut  the  throat  of  thy   father,   of  thy   mother,  of  thy  wif& 

*Die  lutherischcn  Theologon  wollten  mit  aller  Gcwalt  die  Welt  beredeni 
dasz  Calvin  bis  zum  lahre  1549  sicli  ofFentlich  nicht  aiiders  hiitte  merken 
lasscn,  denn  dasz  er  mit  dem  lutherisclicn  Theil  ganz  gleichstimmig  sei. — 
Plank,  Gescliichte  der  Entstehung  des  prot.  Lehrbegritfs.  Bd.  5  Th.  p.  ]0. 

+  Grlisze  mir  aclitungsvoll  den  Sturm  und  den  Calvin. — De  Wette,  Luther's 
Briefe,  t.  V.   p.  210. 

:j:Talcm  ergo  preesentiam  loco  circumscriptam  statuere  qua  corpus  Christi  sig- 
no  includatur  aut  localiter,  qnod  aiunt,  conjungatur,  non  est  tantum  delirium, 
:<ed  etiam  execrandus  error,  gloriam  Christi  detrahens. — Calv.  de  Cosna  Doini^ 
ni,  p.  7. 

^  Serrao  quod  verba  stent. 

IJAymon,  actes  de  tous  les  synodes  de  I'EgUse  ref,  en  France,  t.  II,  p.  501. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  235 

and  thy  child,  and  were  I  desirous  of  killing  thee  also,  while  saying  lo 
thee  :  peace,  peace  !  a  fine  means  to  jumble  us  together, — what  wouidst 
thou  say  ?  Thou  slayest  my  Christ,  fanatic,  that  thou  art;  the  Christ, 
my  Master,  my  God,  my  Father,  in  his  holy  word  ;  thou  slayest  my 
mother,  the  holy  church,  and  my  brothers  also,  and  tliou  darest  cry  out 
to  me,  peace,  peace  !* 

Ah  !  you  are  not  our   brethren,   said   another  Lutheran  to  the 

Calvinists,  and  though  you  boast  that  your  doctrines  are  not  dogmas  of 
faith,  nor  good  grain;  therefore,  they  are  straw,  since  your  theology  does 
not  leave  untouched  a  single  one  of  the  cardinal  points  of  faith. f 

No,  no  !  exclaimed  Peter  Martyr,  say  no  more  that  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Eucharist  is  but  a  vain  dispute  between  you  and  ourselves  : 
you  are  mistaken ;  for  ever  let  us  separate  from  churches  which  err,  as 
you  know  full  well.J 

And  to  stifle  the  growth  of  the  cockle,  it  was  not  merely  a  fiery, 
choleric  word,  that  the  Lutherans  invoked  to  their  aid ;  but  raillery, 
after,  the  manner  of  the  great  Saxon  pamphleteer. 

Titus  Theodore  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends  :  "  What  does  Moiban 
think  of  Calvin's  libel  regarding  the  Lord's  Supper  ? — Truly,  I  would 
say  of  the  author  of  this,  what  Martin  said  of  another  pamphlet  writer: 
he  imitates  Gribouille,  and  jumps  into  the  water  to  dry  himself." 

Calvin,  at  a  later  period,  understood  that  he  was  labouring  under  an 
illusion.  Then,  in  the  bitterness  of  his  mind,  he  exclaims,  speaking 
of  the  Lutherans  :  "hateful  gentry,  who  would  make  peace  with  the 
Turks,  and  give  the  kiss  of  brotherhood  to  the  papists,  rather  than  allow 
us  a  truce  of  a  few  days."§ 

Do  you  remember  his  interview  with  Melancthon,  at  Frankfort, 
respecting  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  he  informed  us  that  he  had  gained  over 
Philip  :  a  noble  conquest,  and  one  of  w^hich  he  might  well  boast. 
Think  you  that  Melancthon  has  deserted  the  impanation  of  Luther  ? 
We  do  not  believe  this ;  for,  then,  what  confidence  could  be  reposed  in 
the  faith  of  a  theologian  who  so  suddenly  changes  his  opinion.  Either 
this  is  a  gratuitous  calumny  of  Calvin,  or  an  ineffaceable  stigma  upon 
Melancthon. 

But  whence  comes  it,  that  the  reformation,  which  so  often  has  made 
sport  of  the  pretensions  of  our  church  to  unity,  has  always  pretended 
to  reflect  dogmatic  unity  ?  Would  it  be  believed,  that,  in  1720,  a  min- 
ister of  Ratisbon   attempted  to  prove   that  the   Protestant  church  has 

*Nam  si  cui  parentes,  uxorem  et  liberos  interfecissem  et  de  eo  quoque  occi- 
dendo  co9-itarem  et  tamen  dicerem  :  amice  bone,  queeso,  securo  sis  animo  et 
otioso;  diligamus  nos  mutuo,  res  non  est  tanti  ponderis  ut  ob  earn  inimicitias 
su>cipiamus  et  bellum  geramus,  etc.  .  .  . — Contra  fanaticos  sacr.imentariorum 
errores.  tome.  I,  folio  382-383.  Dasz  die  worte  Christi:  das  ist  mein  Leib, 
noch  feststehen.     Halle,  t.  XX,  p.  950. 

tHeniicus  Eckhardus,  Preefat.  ad  Fasciculum. 

:j:Fortnsse  putatis  controversiam  eucharistlcam  leva  quoddam  esse  dissidi- 
\im  :  quod  non  ita  se  habet;  cur  a  specie  taciti  consensus  non  cavemus  cum 
lis  ecclesiis  quas  male  sentire  certo  scimus. — Pet.  Martyr.  Epistola  ad  eccle- 
siam  anglicanam. 

?  Tam  virulento  odio  in  nos  crepant  ut  citius  illis  pax  cum  Turcis  futura  sit 
et  cum  papistis  fraternitas,  quam  nobiscum  inducise. — Calv.  contra  Westphal. 
p.  791. 


236 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


never  announced  but  one  and  the  same  symbol  ?*  But  whom  do  they 
wish  to  deceive  ?     The  dead  reappear. 

Now,  that  three  centuries  sleep  upon  the  ashes  of  Calvin,  behold 
Protestants,  lifting  up  their  voices  to  glorify  the  Catholic  dogma,  which 
he  so  deplorably  denied. 

'■'  You  reject  the  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Eu- 
charist; well,  then,  tell  us  what  it  does  enclose? — Straw.  If  Christ 
be  not  there,  what  shall  we  find  there  ?     Nothing."! 

"  They  tell  us  that  we  receive  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ,  but 
only  by  the  organ  of  faith. — But  faith  does  not  lift  itself  up  to  heaven 
otherwise  than  thought  travels  to  Rome  or  Constantinople  !  If  not,  you 
attribute  to  the  spirit  qualities  whicii  you  deny  to  Jesus  Christ :  to  dwell 
at  the  same  time  in  heaven  and  on  earth.:]: 

"  You  oflfer  an  insult  to  logic,  in  maintaining  that  the  soul  of  the 
communicant  receives  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
highest  heavens,  at  the  moment  that  his  material  mouth  is  eating  bread 
and  drinking  wine.§ 

"  The  scriptures  can  only  be  explained  by  tradition,  or  by  the  first 
institutions  of  Christianity.  St.  Justin,  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  wrote  :  "We  know  that  this  consecrated  bread  and  wine  are 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ."  Thus,  the  idea  of  the  real  presence 
belongs  to  the  primitive  times  of  Christianity.  || 

"  The  miracle  of  transubstantiation  is  not  greater  than  that  of  the 
hypostatic  union.  1" 

*  Schediasma  Irenicum,  hoc  est  necessaria  eccles.  Protestantium  in  fide  con- 
sensio  ex  propriis  doct.  Lutheranorum  rigdidissimorum  unica  demonstratione 
evicta.  Ratis.  in  4to.  1720. 

Tn  a  single  visit  at  Heidelburg,  in  1836,  we  found  w^ith  Wolf,  the  antiquary, 
(this  is  the  name  given  in  Germany  to  the  venders  of  old  books,)  the  follow- 
ing Latin  works,  written  by  Calvinists,  against  the  Lutheran  doctrines: 

Bremensis  Eccleslae  Ministrorum  Elenchi  paradoxorum,  ad  refutandam  au- 
daciam  Tubingensiura,  Bremee,  A.    1588. 

Parse!,  Calvinus  orthodoxus.  Neostadii,  1595. 

Mart.  Beumleri,  triplex  scriptum  ad  Jacobum  Andreas.  Neostadii,  1586. 

Ejusdem,    Falco   emissus   ad   capiendum,    deplumandum  et  dilaceran- 

dum  cuculum  ubiquitatis.  Neostadii,  1535. 

Matt.  Martini,  confusio    confusionum,  D.  Balth.  Mentzeri.  Herbornfe,  1597. 

Rodolphi  Hospiniani,  concordia  discors.     Tiguri,  1607. 

(-hristophori  Ilordcsiani,  duo  scripta  contra  formulam  concordise.   1579,  1580. 

Ambrosii  Wolfii,  fund?},mcnta  Lutheranoe  doctrinaj.  Genevee,  1579. 

Danlelis  Tossani,  Theses  theologicee  contra  pseudo-evangelicos.  Steinfur- 
ti,   1605. 

Orthodoxa  Tigurinee  Ecclosise  confessio  adversus  Lutheri  calumnias,  con- 
temnationes  et  convicia.     Tiguri,   1545, 

t  Glaus  Harm's  Predigtcn.  [fLeibnitz,  Systema  theol.,  p.  215. 

^  Schwurz,  tiber  das  Wcsen  des  heil.  Abendmahls. 

||Horst,  cited  by  Hoeninghaus,  p.  185.  Here  is  the  text  of  St.  Justin:  Ad 
eundem  modum,  etiam  earn,  in  qua  per  preces  verbi  ejus  ab  ipso  profecti  gratite 
actse  sunt,  alimoniam  unde  sanguis  et  caro  nostra  per  mutationem  aluntur^ 
incarnati  illius  Jesu  carnem  et  sanguinem  esse  edocti  sumus. — Ad.  Anton. 
Pium,  Apol.  2. 

IfPlank,  Worte  des  Friedens. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  237 

''  The  dogma  of  transubstantiation  is  the  most  sublime  idea  of  all 
religion  and  of  all  philosophy ;  it  is  the  union  of  the  finite  and  the  infi- 
nite, of  heaven  and  earth."* 

*Horst:  Das  Dogma  von  der  Transubstantiation  geht  auf  dem  hochsten 
weltbUrgerlich-religiosen  Standpunkte  in  die  erhabenste  Idee  aller  Religion 
und  Philosophic  tiber. 

The  Catholic  school  of  the  seventeenth  century  has  produced  an  excellent 
work  on  the  question  of  the  Eucharist ;  we  mean :  "  Le  Traite  de  I'Eucharistie, 
par  feu  Pelisson,  conseiller  du  roi,  maitre  des  requetes  de  son  Hotel;  a  Paris, 
chez  Jean  Anisson,  1694,  in  12mo.  de  558  pages."  In  the  beginning  of  the 
work,  there  is  an  approbation  of  Bossuet. 

But  the  finest  pages  of  controversy,  on  this  subject,  are  found  in  "Methode 
la  plus  falile  pour  convertir  ceux  qui  se  sont  separes  de  I'Eglise,"  attributed  to 
Cardinal  Richelieu,  in  folio,  Paris,  1650;  a  work  which  cannot  be  too  strongly 
recommended,  and  with  which  Catholic  Germany  has  nothing  that  can  be 
compared. 

Rodolph  Goclenius  has  published  a  work,  concerning  the  manner  in  which  the 
Zwinglians  and  Calvinists  explain  the  mystery  of  the  Eucharist.  Against  this 
work,  Gaspard  Fink,  a  Lutheran,  wrote  his  "Disputationes  antigocleniae,  de 
analogia  sacramentali  cingliana  et  tractione  panis  Calvinistica."  Giessen, 
1607,  in  8vo. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 


THE    EPISTLE    TO    THE    EOMANSr 


Character  of  the  Saxon  exegesis.— Luther. — Melancthon. — The  Catholic 
School. — Its  influence  and  progress  in  hermeneutics. — Calvin's  Commentary 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans. — Appreciation  of  this  work. — Examples  of 
various  texts  of  St.  Paul  tortured  by  the  reformer. — His  exegetical  sys- 
tem.— The  abysses  into  which  his  interpretation  leads. 

The  struggle  of  Protestantism  against  Catholicism  was  at  first  alto- 
gether dogmatic.  When  the  Saxon  church  had  triumphed,  it  should  have 
endeavoured  to  spread  the  word,  by  aid  of  which  it  boasted  that  it  had 
won  the  victory.  It  was  necessary  to  prove  that  the  scriptures  had  been 
corrupted  or  perverted  by  the  Catholic  school.  The  reformation,  with 
incredible  ardour,  set  to  work  to  give  its  commentaries  upon  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments.  The  Postillce,  of  Luther,  real  village  sermons, 
contain  various  interpretations  of  the  sacred  text.  These  familiar  in- 
structions were  not  addressed  to  the  learned,  but  to  simple  souls,  who 
receive  the  word  of  God  without  scrutinizing  its  economy  or  its  depths. 
Luther  has  commented  some  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  interspersing 
through  his  comments  of  the  sacred  texts,  insults  to  the  papists,  abusive 
Avords  about  the  monks,  and  blasphemies  against  the  court  of  Rome. 
Nevertheless,  some  natural  sentiments,  worthy  of  a  father,  a  spouse,  and 
a  master,  are  found  there.  The  first,  who  laid  down  the  rules  of  Pro- 
testant exegesis,  was  Mathias  Flaccius  Ulyricus,  in  his  book  entitled  : 
Clavis  ScripturcB  Sacrce..^ 

Melancthon,  next  after  him,  devoted  himself  to  sacred  hermeneutics. 
His  commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romansf  rejoiced  'the 
heart  of  Luther,  who  ranked  the  work  of  his  disciple  above  every  thing 
that  had  been  produced  by  St.  Jerome,  Let  no  one  cry  out,  exaggera- 
tion ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  Luther  held  St.  Jerome  in  slight  esteem, 
and  amused  himself  with  damning  him,  in  order  to  enrage  Erasmus, 
who  ranked  St.  Jerome  with  St.  John  Chrysostom  :   Erasmus  was  right. 

Undoubtedly,  Melancthon  studied  the  holy  scriptures  very  Avell,  as  a 

man  of  the  world,  and  a  grammarian  ;  but  his  exegesis  is  never  that  of 

a  theologian.     It  is  impossible,  with  the  principle  of  individual  reason, 

f  faithfully  to  interpret   an   inspired   book,   which,   both   in   letter  and 

*  Leonhard  Bertliold  and  Doctor  J.  G.  Engclhardt,  in  ''Observations  on  the 
Sermons  of  Reinhard."     t.  II,  p.  292. 

tCommentarii  Philippi  Melanchthonis  in  epistolam  Pauli  ad  Roraanos. 
Wittembergae,  1524. 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALV15.  239 

thought,  derives  its  whole  weight  from  tradition  and  divine  infallibility, 
Melancthon,  at  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  may  have  been  able  to 
analyze  all  its  poetic  beauties,  but  only  Catholic  genius  is  able  to  per-  / 
ceive,  and  expose  to  the  admiration  of  others,  its  real  beauties,  dogmatic  / 
and  moral,  which  flow,  necessarily,  from  its  true  sense.  Nor  shall  wB' 
even  agree  with  certain  reform  writers,  at  the  head  of  whom  stands  M. 
de  Villers,  that  interpretation  is  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  the  reformation; 
for,  before  Luther,  one  of  the  cardinals  of  Leo  X.,  Cajetan,  had  proved 
himself  a  true  master  of  the  sacred  science,  in  his  commentary  on  the 
Psalms.     It  is  Erasmus  who  tenders  him  this  fme  eulogy. 

Catholicism  has  the  right  to  claim  for  herself  glories  of  every  kind. 
The  fathers  of  our  church  are,  by  turns,  theologians,  orators,  and  com- 
mentators. Origen,  Chrysostom,  Theodoret,  Diodorus,  Tertullian,  and 
St.  Jerome  understood  hermeneutics  wonderfully  well.  They  had 
learnedly  studied  sacred  archeology,  the  manners,  laws,  and  idioms  of 
sacred  and  profane  antiquity.  But  we  would  not  wish  to  deny,  that 
Protestants  have  often  profited  by  the  oriental  languages,  for  the  expla- 
nation and  interpretation  of  the  sacred  scriptures.  With  them,  exegesis 
particularly  embraces  criticism  of  texts,  and  in  this  department,  the  re- 
formation has  established  some  chairs,  in  which,  at  intervals,  appeared 
men  of  remarkable  ability.  The  names  of  Chemnitz,  Camerarius, 
Val,  Sciiindler,  John  Buxtorf,  Henry  Hottinger,  Bugenhagen,  are  known 
to  all  those  who  devote  their  attention  to  sacred  philology.  Unfortu- 
nately, it  was  the  destiny  of  the  reformation,  to  blast  every  thing  it 
touched ;  and  in  its  hands,  exegesis  shared  the  fate  of  all  the  truths  of 
revelation.  ''Admirable  science,"  here  exclaims  doctor  de  Wette, 
"which,  with  disdain  for  the  derivation  of  Avords,  ceased  to  attach  itself 
to  grammatical  criticism  ;  which,  from  the  moment  it  refused  to  live  of 
christian  life,  lost  its  historical  character,  and  which  no  longer  deserves 
the  name  of  exegesis,  for  it  no  longer  thinks  of  reflecting  sacred  science, 
in  order  to  explain  or  translate  it."* 

Calvin  obtained  the  reputation  of  commentator,  by  his  commentary 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  He  was  acquainted  with  the  labours  of 
his  predecessors,  and  he  loves  to  eulogise  them  :  "And  first,"  says  he, 
"comes  Melancthon,  who,  among  all,  shines  conspicuous  for  science, 
intellect,  eloquence,  and  who,  in  his  scriptural  commentaries,  has  dif- 
fused such  vivid  light. — After  him,  there  is  Bullinger,  illustrious  also, 
by  his  labours;  and  finally,  Bucer,  that  treasure  of  erudition,  perspica- 
city, information  and  intelligence,  the  rival  of  every  one  now  living. "f 
But  how  did  he  happen  to  forget  the  very  remarkable  work  of  cardinal 
Cajetan?  Why,  if  acquainted  with  it,  such  disdain  for  so  splendid  a 
work  ?  Whence  this  ignorance  of  a  book,  so  widely  circulated,  that 
he  could  have  found  it  in  the   library   of  any  literato  of  Strasbourg  ? 

*  Diese  Exegese  ist  weder  grammatisch,  denn  sie  miszhandelt  noch  garzu 
oft  die  Sprache,  und  kennt  deren  lebendige  Gesetze  nicht;  noch  historisch, 
denn  sie  forschet  nicht,  sie  lebt  nicht  mit  und  in  der  Geschichte,  und  liat  keine 
geschichtliche  Anschauung;  sie  verdient  endlich  nicht  den  Namen  Exegese, 
denn  sie  ist  nicht  des  Heiligen  Dolmetscherin,  sie  kennt  und  versteht  es  nicht. 
De  Wette.  Prof,  der  Theologie  zu  Berlin. 

tPraefatio,  Simoni  Gryneo.  Argentines,  XV,  Cal,  Nov.  1539. 


240 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK. 


He  needed  only  have  asked  it  from  his  friend  Bucer,  who  had  read  it, 
and  read  it  again. 

Calvin  had  selected  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  because,  he  said,  he 
found  in  it,  in  substance,  "the  doctrine  of  predestination  taught  in  the 
Institutes,  the  immolation  of  works  to  grace,  Christianity  in  all  its  sever- 
ity, the  apostolic  thought  expressed  in  Roman  language,  depth  and 
simplicity,  and  revealed  truths  in  their  primitive  form."  Beautiful  and 
noble  characteristics,  which  Tholuck  imagines  to  behold  resplendent  in 
the  reformer's  commentary.*  1^^ 

_jrholuck  here  considers  the  form  only  :(  should  we  examine  the  work 
under  a  theological  point  of  view,  we  would  point  out  the  unhappy  ef- 
forts of  Calvin  to  corrupt  the  Apostle's  thought,  to  torture,  twist,  and 
mutilate  it,  until  it  is  brought  to  lie  against  authority  :  a  violent  treach- 
ery, which  he  tries  to  disguise  in  a  phraseology  sparkling  with  insults 
against  Catholics.  Do  you  wish  to  be  acquainted  with  Calvin's 
manner  ? 

Deus  enim  est  qui  operatur  in  vobis  et  velle  et  efficere  pro  bona  vo- 
luntate.     ch.  II.  v.  13.  Phil. 

"  For  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  you,  both  to  will  and  to  accomplish, 
according  to  his  good  will." 

"  The  papists  calumniate  us,  saying  that  we  make  man  like  to  a 
stone  :  yes,  we  have  of  our  nature,  free-will ;  but  nature  has  been 
vitiated  by  sin,  and  is  worth  nothing,  save  inasmuch  as  God  reforms  it 
in  us.  Sweat,  then,  ye  sophists,  to  reconcile  in  your  schools  the  human 
will  and  the  grace  of  God  !  In  every  act,  the  will  and  the  power  are 
to  be  distinguished ;  Paul  relates  to  you  that  both  are  in  God  :  what, 
then,  remains  to  us  about  which  to  glory  ?'"' 

So,  then,  behold  St.  Paul,  that  great  doctor  of  nations,  transformed 
into  a  preacher  of  serf-will ;  and  man  metamorphosed  into  clay,  with- 
out consciousness  of  his  individuality,  and  incapable  of  doing  good ; 
into  a  worm  of  the  earth,  ignorant  how  to  avoid  corruption,  or  to  seek 
for  grass  and  sunshine  !  But  had  not  Calvin  then  read  the  work,  written 
by  Erasmus,  in  reply  to  the  desolating  doctrines  of  Luther?  The  re- 
futation of  his  argument  deduced  from  St.  Paul,  is  there  wrii|en,  in 
letters  of  gold.  Had  he  not  then  perused  the  pages  of  Mela^cthon, 
on  the  Epistle  of  the  great  Apostle  ?  Had  he  not  then,  in  spirit,  parti- 
cipated in  the  disputes  of  the  Saxon  school,  regarding  free-will  ?  And 
had  nobody  even  lent  him  a  copy  of  the  confession  of  Augsburg,  in 
which  Protestant  Germany  openly  recognizes  the  error  of  Luther  ? 

Let  us  proceed. 

The  Apostle  has  said  :  Vestram  salutem  operamini  (Work  out  your 
mhaiion).  Are  any  words  more  positive,  more  clear,  and  more  lumin- 
ous ?  Can  there  be  a  more  precise  demonstration  of  free-will  ?  Work 
out  thy  salvation,  does  Paul  say  to  man, — by  faith  or  by  work  as  Cal- 
vin  will  understand  it, — but  in  virtue  of  thy  individuality,  thy  sponta- 
neity, as  is  said  to  physical  man  :  walk.  What!  then,  would  the  doc- 
tor of  the  Gentiles  cry  out  to  the  slave   chained  to  his  pillar : — Arise, 

•  Hier  vereinigt  sich  romischer  Styl,  grOndliche  grammatisch.historisch© 
Auslegung  und  lebendiges  Christenthum. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  241 

and  walk  ?  But  would  not  the  slave  respond  to  him  :  first  break  my 
chain,  or  thy  word  is  but  another  insult  to  my  misery  ?  Well,  Calvin 
has  found  means  to  accommodate  this  very  powerful  text  to  his  own 
doctrines,  and  see  how  he  does  so  ; 

"I  respond,  that  salutem  (salvation),  in  this  place,  signifies  the 

entire  cycle  of  our  vocation,*  the  accomplishment  by  God  himself,  of 
all  his  decrees,  upon  the  gratuitous  election  of  humanity."  This  is  not 
a  reply ;  it  is  rather  an  exaggeration  of  the  difficulty.  If  salvation  be 
nothing  but  the  entire  cycle  of  our  vocation,  and  if  this  cycle  itself  be 
but  the  accomplishment  by  God  of  all  his  immutable  decrees,  upon  the 
gratuitous  election  of  humanity ;  what  can  man  do,  except  turn  like  a 
machine,  under  the  omnipotent  influence  and  direction  of  these  immuta- 
ble decrees  ? 

Moreover,  these  are  but  mere  logomachies,  whicli  Calvin  ought  to 
have  rejected,  after  having  placed  at  the  head  of  his  commentaries  upon 
the  minor  prophets,  this  beautiful  declaration  — "if  God  has  bestowed 
on  me  some  dexterity  for  the  exposition  of  the  scriptures,  I  well  know 
with  what  fidelity  and  diligence  I  endeavour  to  reject  therefrom  all 
subtilties,  which  are  but  too  vain,  and  that  it  is  far  better  to  give  expo- 
sitions characterized  by  a  simplicity,  ingenuous  and  suitable  to  edify  the 
children  of  God,  who  are  not  content  with  the  shell,  but  desire  to  arrive 
at  the  kernel.  In  truth,  the  fruits  produced  by  my  other  expositions  of 
scripture,  so  gladden  my  heart,  that  I  long  to  devote  the  remainder  of 
my  life  to  such  labours." 

He,  besides,  sometimes  imitates  his  master,  and  like  Luther,  tears  to 
pieces  the  most  holy  names  of  the  Old  Testament. 

In  his  eleventh  sermon,  on  the  history  of  Job,  he  accuses  this  patri- 
arch "of  being  in  doubt,  of  murmuring  against  God,  of  being  angry, 
of  having  wavered,  tottered,  yielded ;  of  being  ungrateful  to  God,  of 
having  so  succumbed  amid  his  passiops,  as  to  have  forgotten  the  divine 
graces,  and  cursed  the  Lord." 

In  his  twelfth  sermon,  he  adds,  speaking  of  Job  : — What  sayest  thou? 
that  there  is  no  discrimination  between  the  good  and  the  bad  ?  that 
"death  is  the  end  of  every  thing  ?  Thou  here  speakest  like  an  infidel, 
who  has  never  known  what  God  or  religion  is. 

With  the  exception  of  Judges,  Ruth,  Samuel,  Kings,  Proverbs, 
Esther,  the  Paralipomenon,  the  Canticle  of  Solomon,  Ecclesiastes,  and 
the  Apocalypse,  Calvin  has  commented  the  whole  of  the  scriptures. 
M.  Paul  Henry  remarks  correctly,  that  "this  choice  is  characteristic  ;t 
it  manifests  that  the  writer  only  aimed  at  the  elucidation  of  the  morality 
of  revelation,  without  regarding  its  historical  value."  It  seems  that,  af 
a  later  period,  and  when  in  advanced  age,  he  contemplated  completing 
his  labours,  and  including  in  his  exegetical  examination,  the  annals  of 

•  Salutem  pro  toto  vocationis  nostras  cursu  accipi,  et  hoc  nomine  compre- 
hend!, omnia  cjuibus  Deus,  eam  ad  quam  nos  gratuita  sua  electione  destinavit, 
perfectionem  implet. 

t  Diese  Auswahl  ist  auch  charakteristisch  und  zeigt  deutlich,  wie  Calvin's 
Geist  sich  nicht  von  dem  Aeuszerlichen,  Historischen  angezogen  fUhlt,  son- 
-dern  weit  mehr  von  den  Werken,  die  den  Kern  des  Glaubens  enthalten,  1. 1, 
p    347. 

21 


242  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

the  holy  books.  His  last  thoughts  were  given  to  Joshua.  He  did  not 
always  disdain  the  Catholic  school,  and  Scaliger  recognises  that  his 
work  upon  Daniel,  admirable  in  its  texture,  was  inspired  in  all  its  parts 
by  St.  Jerome.*  Calvin  was  right,  perhaps,  in  not  undertaking  the 
Apocalypse ;  but  what  christian,  or  what  learned  man  would  dare  en- 
dorse his  judgment,  on  the  revelations  of  St.  John,  "so  obscure  that  the 
thought  of  him  who  wrote  it  is  incomprehensible,  and  that  the  true  au- 
thor is  unknown  by  any  one  who  prides  himself  upon  his  erudition?"! 

In  our  days,  since  the  Protestant  school  has  discovered  that  Rome  is 
the  see  of  satan,  and  the  Pope  Antichrist  in  person,  the  Apocalypse  has 
been  restored  to  its  dignity. :|. 

Exegesis  was  differently  practised  in  Germany.  The  Saxon  school, 
which  recognizes  Luther  and  Melancthon  for  its  masters,  is  almost  en- 
tirely metaphysical ;  the  Genevan  school,  of  which  Calvin  is  chief,  is 
more  philosophical.  In  its  scriptural  elucidations,  in  the  least  of  its 
glosses,  in  its  scholia,  and  little  notes,  the  Saxon  school  labours  to  un- 
dermine the  foundation  of  the  Catholic  edifice,  and  it  denies  the  greater 
part  of  the  truths  established  by  tradition.  It  was  impossible  for  it  to 
take  another  course.  At  the  epoch,  when  Wittenberg  desired  to  erect 
altars,  it  could  only  build  them  upon  the  ruins  of  our  symbol.  When 
there  were  in  Germany  sufficient  fragments  out  of  which  to  construct  a 
preacher's  pulpit,  the  Saxon  reformation  still  continued  its  exegesis, 
nearly  always  by  attacking  authority.  It  was  bent  to  this  form  by  Lu- 
tlier,  Melancthon,  Musculus,  Chytreus,  Bugenhagen  ;  hence,  that  stiff- 
ness of  style,  that  professorial  surliness,  that  sententious  acrimony,  that 
pedantic  wrath,  which  you  detect  in  the  least  important  of  their  com- 
mentaries, and  of  which  the  Saxon's  disciple,  in  spite  of  his  gentler  na- 
ture,  could  not  entirely  divest  himself.  Bugenhagen  and  Musculus, 
particularly,  with  their  eyes  upon  the  sacred  book,  have  ever  the  air  of 
professors  :  with  their  affected  disdain  for  the  king  of  syllogisms,  they 
ever,  like  Aristotle,  proceed  by  argumentation.  Never  seek,  in  their 
commentaries,  for  that  dew  which  refreshes  and  vivifies  the  soul ;  for 
that  sweet  odour,  which  invests  magisterial  instruction  with  a  charm  of 
irrisistible  attraction ;  for  that  ambrosia  which  intoxicates  the  lips  of 
the  sinner.  In  them,  lives  the  man,  and  not  the  priest.  Often,  at  the 
moment  we  allow  ourselves  to  be  taken  by  the  artifice  of  their  words, 
and  are  on  the  point  of  being  lulled  to  sleep  by  their  logical  reveries, 
we  find  ourselves  shocked  by  the  grinning  figure  of  a  monk,  which  rises 
up  in  front  of  a  hymn  of  love  to  the  Lord,  or  a  canticle  in  praise  of 
the  humility  of  Christ.  \  The  Genevan  school,  in  its  exegesis,  exhibits 
"  the  sense,  the  spirit,  the  morality  of  the  scriptures,  in  a  point  of  view 
congenial   with  fatalism.     It  nearly   always  regards  dogma  as  a  fixed 

*  O  quam  Calvinus  bene  assequitur  mentem  prophetarum !  nemo  melius! 
Calvinus  omnium  optime  in  Danielem  scripsit,  sed  omnia  hausit  ex  B.  Hiero- 
nymo.  Scaligeriana  secunda. 

tAc  valde  mihi  probatur  Calvini  non  minus  urbana  quam  prudens  oratio, 
qui  de  libro  Apocalipseos  sententiam  rogatus  ingenue  respondit,  se  penitus 
ignorare  quid  velit  tam  obscurus  scriptor,  qui  qualisque  fuerit,  nondum  con- 
stare  inter  eruditos.  Bodin,  cited  by  Bayle. 

:J:L'Europe  protestante  n.  XII,  p.  21. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  243 

point,  and  passes  beyond  it.  Calvin  rarely  emancipates  himself  from 
this  law,  which  he  seems  to  have  imposed  upon  himself;  it  is  a  sacri- 
fice which  costs  him  something,  but  for  which  he  finds  means  to  com- 
pensate  himself. 

Calvin,  for  a  taste  more  correct,  a  style  more  precise,  an  expression 
more  clear,  bears  away  the  palm   from   Zwingle  and  Qilcolampadius, 
who  have  given  commentaries,  the  first,  upon  Isaias,  Jeremias,  the  Gos- 
pels and  Epistles  ;  the  second,  upon   Isaias,  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Ro-  /' 
mans ;  but  he  is  inferior  to  these  in  science,    and  this  is  the  opinion  of/ 
Schroeckh,  a  competent  judge.*     Zwingle  delights  in  tropes,  allegories/ 
figures  ;  he  pursues  them  with  curious   eye,   and  when  he  believes  that 
he  has  caught  them,  he  encases  them  in  a  dogmatic  deduction.     Calvin 
aims  to  address  reason.     For  Zwingle,  David  is  the  anticipated  personi- 
fication of  the  Christ ;  in  Calvin's   eyes,   David  represents  a  miserabje 
guilty  soul,  which  groans,    prays,    and  sues  for  mercy.     Calvin  has  Tn 
vain  searched  the   Old  Testament   for   the   enunciation  of  one  God  in 
three  persons,  as  well  as  for  the  prophetic  announ-cement  of  the  myste- 
ries which  one  day  should  be  accomplished  on  Golgotha.     In  this,  he  re- 
sembles  Servetus.fn  Had  he  been  born  two  centuries  later,  he  would 
have  been  a  rationalist.     Leo   Hutter   reproaches  him  with  liaving  fur-  j 
nished  the  Jews  with  arms  against  Christ ;  he  says  Calvin  Judaizes.    J 

The  learned  Richard  Simon  thinks  that  the  Genevan  only  possessed 
the  rudiments  of  the  Hebrew  language,   and  had  but  vulgar  notions  of 
the  Greek.     We  are  not  to  expect   from  Calvin  the  linguistic  skill  of 
Erasmus  or  Cajetan ;  he  discovered  the  sense  of  a  text,   less  by  the  aid  / 
o(  his  knowledge  of  languages,  than  by  a  sort  of  divination.:}:  "^ 

Tholuck  has  eulogized  Calvin's  exegetic  talents  too  much  : 
"  In  his  writings  we  find,"  says  he,  "a  happy  understanding  of 
the  grammatical  sense,  a  great  propriety  of  terms,  a  luminous  in- 
tuition of  the  allegorical  or  symbolical  idea.  In  his  commentaries 
on  the  New  Testament,  his  simple  and  elegant  style,  his  philos- 
ophic independence,  his  vast  knowledge,  his  enlightened  christian- 
ism,  cannot  be  sufficiently  admired.  With  him,  elegance  of  expres- 
sion  is  conjoined  with  conciseness  of  thought ;  an  elegance  which  does 
not,  after  the  manner  of  Bembo  or  Castalion,  consist  in  a  fastidious 
choice  of  terms,  but  in  a  purity  and  correctness  of  words,  very  difficult 
to  be  acquired." § 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  Calvinistic  exegesis  tends  towards 
rationalism.     Whatever  Tholuck  may  say  on  the  subject,  Calvin  holds 

*"  Calvin,  weniger  geflbt  als  Zwingli  und  CEcolampadius  in  den  Sprachen: 
abertraf  sie  an  Scharfsinn  und  seinem  Geschmack,  die  ihm  oft  mehr  Dienste 
leisteten,  als  Sprachkenntnisz ;  suchte  weniger  wie  sie  typische,  allegorische 
Deutung  auf,  prflfte,  beurtheilte  welt  freier  gewohnliche  Erklarungen,  zeich- 
nete  sich  durch  eine  mehr  gebildete  Schreibart  aus.  X.  5.  der  Ref.-Gesch., 
p.  115. 

t  See  the  chapter  of  this  work,  entitled :  Micliael  Servetus. 

■\.  Calvinus  solidus  theologus  et  doctus,  stili  sat  purgati  et  elegantioris  quam 
theologum  deceat. . . .  divine  vir  preeditus  ingenio,  multa  divinavit,  quee  non 
nisi  a  linguae  hebraicae  peritissimis  (cujus  modi  tamen  ipse  non  erat)  divinari 
possunt.  Scaligeriana  prima,  p.  39. 

♦  Litt.  Anz.  for  christliche  Theologie,  n.  41,  1831. 


244  LIFE    OF    JOHIT    CALVIN. 

tradition  in  as  little  esteem  as  he  does  allegorical  signification.  He  is 
unwilling  to  recognize  in  the  Old  Testament  the  figures,  which,  accord- 
ing to  Christ,  to  St.  Paul,  and  to  tradition,  foretold  the  future.  He  has 
thus  opened  the  path  for  the  Socinian  school,  which  itself  has  pre- 
pared the  way  for  Naturalism,  thai  beholds  in  the  inspired  books, 
but  an  ordinary  word,  the  value  of  which  each  individual  has  a  right 
to  examine.  The  Paulus,  the  Eichhorns,  the  Strauss,  are  the  off- 
spring of  Calvin,  just  as  Carlstadt,  (Ecolampadius,  and  Munzer  pro- 
ceeded from  Luther :  the  same  causes  produce  the  same  effects.  It 
was  liberty  of  examination,  that,  in  Calvin's  time,  had  already  given 
birth  to  the  sect  of  false  mystics  :  unbridled  imaginations,  which  re- 
pulsed science,  as  calculated  only  to  seduce  the  soul  from  the  way  of 
salvation,  "as  if,"  says  Calvin,  "the  sword  should  be  cast  away,  becaiase 
it  may  sometimes  arm  the  hand  of  a  madman."* 

Moreover,  exegetical  science,  the  influence  of  which,  upon  the 
development  of  the  christian  spirit,  has  been  too  highly  lauded  by  M. 
Villers,  was  already  depraved  at  the  epoch  of  the  reformation.  It  had 
become  curious,  rash,  imprudent.  Beza  himself  was  alarmed  by  it. 
Castalion's  impudence  of  language,  in  his  commentary  on  the  Canticle 
of  Canticles,  was  enough  to  sadden  a  christian  soul.  Under  the  pen 
of  this  literato,  Solomon  is  rather  an  ale-house  poet,  than  an  inspired 
"writer.f 

•  Scientia  tamen  nihil  propterea  quod  inflat  magis  vituperanda  est,  quam 
gladius  si  in  manus  furiosi  incidat.  Hoc  propter  quosdam  fanaticos  dictum 
sit  qui  contra  omnes  artes  doctrinamque  furiose  clamitant;  quasi  tantum  ad 
inflandos  homines  valeant,  ac  non  utiiissima  sint  tarn  pietatis  quam  communis 
vitee  instrumenta. — In  Cor.,  8,  I. 

t  Columba  mea  columbinis  ocellulis  lepidulas  habes  genulas:  dissuaviare 
me  tui  oris  suavio;  hibellula  tua  sunt  similia  cocco;  elegans  oratiuncula; 
mammula  vino  pulchrior,  lactiflua  lingula;  cervicula  tua  eburnea  curricula; 
ostende  mihi  tuum  vulticulum,  nam  vulticulum  habes  lepidulum. — Comm.  de 
Castalion. 

The  edition  of  Calvin's  works  (Amsterdam,  Schepfer)  contain,  in  the  first 
seven  volumes,  all  his  exegetical  works. — V.  Ziegenbein,  29,  30.  Walsh,  Bib, 
vol.4.  Schellhorn,  Ergotglich-keiten  aus  der  Kirchenhistorie.  Schroekh,  t.. 
V.  Bretschneider:  Calvin  and  the  Protestant  church. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

PRIVATE    LIFE    OF    CALVIN    AT    STRASBOUBG. 

Calvin's  literary  friendships  at  Strasbourg. — Castalion. — The  Waldensian  bro- 
thers.— Indigence  of  the  reformer. — Farel  wishes  to  come  to  the  aid  of  his 
friend. — Calvin's  refusal. — The  booksellers,  Vendelin  and  Michel. — Calvin's 
books  meet  with  but  little  success  in  Germany;  and  why'} — The  reformer's 
character. — He  denounces  the  misconduct  of  a  magistrate  from  the  pulpit. — 
He  complains  of  Bucer. — The  Jacobin's  recriminations. — Calvin's  avowals. 

Though  Calvin  was  afFectionately  welcomed  at  Strasbourg,  he  lived 
there  without  glory.  Bucer  threw  the  refugee  in  the  shade.  The  lec- 
tures of  the  Jacobin  attracted  the  crowd ;  those  of  Calvin,  at  the  French 
church,  )vere  only  frequented  by  persons  of  a  peculiar  organization, 
Calvin  was  no  orator  :  his  gestures  were  vulgar,  his  voice  was  hesita- 
ting, his  style  without  warmth.  He  discussed  in  the  pulpit.  At 
Frankfort,  Worms,  Ratisbon,  attentions  and  laurels  fell  to  the  share  of 
Bucer  and  of  Eck,  and  Calvin  was  left  neglected  in  the  crowd.  The 
reason  is,  that  at  diets  is  needed  an  oratory  capable  of  affecting,  fasci- 
nating, and  exciting  the  auditor.  Deluded  by  Melancthon,  who  had 
seemed  to  approve  his  Eucharistic  system,  he  returned  to  Strasbourg, 
irritated  by  the  pedantic  haughtiness  of  certain  reformers,  who  prided 
themselves  too  much  on  their  fame;  jealous  of  the  approving  smile  ac- 
corded by  the  emperor  to  certain  German  deputies,  whose  cerebral  ster- 
ility was  no  mystery;  disenchanted  by  Bucer's  recantations,  and  regret- 
ting that  Geneva,  where  he  had  neither  masters  nor  rivals. 

Finding  himself  in  a  large  city,  where  every  thing  was  new  to  him, 
its  customs  as  well  as  its  language,  he,  at  first,  attracted  certain  young 
pupils,  who,  after  his  lecture,  came  to  visit  the  professor  at  his  lodgings, 
in  order  to  hear  him  converse,  and,  by  friendly  offices  and  attentions,  to 
beguile  the  hours  of  his  exile.  It  was  a  joy  for  the  theologian  to  com- 
mune with  his  scholars,  in  a  language  which  he  tenderly  loved,  and 
which,  with  some  glory,  he  had  spoken  in  his  Christian  Institutes.  He 
attempted  to  learn  German,  but  very  soon  had  thrown  his  grammar 
aside  ;  that  idiom,  replete  with  images,  was  unsuited  to  a  mind  so  posi- 
tive as  his,  which,  content  with  the  idea,  never  troubled  itself  about 
the  form.  Calvin  had  wished  to  sing  at  Worms ;  the  city  which  Luther 
had  formerly  entered  entoning  his  inarseillaise : 

Ein'  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott, 

"My  God  is  my  citadel."  It  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  year_1541> 
21* 


246  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

that  Calvin  began  his  salutation  in  Latin  verses,  where,  speaking  of 
the  Pope,  he  said  : 

Digit!  signo  spatiorum  concutit  orbem, 
Nee  minus  est  hodie,  quam  fuit  ante  ferox. 

A  pitiful  distich,  unworthy  of  a  pupil  of  the  fourth  class.  Calvin  was- 
no  poet,  as  must  be  admitted :  never  was  there  an  ear  less  musical 
than  his.* 

The  friendship  between  Calvin  and  his  scholars  lasted  but  a  short 
period ;  whether,  because  the  habitual  sufferings  of  the  professor  fa- 
tigued these  youthful  imaginations,  which,  full  of  life  and  joy,  could 
not,  without  pain,  endure  the  sight  of  physical  miseries ;  or  rather,  be- 
cause the  morose  preceptor  could  not  accommodate  himself  to  the 
noise  of  these  prating  associates,  who  were  free  and  light  as  air.  The 
tie  of  affection,  which  bound  master  and  pupils  together,  was  soon 
broken,  and  all  these  birds,  whose  wings  Calvin  would  have  desired  to 
cut,  took  flight,  and  returned  no  more.  One  day,  one  of  these  birds  .of 
golden  plumage,  which  had  made  its  nest  in  the  lote-trees  of  Greece, 
the  palm-trees  of  Judea,  and  the  beeches  of  Italy ;  which  sang  in  He- 
brew, Greek,  and  Latin,  lighted  in  Strasbourg.  He  was  known  to  the 
learned  world,  under  the  name  of  Castalion.  At  first,  Calvin  opened 
his  window,  and  for  some  time  there  was  heard  nothing  but  sweet  con- 
certs, soothing  harmonies,  aerial  melodies.  At  last,  Calvin  became 
w^earied  of  his  companion,  and  drove  him  away,  in  order  to  give  the 
little  room  he  occupied  to  a  lady,  by  name  Vergers,  who  furnished  the 
theologian  a  complete  household ;  a  wife,  children,  and  a  servant. 
Castalion,  after  having  paid  for  his  board  and  lodging,  went  away. 
After  this,  the  lady's  servant  chanced  to  fall  sick.  Castalion,  the  com- 
patriot of  the  valet,  was  recalled,  and  the  learned  Hebraist  set  to  work, 
dealing  out  drinks  and  potions,  and  also,  at  night,  he  watched  like  a  ten- 
der mother,  by  the  bedside  of  the  invalid.  Will  any  one  believe  that 
Calvin,  at  a  later  period,  found  occasion,  in  a  dispute  which  we  shall 
recall,  to  reproach  Castalion  for  the  food  which  he  had  gratuitously 
furnished  him  during  a  few  days  ?t 

There  was  one  moment  of  his.  life,  when  poverty,  with  all  its  bitter 
agonies,  came  to  visit  him  :  this  Avas  after  his  departure  from  Geneva, 
and  before  his  fate  had  been  settled.  His  misery  was  so  great,  that  he 
was  forced  to  sell  his  books.  His  writings  at  that  time  brought  but 
little  ;  the  whole  profit  went  to  the  bookseller.  The  lessons  which  he 
gave  in  the  city,  to  young  men  of  good  families,  aided  him  to  meet  the 
expense  of  his  correspondence,  in  the  middle  ages  so  costly,  when  per- 
sons were  compelled  to  employ  messengers,  now  on  foot,  again  on 
horseback. 

One  day,  certain  Waldensian  brethren  came  to  him  to  exhibit  their 
confession  of  faith,  which,  like  Bucer,  he  seemed  not  to  reject,  per- 
haps because  they  had  retrenched  certain  articles  opposed  to  the  reform- 

*•  Er  hatte  nicht  wie  Luther,  den  ritterlichen  und  so  auch  nicht  den  mu»ika- 
lischen  und  poetischen  Sinn  und  Geist. — Paul  Henry,  t.  I,  p.  378. 
t  Bayle,  article  Castalion, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  247 

ed  doctrines.*  They  were  so  poor,  that  he  was  obliged  to  lend  them 
a  crown  (six  francs);  "I  have  taken  care,"  said  Calvin  to  Farel, 
<«to  recommend  them  to  pay  it  to  you,  when  they  shall  arrive  at  Neu- 
chatel :  it  will  be  one  upon  the  account  I  owe  you  ;  the  rest  I  will  pay 
when  I  shall  be  able.  I  am  so  needy,  that  I  have  not  a  cent  in  my 
pocket. t  You  would  be  unwilling  to  credit  how  expensive  it  is  to 
keep  house." 

It  seems  that  Farel,  who  was  aware  of  the  painful  situation  of  his 
friend,  had,  at  different  times,  attempted  to  apply  a  remedy  ;  but  Calvin, 
whose  soul  was  proud,  was  unwilling  to  accept  advances  which  he  saw 
no  means  of  repaying.  In  a  letter  which  he  writes  from  Strasbourg, 
he  testifies  his  gratitude  to  the  pastor  of  Neuchatel : —  "Thanks  to  all 
m.y  brethren,  for  their  charitable  offers,  poor  souls,  who  desire  to  give 
alms  to  one  still  poorer  than  themselves.  This  is  a  proof  of  love  which 
is  very  dear  to  me,  and  rejoices  my  heart ;  but  I  have  promised  myself 
to  accept  of  nothing  from  you,  or  from  our  common  friends,  until  I  shall 
be  forced  to  do  so  by  the  greatest  necessity.  Wendelin,  my  bookseller,  to 
whom  I  have  sent  my  Opuscule,  will  aid  me  to  subsist  for  some  time. 
The  books,  which  I  left  at  Geneva,  will  pay  my  host,  untilnext  winter. 
The  Lord  will  do  the  rest.  Formerly,  1  had  a  great  number  of  friends 
in  France,  not  one  of  whom  would  have  given  me  a  farthing;  I  think 
they  might  now  safely  act  the  part  of  generosity  and  open  to  me  their 
purses,  for  I  would  accept  nothing.  I  say  nothing,  however,  of  Louis, 
v/ho  wished  to  give  me  a  loan,  but  at  too  high  interest ;  was  he  not 
speaking  of  converting  me  ?  For  the  present,  I  content  myself  with 
thanking  you  for  your  fraternal  offer.  I  will  accept  your  favours,  w^hen 
I  shall  find  myself  unable  to  do  better ;  I  am  sorry,  only,  for  the  loss 
of  my  poor  crown. "J 

As  his  income  was  insufficient  to  defray  his  household  expenses,  Cal- 

*  Waldenses,  cum  adhuc  essem  Argentorati,  miserunt  confessionem  quje 
Optimo  animo  et  mihi  tunc  probata  fuit;  sed  mihi  postea  ostensum  fuit  exem- 
plar quoddam  in  quo  nonnulla  mihi  displicent  quee  nollem  admittere.--Bullin- 
gero,  Calv.  Junii,  1557.  MSS.  G. 

"The  Waldenses  had  first  been  named  Lyonnists,  because  their  chief  or  mas- 
ter was  a  rich  merchant  of  Lyons,  and  also  Insabbatati,  because  they  observed 
neither  Sabbaths  nor  festivals." — Crespin.  Epist.  de  I'Eglise  307. 

According  toReinerius,  who  lived  nearly  about  the  time  of  Waldo,  it  would 
appear,  adds  Crespin,  that  their  doctrine  was  this :— "That  it  is  necessay  to  be- 
lieve the  holy  scriptures  only  in  what  concerns  salvation,  without  referring  to 
men ;  that  there  is  but  one  only  mediator,  and  consequently  the  saints  are  not  to 
be  invoked;  that  there  is  no  purgatory,  but  that  all  men'justified  by  Christ  go 
i.ito  eternal  life;  that  there  are  only  two  sacraments,  baptism  and  communion; 
t'lat  masses  are  damnable;  that  human  traditions  should  be  rejected;  the 
chanting  and  recitation  of  the  office,  fasts  on  certain  days,  and  festivals  are 
superfluous;  that  the  see  of  Rome  is  the  true  Babylon,  and  that  the  Pope  is  the 
fountain  of  all  evils;  that  the  marriage  of  priests  is  good  and  necessary  in  the 
church."  330-332. 

All  Luther's  symbol  is  found  is  this  confession  of  faith, 
t  Fratres  Valdenses  coronatum  unum  mihi  debebant  cujus  partem  d  me  mutuo 
acceperant,  partem  dederam  nuncio  qui  cum  fratre  venerat,  Sonerii  mandate. 
Hunc  ut  tibi  darent  jusseram..  Si  dederint  retinebis  quo  tantumdem  a^re  tuo 
exonerer.  Quod  reliquum  erit  solvam  quum  potero.  Ea  enim  mea  est  con- 
ditio, ut  assem  numerare  queam. — Mart ,  1539. 

t  Ep.  15  Ap,  1539. 


248  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

vin  endeavoured  to  obtain  money  by  the  sale  of  his  works,  the  manu- 
scripts of  which  he  sold  to  the  printer  Wendelin,  or  to  Michel  of  Gene- 
va.  Wendelin  was  a  bookseller,  the  like  of  whom  is  rarely  met  with, 
who  did  not  try  to  drive  bargains  with  his  authors,  but  paid  generously 
for  their  works,  whether  or  not  the  writer's  name  was  known  at  the  fairs 
of  Frankfort.  He  bought  the  whole  edition  of  the  commentaries  on 
St.  Paul,  for  much  more  than  Calvin  had  anticipated;  and,  besides  the 
price  of  purchase,  for  which  he  never  made  the  author  wait,  he  gave 
him  also  a  large  number  of  copies,  which  the  latter  sold  or  distributed 
among  his  friends,  to  be  sold.  Farel  was  charged  with  the  task  of  dis- 
posing of  them. 

We  find,  upon  this  subject,  certain  curious  details,  in  the  posthumous 
letters  of  Calvin,  and  especially  in  a  manuscript  epistle  to  the  minister 
of  Neuchatel,  bearing  date  the  27th  of  July. 

"  There  is  nothing  new,  since  your  departure,  except  that,  on  the 
very  day  you  bid  me  farewell,  and  about  three  hours  after  you  had  left 
me,  the  regents  proposed  me  an  augmentation  of  my  salary ;  but 
this  will  not  make  me  richer.  Should  amateurs  present  themselves, 
who  are  desirous  of  purchasing  my  works,  you  can  let  them  go  at  from 
ten  to  nine  batzen  (about  two  francs)  per  copy,  but  not  lower,  unless, 
however,  a  great  quantity  be  taken  :  in  this  case,  you  may  put  them  at 
eight  batzen.  The  transportation  has  cost  me  very  dear,  and  besides 
the  expenses  from  this  to  Neuchatel."  .  .  .* 

Calvin's  productions,  always  excepting  his  Christian  Institutes,  ob- 
tained but  little  success.  It  was  admitted,  in  the  learned  world,  that 
the  writer  was  acquainted  with  Latin,  that  his  phrase  was  modeled 
after  that  of  good  authors,  that  his  style  wanted  neither  perspicuity  nor 
elegance  ;  but  he  was  reproached  with  not  having  been  able,  like  Lu- 
ther, to  invest  his  thesis  with  the  slightest  degree  of  interest.  At  Bale, 
they  imagined  themselves  still  in  the  year  1521,  at  the  opening  of  the 
theological  quarrel,  when  a  monk's  figure  must  necessarily  be  brought 
into  the  dispute,  in  order  to  be  buffeted  on  either  cheek,  amid  peals  of 
laughter,  from  citizens  and  students.  Calvin,  by  rejecting  the  monk, 
had  consequently  deprived  himself  of  a  powerful  element  of  success. 
In  default  of  a  monk,  no  longer  in  fashion,  they  would  have  desired, 
in  Switzerland  and  Germany,  that  Calvin  should  have  availed  himself 
of  the  devil,  to  account  for  the  obstinacy  of  the  papists;  and  no  one 
can  account  for  his  having  voluntarily  renounced  the  agency  of  the 
devil,  who  had  rendered  such  extraordinary  services  to  his  predecessors. 
They  went  so  far  as  to  publish,  that  he  did  not  believe  in  the  devil, 
which  was  a  falsehood,t  and  this  did  him  injury  in  the  minds  of  the 
Germans,  who  would  not  have  given  the  least  of  those  devils,  who 
sprang  from  Luther's  brain,  for  the  best  arguments.  Hence  it  happen- 
ed that  the  booksellers,  at  first  so  well  disposed  towards  Calvin,  grew 
cold,  on  finding  that  his  books  would  not  sell  like  those  of  doctor  Mar- 
tin. They,  indeed,  paraded  them  at  the  fairs  of  Frankfort;  but  per- 
sons passed  without  buying  them ;  and  hence  arose  complaints,  which 

*27  Julii  1539.  MSS.  Gen. 

t  See  succeeding  chapter,  entitled :  The  Devil  and  the  AntichrisU 


LlfE    OF    JOHN    CALVIur.  249 

wounded  the  self-love  of  the  author.  Calvin,  to  appease  Ulie  ill-humour 
of  the  bookseller  of  Bale,  wrote  to  Michel,  at  Geneva  : — "  Send  me, 
by  means  of  Farel,  the  books  which,  on  coming  away,  I  left  with  you, 
and  also  the  personal  effects  of  my  brother."  Michel  made  a  package 
of  the  effects  and  books,  which  he  addressed  to  Neuchatel ;  some  days 
previously,  Farel  had  received  a  note  thus  worded  : 

'*  When  you  shall  have  received  the  trunk  which  Michel  will  for- 
ward to  you,  open  it,  my  friend.  You  will  there  find  books  and 
clothes ;  sell  the  books,  if  you  can.  Send  what  may  be  left  to  Bale  : 
my  bookseller  complains,  that  my  work  does  not  take,^  and  that  he 
has  in  his  store  many  more  copies  than  he  has  need  of.  1  wrote  to 
him,  therefore,  to  send  you  a  hundred  copies.  Tell  me  whether  he  has 
done  so  ?" 

Calvin  had  been  unable  to  find  repose  at  Strasbourg.  His  heart  was 
rended,  by  the  spectacle  of  variagated  creeds  presented  by  that  city, 
which  was  open  to  fugitives  of  every  opinion,  where  the  Zwinglian  el- 
bowed the  Lutheran,  where  the  Anabaptist  marched  by  the  side  of  the 
Munzerian  prophet,  where  all  religions,  except  Catholicism,  had  a  right 
to  the  same  protection.  His  heart  suffered,  on  beholding  all  those  na- 
tures kneaded  out  of  Bucer's  clay,  who  boasted  that  they  had  thrown 
off"  the  old  man,  while  still  carrying  all  the  marks  of  him,  visible  upon 
them.  He  was  unable,  he  said,  to  take  a  step,  without  finding  himself 
entangled  in  some  swaddling  cloth  of  the  *'papism,"  which  the  city  still 
preserved,  in  order  to  please  the  emperor,  and  from  dread  to  offend  the 
eye  of  his  lieutenants.  Around  the  Protestant  temples,  there  stood  a 
number  of  stalls,  for  the  sale  of  reformation  pamphlets,  of  which, 
some  taught  and  some  denied  the  real  presence,  free-will,  the  intimate 
power  of  the  sacraments,  and  the  necessity  of  works.  Augsburg, 
Spire,  Frankfort,  Nuremberg,  Hagenau,  Worms,  Ratisbon,  each  had 
there  a  tent,  erected  after  the  fashion  of  Munster,  where  each  confession 
of  faith,  devised  since  1530,  offered  to  the  passer-by  its  formulary. 
Neither  the  oral  theses  of  Calvin,  at  the  French  church,  nor  his  confer- 
ences with  the  representatives  of  Protestantism,  nor  his  written  discus- 
sions, had  been  able  to  trimnph  over  the  apathy  and  versatility  of  the 
people.  Vainly  did  he,  at  times,  seek  to  galvanize  and  electrify  this 
carcass,  his  word  was  vain  :  life  came  not.  Then  he  fell  into  sadness, 
and  regretted  Geneva. 

He  had  been  unable  to  reform  his  misanthropic  nature ;  after  his  ex- 
ile, he  still  remained  what  he  had  been  at  Geneva  :  vain,  irritable,  des- 
potic. Had  he  dwelt  longer  at  Strasbourg,  we  have  no  doubt  that  he 
would  at  length  have  provoked  the  anger  of  the  magistrates.  He  tried, 
indeed,  to  repress  those  carnal  impulses,  but  nearly  always  without  suc- 
cess. At  one  time,  the  scene  of  the  refusal  of  communion,  which  had  oc- 
casioned so  much  scandal  at  Geneva,  was  about  to  be  reacted  at  Stras- 
bourg. A  man,  whose  name  he  does  not  mention,  and  who  had  opened 
a  house  for  sporting  and  drinking,  if  we  are  to  credit  his  account,  was  on 
the  point  of  approaching  the  communion  table,  had  he  not  prevented  his 

•  Conqueritur  Ubrum  meum  non  esse  vendibilem. — 31  Dec.  1540.  MSS.  Gen.. 


.250 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK. 


access.*  The  guilty  person  preserved  silence.  The  eye  of  the  exile  had 
been  able  to  see  through  walls,  and  to  detect  the  existence  of  disorders, 
•which  Bucer  and  the  other  ministers  had  not  perceived.  Calvin  blames 
Bucer's  laxity. f  But  who  told  him  that  the  Jacobin  did  not  here  obey  his 
conscience  ?  When  Eck  proclaimed  the  necessity  of  works,  Calvin 
had  ever  at  his  service  the  same  argument : — What  good  works  were, 
performed  by  the  good  thief?  And  who  told  him,  that  the  christian,  to 
whom  he  refused  the  Lord's  Supper,  had  not  been  visited  by  one  of  those 
impulses  of  faith,  which,  according  to  his  teaching,  efface  all  our  faults? 
Calvin,  at  Strasbourg,  as  well  as  at  Geneva,  is  ever  in  contradition 
with  himself. 

One  of  the  stettmasters  of  Strasbourg  was  not  long  in  falling  into 
disgrace  in  the  eyes  of  Calvin.  JMo  one  could  say  to  what  confession 
he  belonged.  All  that  was  known  was,  that  he  had  denied  the  faith  of 
his  fathers.  In  the  morning,  seated  at  the  table  of  an  Anabaptist ;  in 
the  evening,  supping  with  a  Zwinglian  ;  but  little  inclined  to  disputa- 
tion  by  nature,  assisting  equally  at  the  preaching  of  Bucer  and  Calvin  ; 
without  the  least  recollection^  he  listened  to  the  divine  word  with  as  little 
attention  as  he  did  to  mere  worldly  discourses.  Calvin  would  have 
wished  to  dispute  with  liim;  he  spread  his  net,  for  this  sick  soul,  who, 
however,  with  persevering  fortune,  knew  how  to  avoid  being  taken. 
At  last,  the  theologian  grew  impatient,  mounted  the  pulpit,  and  poured 
out  upon  the  head  of  the  criminal  fiery  coals  of  all  sorts.  There  was 
no  room  for  mistake.  Calvin  himself  assures  us,  that  he  had  so  takers 
his  measures,  that  the  magistrate  might  recognize  himself  and  be  recog- 
nized by  the  auditory.  J  What  is  admirable,  on  this  occasion,  is  not  the 
indignation  of  the  preacher,  but  the  weakness  of  power,  which  observ- 
ed silence,  while  it  could,  with  a  word,  have  silenced  the  orator.  Do 
you  think  that  Calvin  will  be  affected  by  this  lesson  of  christian  mode- 
ration ?  You  do  not  know  him.  Some  days  after,  the  stettmaster  left 
Strasbourg  to  go  to  Frankfort,  where  Calvin  meets  with  him  again, 
pursues  him  with  his  wrath,  and  denounces  him  to  Bucer,  as  an  enemy 
of  Christ,  with  whom  neither  peace  nor  truce  can  be  allowed. 

Bucer  permitted  the  magistrate  to  pass  without  tormenting  him.  He 
did  not  resemble  Calvin.  Of  an  ardent  temperament,  he  was  easily 
irritated,  and  as  easily  appeased.  Woe  to  the  one  who  stirred  up  his 
bile,  as  Eck  did  at  Ratisbon  !  he  must  look  for  a  torrent  of  gross  insults, 
cutting,  and,  in  case  of  need,  even  poetic ;  for,  to  revenge  himself,  the 
orator  employed  the  language  of  the  markets,  the  vocabulary  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  and  the  figurative  style  of  the  prophets.  Having 
left  the  pulpit,  in  passing  before  his  adversary,  he  would  smile  in  his 
face,  and  often  even  reach  him  his  hand.  Nor  could  he  comprehend 
that  sort  of  wrath  which  gave  no  sign  of  exterior  life,  which  burned 
with  an  invisible  flame,  and  changed  neither  the  language,  the  figures, 

•Ep.  Farello,  1539. 

t  Qui  interdumsit  lenior. — Ep,  Farello,  1539. 

:J:Itaejus  impietatem  palam  et  aperte  etiam  pro  concione  sugillabam,  ut  ni- 
hilominus  aut  ipsi  aliis  dubius  esset  sermo  quam  si  vel  naminas&em,  vel  digito 
d^anonstrassem.— Farello,  1539. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  251 

fior  the  mimicry  of  the  orator.  He  called  it  the  wrath  of  Cain.*  Cal- 
vin avowed  this  defect,  and  excused  himself  for  it,  by  touching  his  head, 
as  if  tlie  seat  of  this  malady  had  been  in  the  brain. — "  Yes,  I  confess 
it,"  did  he  say  to  Bucer,  "that  impatience  of  the  senses,  is  the  most  dif. 
•iicult  to  be  overcome  of  all  my  faults  :  I  struggle  with  all  my  energy 
to  trimnph  over  it ;  I  have  not  been  able,  in  spite  of  all  my  efforts,  to 
crush  the  head  of  the  beast."!  Vossius  adds  :  admirable  avowal,  had 
the  struggle  been  incessant,  as  Calvin  relates,  and  the  beast  been  van- 
quished; but  the  evil  continued,  and  Bucer,  afflicted  at  such  perpetual 
relapses  into  the  same  fault,  wrote  to  his  friend  :  "Your  judgment  is 
formed  according  to  your  hatred  or  your  affection,  and  you  hate  or  love 
without  reason." 

At  Geneva,  we  shall  find  him  once  more,  in  his  political  life,  ex- 
hibiting the  same  propensities,  which,  in  his  christian  life,  he  displayed 
at  Strasbourg  :  Bucer's  admonition  will  have  been  useless.  The  rea- 
son is,  that  the  affection  was  not,  as  Calvin  pretended,  in  the  brain  ; 
for,  in  that  case,  it  might  have  been  driven  away  by  a  few  drops  of 
water ;  but  in  the  whole  blood,  and  in  the  heart,  which  it  had  gangren- 
ed :  there  was  no  remedy  for  it. 

Historians  have  found  means  either  to  praise  or  excuse  this  propensity 
for  which  Calvin  blushed.  Bretschneider,  in  this  choleric  trait  of  cha- 
racter, finds  the  element  of  all  that  was  grand  in  the  life  of  the  Gene- 
van, "who,"  he  says,  "with  a  colder  head,  might,  perhaps,  have  been  a 
cardinal,  but  never  a  reformer. "J  And  Beza,  whilst  admitting  these 
paroxysms,  of  his  friend,  pretends  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  so  aided 
Calvin  to  become  master  of  himself,  that  his  mouth  never  allowed  an 
expression  to  escape,  which  could  give  offence  to  the  ears  of  an  honest 
man.§  We  have  already  seen  how  much  the  scholar  of  Vezelay  could 
be  blinded  by  friendship. 

The  religious  man  will,  at  a  later  period,  furnish  us  a  solution  for  the 
enigma  of  the  political  man.  No  matter  what  he  did,  it  was  for  Calvin 
a  thing  impossible,  to  emancipate  himself  from  his  system  of  predestina- 
tion; in  every  sinner,  he  beheld  the   child   of  wrath;  in  himself,  the 


•  Bucerus  non  ferre  poterat  vehemcntiam  Calvini  quem  optime  norat  ex  quo 
Argentorati  una  vixerant,  et  melius  nosse  didicit  ex  quo  Genevam  revocatus. 
Accusare  igitur  ejus,  (quo  jure,  melius  me  scias,)  maledicentiam  maximam,  et 
quod  dissentientes  non  ferret,  sed  dure  adeo  aspereque  persequeretur,  sic  ut 
etiam  fratricidam,  uti  lego,  nuncuparet. 

fCalvinus  sic  a  magno  viro  increpitus  respondere  hoc  pacto:  haec  esse  genii 
potiussui  quam  judicii,  etut  Calvini  ipsius  verba  ad  Bucerum  retineam,  sic 
scribere:  ut  verum  fatear  nulla  mihi  cum  maximis  et  plurimis  meis  vitiis  diffi- 
cilior  est  lucta  quam  cum  ista  impatientia;  neque  certe  proficio  nihil,  sed  non- 
dum  id  sum  consecutus,  ut  plane  belluam  domuerim. — Ep.  Vossii  Grotio.  Ep. 
Protest,  theol.,  p.  817. 

:j:lenelndifferenz  spaterer  Zeit  war  nicht  der  Character  derReformatore; 
mit  ihr  waren  Calvin  und  Luther  vielleicht  Cardinale,  aber  gewisz  keine 
Reformatoren  gew^orden. — Cretschneider,  p.  19  and  20. 

^Fuit  omnino  naturae  ipsius  temperamento  oxukolos  quod  vitium  etiam 
auxeratlaboriosissimum  illud  vitae  genus:  irae  tamen  sic  eumdocuerat  spiiitus 
Domini  moderari  ut  ne  verbum  quidem  sit  ex  eo  auditum  quod  viro  bono  in- 
■dignum  esset.— Vit.  Calv. 


252  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

evangelical  doctor,  the  instrument  destined,  from  all  eternity,  to  glorify 
celestial  justice  by  the  punishment  of  the  guilty.  In  a  royal  head,  erect 
predestination  into  a  dogma,  a  transformation  realized  in  Calvin,  and 
you  may  look  for  the  most  bloody  despotism  :  all  the  creatures  whom 
the  monarch  will  drive  before  him  with  his  iron  sceptre,  will  be  nothing 
but  creatures  predestined  to  servitude.  Calvin  is  this  monarch,  without 
the  diadem,  but  with  a  crown  which  he  estimates  at  a  far  higher  price ; 
a  crown  of  life  and  immortality,  since,  according  to  him,  it  is  formed 
of  the  very  words  of  Christ  or  his  Apostles.  This  desolating  doctrine 
is  the  key  to  the  interior  man,  when,  in  the  consistory,  he  shall  domi- 
neer over  the  conscience  of  a  nation ;  the  key  to  the  politician,  when, 
m  the  council,  he  shall  govern  the  city. 


CHAPTER    XXy, 


THE    DEVIL    AND    THE    ANTICHRIST. 


The  devil,  in  Luther's  life,  as  an  instrument  of  wrath  and  poetry. — The  doc- 
tor's temptation. — The  devil  in  the  life  of  Calvin.-— Opinions  of  the  Gene- 
van reformer. — Account  of  one  possessed--=-The  opinion  of  Calvin  concern- 
ing epileptics  and  sorcerers. — The  Antichrist  of  Luther  and  the  Saxon 
tihurch. — The  reformation  still  at  this  day  teaches  that  the  Pope  is  the  Anti- 
christ.— The  Protestant  Review  of  the  nineteenth  century — Belief  of  Cal- 
vin.— John  de  Muller. — Hugo  Grotius. 

THE    DEVIL, 

If  we  except  Luther,  not  one  of  the  reformers  exhibited  any  affec- 
tion for  forms,  either  as  regarded  human  works,  or  the  wonders  of 
•creation.  Melancthon  sheds  tears  on  beholding  Carlstadt  prostrating 
the  beautiful  statues  in  the  church  of  Ali-Saints,  but  he  weeps  rather  as 
a  christian  than  as  a  poet.  We  should  in  vain  search  through  the  long 
correspondence  of  the  reformers  with  eath  other,  for  some  expressions 
of  grief,  forced  from  their  bosoms,  at  the  sight  of  those  material  images, 
the  glories  of  the  churches  of  Franconra,  Avhich,  without  opposition, 
the  peasants  are  allowed  to  break  to  pieces.  Not  one'  of  them  stoops 
to  save  some  of  those  relics  of  stone,  which,  by  a  kind  of  miracle,  es- 
caped the  hammers  of  the  rabble,  in  the  array  of  the  peasants.  On 
the  contrary,  you  see  them,  as  at  Frankhausen,  warming  themselves  by 
the  fires,  kindled  from  the  manuscripts  of  which  the  convents  had  been 
'despoiled.  If,  in  reformed  Germany,  v.'e  meet  with  some  fine  article 
of  goldsmith's  ware,  some  sacerdotal  vestment,  a  marvel  of  riches  and 
•patience,  some  bishop's  crozier  of  massive  gold ;  we  may  be  certain 
that  this  chalice,  purloined  from  the  treasury  of  a  Catholic  church, 
served  as  a  drinking  cup  for  some  elector,  a  friend  of  Luther ;  that  this 
sacerdotal  cope  tapestried  his  apartment,  or,  perhaps,  that  of  his  mis- 
tress ;  that  this  pastoral  staff  ornamented  his  museum,  as  a  plaything 
or  a  token  of  victory.  When  Saxony  had  apostatized,  the  princes  sold 
to  the  Jews,  the  chalices,  the  ostensois,  the  cruets  of  gold  and  silver, 
the  statues  of  wood  and  bronze,  the  cloths  of  lace  belonging  to  our 
■churches,  and  even  the  very  coffins  of  the  dead,  in  order  to  support 
their  hunting  dogs  of  the  lower  court,  their  parks,  their  cellars,  and  their 
mistresses.  Luther  often  lamented  the  misery  of  the  Protestant  clergy, 
who  were  left  to  perish  with  famine,  on  the  straw,  whilst  the  princes 
were  making  good  cheer,  at  the  expense  of  the  Catholic  monks  and 
22 


254  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

bishops.  But  even  had  Luther  cared  but  little  for  matter,  however 
beautiful  it  came  forth  from  the  hands  of  man,  the  spectacle  of  the  di- 
vine works  struck  him  sensibly.  It  often  happened  that  Bora  would 
surprise  him  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  contemplating  a  sky  studded  with 
stars,  in  an  extacy,  which  she  had  the  cruelty  or  the  malice  to  interrupt. 
The  sight  of  a  flower,  like  the  sting  of  remorse,  forced  from  him  pierc- 
ing cries.  "  Poor  violet,"  he  exclaimed,  "what  perfume  dost  thou  ex- 
hale !  But  how  much  sweeter  still  had  it  been,  if  Adam  had  never 
sinned.  Oh  rose  !  how  much  do  I  admire  thy  colours,  which  would 
have  dazzled  with  a  more  brilliant  beauty,  had  it  not  been  for  the  fault 
of  the  first  man  !  Oh  lily  !  whose  apparel  surpasses  that  of  the  princes 
of  this  world,  what  wouldst  thou  have  been,  had  not  our  father  disobey- 
ed his  Creator  !" 

That  world,  perfectly  golden,  which  God  had  created  at  Geneva,  where 
he  had  set  a  lake,  and  caused  a  river  to  flow,  where  he  had  placed  a 
mountain  of  snow  and  ice,  and  spread  around  fields  of  verdure  and 
light,  remained  for  Calvin  a  sealed  book.  See  him  upon  his  pathway  ; 
he  never  stoops  to  cull  a  flower,  that  he  may  soothe  the  ardours  of  his 
brain.  From  that  sun,  which  each  morning  came  to  visit  him,  in  his 
study.chamber,  he  stole  not  a  single  ray  to  give  warmth  to  his  style.* 
The  birds,  which,  in  the  spring.  Providence  sends  in  such  abundance 
to  Plainpalais,  sang  not  for  him,  for  he  never  listened  to  their  concerts. 
Ah  !  had  the  Lord  dealt  with  Luther  as  he  had  done  with  Calvin,  what 
beautiful  images  would  the  monk  have  derived  from  that  luminary, 
which  rises  and  sets  behind  the  Alps,  from  those  mountains,  which  in- 
habit the  skies,  from  that  cloth  of  shining  water,  an  azure  vestment, 
spreading  out  twenty  leagues  in  length  !  In  place  of  shutting  up  his 
great  emperor,  Charles  V.,  in  the  tomb,  and  casting  the  imperial  re. 
mains  to  the  worms  of  earth,  he  would  have  brought  him,  vested  in  all 
the  splendour  of  his  regal  robes,  he  would  have  placed  him  beside  one 
of  those  lilies  of"  the  Waldensian  Valley,  or  upon  one  of  the  Saleves, 
upon  which  the  winds  beat,  and  he  would  have  asked  him  of  what  he 
was  so  proud,  since  a  flower  of  the  field  was  more  lovely  than  all  his 
beauty,  and  a  grain  of  dust  more  powerful  than  all  his  power. 

The  demon,  as  representative  of  the  Divine  wrath,  has,  with  the  two 
reformers,  of  Wittenberg  and  of  Geneva,  assumed  a  double  personality; 
a  semi-corporal  one,  with  Calvin,  a  real  and  tangible  one,  with  Luther. 
The  Genevan  devil  can,  with  difficulty,  come  under  the  senses :  one 
cannot  see  his  body,  his  colour,  his  form.  The  Saxon  demon,  such  as 
lie  has  leaped  forth  from  the  brain  of  Luther,  can  be  seen,  touched, 
felt;  in  amoral  point  of  view,  he  is  the  rebellious  archangel  of  Milton, 
physically,  nearly  always  the  Quasimodo  of  the  poet  Hugo.  Calvin's 
fallen  spirit  is  sad,  inert,  without  fecundity ;  Luther's  fallen  seraph  is 
coloured  and  poetic ;  these  two  creations  give  us  the  measure  of  their 
respective  imaginations.  It  is  known  what  part  the  demon  plays  in 
the  religious  drama  of  Luther,  in  which  he  is  orator,  theologian,  pam- 
phleteer ;  in  which  he  wears  the  tiara,  the  diadem,  the  professor's  robe, 

•  In  praise  of  the  created  world,  Calvin  has  consecrated  but  a  few  very 
tame  lines,  in  his  Christian  Institutes,    lib.  I. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  255 

the  doctor's  bonnet,  and  the  monk's  cowl.  Of  all  created  beings,  he 
i«  the  one,  that  rendered  to  Luther  the  most  important  services.  Does 
an  emperor,  like  Charles  V.,  take  a  notion  to  combat  the  new  gospel, 
Luther  summons  the  devil,  who  comes  immediately  and  takes  posses- 
sion of  the  monarch.  Does  a  prince,  like  Henry  VIII.  of  England, 
desire  to  defend  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  Catholic  catechism,  satan 
runs  in  person,  glides  into  the  king's  cabinet,  steals  the  pen  of  his 
secretary,  and  sets  to  work  to  write  down  every  thing  that  passes  through 
his  head.  Behold  an  apostate,  (Ecolainpadius,  who  has  denied  the  Sax- 
on doctrines,  and,  hiding  himself  at  Bale,  there  sows  cockle  over  the 
field  of  the  Lord  :  one  morning,  he  is  found  dead  in  his  bed ;  do  you 
think  it  was  the  pest  that  killed  him  ?  it  was  the  devil,  who  twisted  his 
neck  ;  and  how  can  there  be  a  doubt  of  this;  it  is  Luther  himself  who 
affirms  it,  and  who  chants  a  canticle  of  thanksgiving.  Zwingle  falls 
at  Capel,  beneath  the  lance  of  a  Catholic,  who  has  smitten  the  Sacra- 
mentarian,  as  we  are  told  by  the  chronicle  :  but  Luther  affirms  that  the 
chronicle  has  lied,  and  that  it  was  satan,  who  sought  out  the  cursed 
heretic  upon  the  battle  field,  in  order  to  deliver  the  earth  from  his  pre- 
sence. And  he  adds,  that  there  may  be  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  his 
testimony  :  "  There  is  no  medium  :  either  Zwingle  or  Luther  must  be 
possessed.*  Dost  thou  understand,  thou  human  breast,  insatanized, 
persatanized,  supersatanized  ?"t  It  was  this  fallen  angel  that  dictated 
to  Accolti  his  magnificent  bull  :  Exsurge ;  that  drowned  Miltitz  in 
the  Elbe;  that  held  Munzer's  hammer;  that  spoke  by  the  mouth 
of  Carlstadt^  that  discovered  the  most  destructive  argument  against 
the  idolatry  of  the  mass,  which  ever  came  forth  from  human  head. 
It  could  hardly  be  credited,  how  much  this  infernal  figure  co- 
lours the  recital  of  Luther !  what  a  breath  of  life  it  infuses  in- 
to his  smallest  writings !  how  it  inflames  his  w^ord,  and  makes  his 
wrath  sparkle  !  At  the  moment  you  least  expect  it,  in  a  purely 
theological  discussion  with  Latomus,  or  with  some  monk  of  Cologne, 
you  behold  the  phantom  appear  suddenly,  unveil  his  presence  by  a  tor- 
rent of  insults,  of  dumb  show,  of  sallies,  of  mimicry,  which  give  relief 
to  the  argument,  and  seemingly  invest  it  with  a  body  and  a  form. 

Calvin  believed  in  a  fallen  angel,  the  breath  of  the  Divine  anger,  the 
tempter  of  the  first  man,  the  enemy  of  Adam's  posterity,  and  damned 
for  all  eternity.  The  demon  is  not,  in  his  eyes,  a  mere  mythos,  but  a 
personality,  whose  part  in  the  drama  of  human  life  he  diminishes.  He 
defines  satan  :  ''  An  enemy,  prompt  and  bold  in  enterprise,  active  and 
dilligent  in  execution,  potent  and  robust  in  energy,  cunning  and  skillful 
in  stratagems,  obstinate  and  indefatigable  in  his  pursuits,  furnished  with 
all  sorts  of  weapons  and  machines,  and  finally,  very  expert  in  the  art 
of  warfare. "§  He  admitted,  as  Luther  did,  the  existence  of  a  rebel  an- 
gel, and  desired  that  all  should  reject  the   error   of  those  who  thought 

*■  Ich  oder  der  Zwingel  musz  des  Teufels  seyn,  da  ist  kein  Mittel.  Op. 
Luth.  Jen,  t.  3,  f.  379. 

tHabet  enim  insatanasiatum,  persatanasiatum,  supersatanasiatum  pectus. 

I  Coll.  Mens,  fol.  497. 

$  Inst,  liv.  I,  ch.  XIV,  i  13. 


256  LIFZ    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

the  demons  nothing  else  but  "agitations  and  troubles,  that  excite  in  our 
souls  the  evil  affections  which  are  suggested  to  us  by  the  flesh."  But 
he  abridges  the  demon's  part,  and  uses  him  but  rarely;  when,  for  exam- 
ple, there  is  question  of  the  Pope  or  of  an  obstinate  Catholic.  He 
never,  like  Luther,  beheld  him  in  flesh  and  bones. 

All  are  aware,  by  what  temptations  the   Saxon  monk  was  assailed. 
If  we  are  to  judge  from  these,   satan  left   him   repose  neither  day  nor 
night;  at  night,  he  sent  him  dreams,  in  which  the  divinities  of  Olym- 
pus came  to  seat  themselves  on  his  pillow  ;  reveries  of  voluptuousness, 
which  covered  his  brow  with  sweat.     At  other  times,  he  glided  thoughts 
of  pride  into  his  mind,  and  then   the   doctor  of  Wittenberg  beheld  all 
the  crowns  of  the  world  at  his  feet,  and  believed  himself  greater  than 
monarchs  and  pontiffs.     Satan  also  endeavoured  to  throw  him  into  de- 
spair, by  presenting  to  him  in  his  sleep,   his  beloved  Germany,  torn  by 
factions ;  the  Anabaptists  raging  in  the  temples  of  the  Lutherans ;  the 
Zwinglians  seducing  the  minds  of  the  people  ;  his  brethren  abandoning 
him,  and  his  work  expiring  amid  waves  of  blood,  which  flowed  like  the 
Avaters  of  the  Elbe.     Then  the  monks  resumed  their  cowls ;  the  stink- 
ing Babylon,   Rome,   was  swept  by   numerous  red  robes;  the  Pope 
strutted  upon  the  beast  of  the  Apocalypse  ;  the  nuns  left  their  ravishers 
to  seek  the  cloister  once   more  ;  Eck,    Campegio,   Miltitz,  and  all  the 
clergy,  those  whom  he  called    (pretraille   Romaine)   the  low  Roman 
priesthood,  laughed  at  his  impotent  wrath,  and  his  fruitless  labours.     It 
was  important  for  him,  therefore,  early  to  accustom  himself  ri^corously 
to  repulse  the  assaults  of  the  evil  spirit.     The  anchorets  of  Thebais  had 
found  in  prayer  an  efficacious   remedy   against  the  rebellion  of  the  old 
man ;  he  tried  prayer,  and  was  not  satisfied  with  it.     Now,  here  is  his 
own  remedy,  a  serious  remedy,  since  he  advised  his  friends  to  resort  to 
it :   *'Poor  Hyeronimus  Weller,  thou  hast  temptations;  it  is  necessary 
to  get  clear  of  them  :   when  the  devil  comes  to  tempt  thee — drink,  my 
friend,  drink  freely,  get   drunk,  and  make   thyself  a  fool,  and  sin  out 
of  hatred  to  the  evil  spirit^   and   to   annoy  him.     If  the  devil  says  to 
thee: — Wilt  thou   not   cease   drinking?  answer  him: — I  will  drink 
freely,  because  thou  forbidest   me  ;   I  will  drink  copiously,  in  honor  of 
Jesus  Christ :   imitate  me.     I  never  drink  so  well,  I  never  eat  so  much, 
I  never  enjoy  myself  so  greatly  at  table,  as  when  I  do  so  to  vex  satan. 
I  would  be  glad  to  discover  some  new   sin,   that  he  might  learn  to  his 
sorrow  howl  mock  at  every   thing  sinful,   and  do  not  think  my  con- 
science burdened  by   it.     Away  with   the   decalogue,   when  the  devil 
comes  to  torment  us  !     If  he   whispers  in  my  ear  : — But  thou  sinnest, 
thou  art  deserving  of  death  and  of  hell.     Alas  !  my  God,  yes  !  I  am 
but  too  well  aware  of  this  :  what  dost  thou  wish  to  tell  me  ? — But  thou 
wilt  be  damned  in  the  next  world. — It   is  false  ;  I  know  one  who  har 
suffered  and  satisfied  for  me  :  he  is  called   Jesus   Christ,  son  of  God; 
where  he  is,  there  shall  I  be.*     If  the  devil  departs  not,  I  cry  to  him  : 
In  manum  sume  crepitum  ventris,  cum   istoque  baculo,  vade  Romam.f 

*  6  novembie  a  Jerome   Weller.     In  Weller.    op.  p.  SOS.— Lehorecht  dft 
Wette,  Dr.  Lathers  Briefe,  t.  IV,  p.  188. 
t  Tisch-Reden. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  267 

Luther,  in  his  writings,  often  recurs  to  this  magnificent  antidote,  and,  in 
the  most  serious  manner  in  the  world,  to  silence  the  devil's  bawlings, 
he  counsels  drinking,  eating,  good  cheer,  taking  good  care  of  the  belly 
and  head,  filling  the  latter  with  the  fumes  of  good  wine,  and  the  former 
with  exquisite  meats  :  "  A  large  glass  of  wine  full  to  the  brim,  be- 
hold," said  he,  "when  one  is  old,  the  best  ingredient  for  appeasing  the 
senses,  inducing  sleep,  and  escaping  satan."* 

This  poor  Weller  still  suffered,  and  still  continued  to  lift  up  his 
hands  towards  Luther,  imploring  him  to  deliver  him  from  his  tempta- 
tions, and  Luther  never  indicated  to  him  any  other  penance  except  that 
boisterous  joy,  those  orgies  of  the  senses.  "  Dost  thou  see,"  he  again 
said  to  him,  "God  is  not  a  God  of  sadness,  but  a  God  of  joy;  does  not 
Christ  say,  I  am  the  God  of  the  living,  and  not  of  the  dead  ?  What  is 
it  10  live,  if  not  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord  ?  Thou  canst  not  prevent  the 
birds  from  flying  over  thy  head,  but  thou  canst  prevent  them  from  build- 
ing their  nest  in  thy  hair/'f 

Calvin,  in  several  of  his  writings,  speculates  upon  the  influence  of 
the  evil  spirit  upon  the  destinies  of  the  new  gospel,  but  never,  like  Lu- 
ther, with  that  faith  which  would  almost  communicate  its  terrors.  His 
theological  system  is  designed,  in  advance,  to  give  confidence  to  him 
who  listens  to  it.  He  taught  that  the  devil,  who  was  able  to  make  the 
soul  of  the  sinner  succumb,  was  impotent  to  trouble  the  soul  that  be- 
lieves in  Christ  the  Redeemer.  He  did  not,  like  Luther,  admit  the  ex- 
orcism of  children,  and  of  our  exorcizing  priests  he  said  :  "They  do 
not  understand  that  they  are  themselves  possessed  :  they  act  as  if  they 
had  power  to  operate  by  the  imposition  of  hands ;  but  they  never  will 
convince  the  devil  that  they  have  this  gift ;  first,  because  they  produce 
no  effect  on  the  sick,  secondly,  because  they  themselves  belong  to  satan; 
scarcely  is  there  one  of  them  who  is  not  indeviled."J 

Calvin  believed  in  possessions  :  in  one  of  his  manuscript  letters  to 
Viret,  we  find  the  account  of  a  carrying  away,  operated  by  the  devil, 
at  a  short  distance  from  Geneva. 

A  man,  whose  name  he  does  not  tell  us,  was  living  under  his  roof  of 
straw;  wicked,  the  frequenter  of  bar-rooms,  a  drunkard,  and  a  real 
worthless  fellow,  who  openly  made  sport  of  Calvin,  and  said  to  those 
who  reproached  him  with  not  going  sufficiently  often  to  hear  the  French 
minister  :  Heh !  the  devil !  I  am  not  hand-in-glove  with  master  John. 
He  fell  sick,  and  was  suddenly  seized  with  a  burning  fever.  His  nurse 
held  him  down,  and  recommended  him  to  pray;  the  impious  man  ex- 
claimed :  What  need  have  I  to  pray  ?  I  belong  to  the  devil,  and  care 
no  more  for  God  than  I  do  for  my  old  slipper.  §  On  the  next  morning 
a  little  after  sunrise,  he  had  a  new  paroxysm,  sprang  from  his  bed,  as 
if  lifted  by  a  violent  wind,  leaped  over  hedges  and  walls  of  great 
height,  and  fell  upon  a  vine,  which   he  stained  with  his  blood.     They 

*  Mihi  oportunum  esset  contra  tentationes  remedium,  fortis  haustus  qui 
somnum  induceret. 

t  A  We'ler,  19  juin  1530.  Op.  Weller,  p.  204. 

Xlnsi    I.  IV,  ch.  19,  «24. 

J....  Quia  jam  diabolis  esset  adjudicatus  neque  Deum  majori  sibi  cura 
esset,  quam  calcei  laceri  vilissimam  partem. 

22* 


258  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN, 

sought  in  vain  for  his  body,  the  devil  had  carried  it  away.  Some  min- 
isters belonging  to  the  council,  maintained  that  this  carrying  away  was 
a  fable  ;  but  on  the  following  Sunday,  says  Calvin,  I  ascended  the  pul- 
pit, and  I  vehemently  castigated  the  incredulity  of  those  who  refused  to 
credit  the  miracle ;  I  went  so  far  as  to  exclaim  :  For  two  days,  I  liave 
desired  death  at  least  twenty  times,  that  I  might  not  be  a  witness  of  such 
unbridled  impiety  :*  and  in  order  to  convince  and  stril^e  them,  I  cited 
the  two  following  circumstances  : 

One  day,  and  it  was  Sunday,  a  drunkard  went  to  the  drinking- 

house,  asked  for  wine,  made  a  false  step,  fell  upon  the  point  of  his 
sword,  and  died  instantly. 

During  last  September,  a  day  of  communion,  a  drunkard,  who 

was  trying  to  enter  a  brothel  by  the  window,  fell,  and  broke  both 
his  legs. 

Calvin  believed  in  sorcery  and  witchcraft ;  but  he  did  not,  like  Lu- 
ther, endow  the  demon  with  the  creative  faculty.  He  thought  that  the 
devil  could  not  change  matter,  but  only  delude  the  eyes..  Thus,  the  rod  of 
the  magicians  (2  Moses,  7,  12,)  changed  into  a  serpent,  still  remained 
a  rod;t  only  the  spectator's  eye,  deluded  by  the  devil,  saw  an  organized 
being  in  a  body  which  had  not  changed  its  substance.  Picot  asks  him- 
self, how  Calvin  allowed  himself  to  condemn  so  many  sorcerers  to 
death,  during  his  dictatorship  at  Geneva ;  and  he  explains  the  conduct 
of  the  reformer  by  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Calvin  has  just  inform- 
ed us  that  the  devil  had  no  power  except  over  the  reprobate  :  possession 
being,  in  his  eyes,  a  sign  of  eternal  reprobation,  how  could  he  have  at- 
tempted to  rescue  a  sorcerer  from  the  flames  ? 

He  read  the  divine  wrath,  even  upon  the  brow  of  the  lunatic  or  epi- 
leptic, whose  condition  he  could  not  understand,  except  by  calling  in 
the  intervention  of  a  secret  agent  of  the  Creator's  will.  "  The  scrip- 
ture," said  he,  ''does  not  indistinctly  characterize  those  possessed,  by 
the  name  of  demoniac ;  it  calls  by  this  name  those  who,  by  an  aveng- 
ing decree  of  the  Omnipotent,  are  delivered  over  to  satan,  who  comes 
and  takes  possession  of  them,  soul  and  body.  The  lunatic  is  one 
whose  malady  increases  or  decreases  with  the  different  phases  of  the 
moon,  as  the  epileptic,  for  example.  These  maladies  are  not  to  be 
cured  by  ordinary  remedies;  God,  in  driving  them  away,  displays  the 
omnipotence  of  his  divinity. "J 

♦Vireto,  Genevee,  14  Nov.  1546. 

fDe  prestigiatoribus  tibi  eitra  dubitationem  assentior,  niliil  eos  in  suis  cor- 
poribus  verse  conversionis  pati;  non  cnim  aliam  in  ipsis  metamorphosim  cogi- 
to,  quam  in  virgis  magorura,  qure  cum  serpentum  faciem  prae  se  ferrent,  v»- 
cantur  tamen  ideo  virgee  apud  Mosem,  quo  intelligamus  impostores  illos  magis 
illusisse  spcctantium  oculos,  quam  aliquid  verum  exliibuisse.  Pignjeo  Veliensis 
eccl.  ministro.  Cal.  Oct.  1538. 

tDa^moniacos  scriptura  vocat  non  omnes  promiscue  qui  a  diabolo  vexantur, 
scd  qui  arcano  Dei  vindicta  Satanse  mancipati  sunt,  ut  eorum  montes  et  sen 
sus  possideat.  Lunatici  vocantur  in  quibus  augescit  vis  morbl  et  decrescit 
pro  luna^  inclinatione,  nuales  sunt  qui  comitiali  morbo  laborant  et  similes. 
Quum  sciamus  ejusmodi  morbos  naturalibus  remediis  non  esse  curabiles  se 
quitur  testatam  fuisse  divinitatem  Christi,  quum  eos  mirabiliter  sanavit.  Harm 
Elvang.  p.  127.  Cornm.  ad  Matb.,  23. 

M.  Galleo  has  ranked  with  the  possessed,  Catherine   of  Sienna,  St.  Bridget, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  25$ 


THE      ANTICHRIST. 

Near  the  church  of  All-Saints,  at  Wittenberg,  stood  the  drink ing- 
house,  which  Luther  frequented  every  evening,  in  order  to  drink  beer, 
and  discourse  with  his  intimate  friends.  These  table  conversations  have 
been  gathered  by  his  disciples,  and  published  in  German  and  in  Latin. 
In  our  history  of  Luther,  we  cited  some  fragments  of  them,  and 
soon  had  to  repent  of  our  courage,  for  we  know  that  certain  ears  have 
been  offended  by  that  crudity  of  language,  of  which  Petronius  alone 
had  been  able  to  furnish  a  model.  We  thought  that  it  was  important 
to  make  the  reformer  known,  and  perhaps,  also,  the  shamelessness  of 
his  pupils,  who  said  to  us,  by  the  mouth  of  Mathesius  :  Luther  was  the 
enemy  of  cynic  speeches;  never,  whilst  I  was  living  with  him,  did  I 
hear  from  his  lips  a  word  which  could  make  a  maiden  blush."* 

Well,  Luther,  seated  by  the  side  of  Justus  Jonas  and  Aurifaber,  had 
caused  the  conversation  to  turn  upon  the  Pope. 

"  My  friends,"  said  he,  "remember  this  well :  the  Pope  is  the  Anti- 
christ  :  should  he  even  consent  to  cast  aside  his  triple  crown,  to  descend 
from  his  seat,  to  renounce  his  fabulous  primacy,  and  to  confess  with 
joined  hands,  that  he  has  sinned,  blasphemed,  and  shed  innocent  blood; 
you  ought  not  to  recognize  him  as  a  child  of  God,  as  a  member  of  the 
church  of  Christ :  he  would  not  the  less  remain  the  Antichrist  foretold 
by  the  prophets." 

Since  that  day,  for  many  of  the  Saxon  churches,  it  has  been  an  arti- 
cle of  faith,  that  the  Pope  is  the  Antichrist,  in  flesh  and  bone  :  this  article 
of  the  new  symbol  was  put  forth  in  Latin  and  German  verses.  The 
children,  in  chorus,  sang  : 

The  Pope  is  the  Antichrist; 
What  by  him  or  canon  law  is  taught, 
Comes  from  the  devil  himself. 
If  to  satan  yoa  would  not  belong, 
Then  renounce  the  Pope.t 

After  Luther's  death,  the  church  of  Wittenberg  seemed  for  a  mo- 
ment to  abandon  the  doctor's  symbol.  It  is  worth  while  to  see  how 
Wigand,  Gallus,  Judex,  and  Armsdorf  aroused  themselves  against  this 
intellectual  falling  off!  Wigand  sets  to  work,  and,  at  the  end  of  a  few 
weeks,  produces  an  octavo  volume,  in  which  the  doctrine  regarding  the 
Antichrist  of  Rome,  is  sustained   by  near  a  thousand  scripture  texts.  J 

St.  Hildegarde.,  and  even  the  virgin  de  Vaucouleurs. — See  Servati  Gallaei  dis- 
sertationes  de  sibyllis  earumque  oraculis.  Amstelodami,  apud  Henricum  ct 
viduara  Theodori  Boom,  1688,  in  4to. 

*•  Mathesius,  XII,  Predigt,  137. 
t  Tisch-Redon..  Eisl.  fol.  416,  6. 

:j:Der  Papst,  der  ist  der  Antichrist; 

Sein  Lehr'  und  jus  canonicum 

Ist  des  Teufels  Lehr'  in  einer  summ : 

Drum  willst  du  nicht  des  Teufels  werden, 

So  fliehe  ilinhie  auf  Erden. 
Nicod,  FrischlinusinPhasmate:  voy.  Huttenus  delarvatus  p.269. 
:j:  Synopsis  antichristi  Romani  spiritu  oris  Christi  revelati. 


260  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Mathew  Judex  appears  in  the  name  of  Christ  himself,  to  declare  war 
against  the  see  of  Rome,  and  to  damn  the  Wittenbergers,  who  refused 
to  inscribe  in  their  symbol,  that  Leo  X.  is  the  Apocalyptic  beast  of  St. 
John.*  Afterwards,  arises  a  host  of  Protestants  and  reformed  preach- 
ers, to  proclaim  this  truth  :  There  are  M.  Beumler,  Am.  Cheffreus, 
Lambert  Danes,  Andr.  Willet,  the  English  professor  Conrad  Grasser,. 
the  professor  Albert  Grawer,  Henry  Hammond,  James  Heerbrand,  the 
reformed  theologian  Samuel  Maresius,  who,  in  his  Antichristitm  Reve- 
latum,  becomes  angry  with  Grotius  for  seeing  nothing  but  a  bishop  in 
the  Pope ;  then  come.  And.  Mengilet,  Joh.  Georg.  Siegwart,  Joh. 
Conrad  Danhauer,  Freed.  Balduin,  Joh.  Hoepfner,  the  Anglican  bish- 
op Abbot,  Nicholas  Hunnius,  Theo.  Thummius,  Dorsch,  and  still 
many  others;  and,  at  a  later  period,  John  Fox,  Whitaker,  Fulke, 
Willet,  the  great  Newton,  Joseph  Mede,  Lowman,  Towson,  Bicheno, 
Henry  Kett  (interpret,  of  prophecy,  pref.)  ;  the  Anglican  bishops  Fow- 
ler, Warburton,  Newton,  Hurd,  Watson ;  the  Lutherans,  Braunbom, 
Sebast.  Francus  (de  Alveg.  stat.  Eccl.),  Napier  in  his  commentary  on 
the  Apocalypse,  Beza  (in  conf.  gen.),  Flemming,  Bullinger,  (in  Apoc), 
Junius,  Musculus,  Wisthon  (Essay  on  Revelations),  the  preacher  Alix, 
Faber,  Daubenay  {The  Fall  of  Papal  Rome),  etc. 

Bishop  Halifax  was  right :  one  of  the  articles  of  the  Protestant  sym- 
bol is,  that  the  Pope  is  Anticrist.  It  is  one  still  at  this  day  taught  in 
the  reformed  church. 

Two  years  ago,  there  appeared  at  Paris,  a  monthly  review,  entitled, 
Protestant  Europe,  the  special  mission  of  which  was  to  prove  that 
Gregory  XVI.  is  the  beast  of  the  Apocalypse.  We  must  cite  an  ex- 
tract from  it,  for  perhaps  our  word  would  not  be  credited  f: 

*<  We  could  not  admit  any  kind  of  compromise  between  light  and 
darkness,  Christ  and  Belial.  Those  holy  men,  those  intrepid  men, J 
whom  it  pleased  God  to  raise  up  to  be  the  liberators  of  nations,  and  to 
free  them  from  the  chains  of  darkness,  with  which  papal  Rome  had  load- 
ed  them,  in  their  struggle  with  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places,  in 
their  powerful  contest,  made  use  of  all  the  weapons  of  the  sanctuary. 
In  those  noble  defenses  of  the  truth,  included  in  their  confessions,  they 
do  not  confine  themselves  to  a  justification  of  the  reformation,  by  prov- 
ing a  perfect  harmony  of  its  doctrines  with  the  word  of  God;  we  be- 
hold them  carry  the  war  even  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy.  Armed 
with  the  mirror  of  truth,  they  present  it  to  papal  Rome,  they  raise  it 
up  before  its  face,  denouncing  that  church  as  the  Babylon,  as  the  mother 
of  harlots,  and  the  Pope,  as  the  man  of  sin,  and  the  son  of  perdition, 
who  dares  seat  himself,  like  God,   in  the  temple  of  God.     In  the  last, 

♦Gravissimum  et  severissimum  edictum  et  mandatum  seterni  et  omnipoten- 
tis  Dei,  quomodo  quisque  christianus  sese  adversus  papatum,  nimirum  anti- 
christum  gerere  et  exhibere  debcat.  See  further.— Joannis  Seldeni  Papatus, 
irreconciliabilis,  1646. — Isaaci  Schoockii  Desperatissima  causa  papatus,  1638. 
— M.  Flaccus,  Antwort  auf  die  Expedition  der  Wittenberger,  1560. 

t  Protestant  Europe,  No.  XII.  Signs  of  the  times;  prophecies  o[  the  Apoca- 
lypse and  their  fulfilment,  p.  18,  seq. 

I  See  the  appendix  to  the  pamphlet  of  M.  Cuningham,  entitled:  That  the 
church  of  Borne  is  the  apostaci/y  and  the  Pope  the  man  of  sin.** 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  t!$t 

as  well  as  in  the  first  part  of  this  testimony,  they  were  equally  unani- 
raous ;  with  them,  there  cannot  be  found  a  single  example  of  hesitation 
as  regards  the  character  of  papal  Rome."* 

*«  1  know,"  says  Luther,  in  his  treatise  concerning  the  Babylonia 
captivity  of  the  church,  "I  know,  and  am  certain,  that  the  papacy  is 
the  kingdom  of  Babylon,  and  the  power  of  Nimrod,  the  strong  hunter. 
Scio  et  certus  sum  papatum  esse  regnum  Babylonis,  et  potentiank 
JSemrod,  rohusti  venatoiis." 

Throughout,  in  his  reply  to  the  book  of  Ambrose  Catharin,  he  applies 
to  the  Pope  that  prophecy  of  St.  Paul,  in  his  second  Epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians,  (ch.  I.  v.  1  to  12.)  and  he  says  : 

"  Is  it  not  seating  himself  in  the  temple  of  God,  to  announce  himself 
"  as  the  supreme  regulator  of  the  whole  church  ?  What  is  the  temple 
"of  God  ?  Is  it  of  stone  or  of  wood  ?  Has  not  Paul  said,  that  the 
"  temple  of  God  is  holy,  and  that  you  are  this  temple  ?  To  seat  one- 
"  self,  what  is  it,  but  to  reign,  to  govern,  to  judge  ?  And  who,  then, 
"  from  the  commencement  of  the  church,  has  dared  arrogate  to  himself 
"  the  title  of  head  of  the  whole  church  ?  Who,  except  the  Pope  alone? 
"  Not  one  among  the  saints,  not  one  among  the  heretics,  has  ever  dared 
"  bring  forward  this  blasphemy  of  frightful  pride.  Paul,  speaking  of 
"  himself,  entitles  himself  the  doctor  of  the  Gentiles,  he  who  teaches 
'*  them  the  faith  and  the  truth,  and  not  the  doctor  of  the  church." 

In  another  place,  Luther  says,  that,  "when  Daniel  saw  the  frightful 
"  beast  with  ten  horns,  (which  all  the  commentators  agree  to  regard  as 
"  the  figure  of  the  Roman  empire),  he  also  saw  another  little  horn, 
"  which  came  forth  in  the  middle  of  the  ten  others.  That  little  horn," 
adds  he,  "is  the  papal  power,  which  rises  up  in  the  midst  of  the  Ro- 
"  man  empire." 

Let  us  also  heboid  Melancthon,  in  his  dissertation  on  marriage, 
making  allusion  to  the  fourth  chapter,  v.  1,  to  3,  of  the  first  to  Timothy  : 
*'  But,"  says  he,  "since  it  is  certain  that  the   pontiffs  and  monks  have 

*  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  organs  of  Protestantism  so  often  are  destitute  of 
science.  Here  we  have  a  grave  man  affirming,  that  a  single  example  of  hesi- 
tation, as  regards  the  character  of  papal  Rome,  vi'ould  be  vainly  sought  for 
among  the  reformers. 

1st.  A  student  of  Bonn  would  quote  for  him  the  preface  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Thessalonians,  from  the  Protestant  bible,  printed  at  Stuttgart,  by  P.  Tre- 
uen,  and  in  which  is  read:  "It  is  false  that  the  Pope  is  Antichrist." — dasz  der 
Pabst  nicht  der  Antichrist  sey,  etc. 

2dly.  Christ.  Math.  Pfaff,  chancellor  of  the  University  of  Tubingen,  has 
caused  to  be  printed,  by  J.  George  and  Christ.  Gottfried  Cotta,  a  Bible,  where 
we  read,  "that  I.  Joh.  ii.,  18,  22.  IV.  3,  Joh.  7.,  do  not  furnish  the  least  proof 
in  the  world  that  the  Pope  is  the  Antichrist." — dasz  nach  dem  Verstand  dieser 
Spriichen  der  Pabst  zu  Rom  nicht  der  Antichrist  seye,  not  more  than  XXIY, 
24.  St.  Math,  and  Mark  XIII,  22. 

Nothing  is  more  true,  especially  in  regard  to  absurd  opinions,  than  this  old 
maxim:  nihil  novi  sub  sole.  A  quarto  volume  has  fallen  into  our  hands,  which 
has  this  title:  The  judgments  of  God  upon  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  from 
its  first  rigid  laws  for  universal  conformity  to  it,  unto  its  last  end,  &c.,  in  explica- 
tion  of  the  trumpets  and  vials  of  the  Apocalypse,  upon  principles  generally 
acknowledged  by  Protestant  interpreters.  By  Cressenex,  D.  D.  London,  1689. 
Now,  it  is  from  this  work  that  M.  Cuningham  has  derived  all  his  silly  things 
against  the  papacy. 


262  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIT. 

"  prohibited  marriage,  it  is  most  evident,  it  is  beyond  doabt,  that  the 
"Roman  pontiff,  with  all  his  hierarchy  and  his  kingdom,  is  Z/ie  ilnti- 
*'  Christ  himself.'' — Thus,  again,  speaking  of  the  second  Epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians,  chapter  II.  Paul  "says,  in  clear  terms,  that  the  man  of 
"  sin  will  govern  in  the  church,  erecting  himself  against  the  worship  of 
"  God,  etc.  :  but  it  is  manifest  that  the  popes  reign  in  the  church,  and 
"  under  the  title  of  church,  {iii  Ecdesia  et  iitulo  Ecdesice  dominari 
"  pontijices),  sustaining  idols  and  the  worship  thereof.  I  affirm,  there- 
"  fore,  that  there  never  has  arisen,  and  never  will  arise,  any  heresy, 
"  which  these  words  of  St.  Paul  will  suit,  and  to  which  they  will  adapt 
"  themselves  in  a  manner  more  exact  and  more  true,  than  this  papal 
"kingdom." 

*'  It  is  also  to  the  Antichrist  that  the  prophet  Daniel  refers  these  two 
"  circumstances,  to  wit  :  that  he  will  erect  an  idol  in  the  temple,  and 
"  that  he  will  honor  it  by  offerings  of  gold  and  silver;  and  that  he  will 
"  not  honor  women.  Now,  who  does  not  clearly  see,  that  both  these 
"  things  regard  the  Roman  pontiff?  Evidently,  the  idols  are  the  mass, 
"  the  worship  of  saints,  and  those  statues  of  gold  and  silver  which  they 
"  present  to  the  veneration  of  the  faithful." 

The  English  reformers  were  not  less  unanimous  concerning  the  cha- 
racter of  the  papacy.  *'  As  to  the  Pope,"  says  Cranmer,  when  ready 
to  ascend  the  pyre,  "  I  reject  him,  as  the  enemy  of  Christ,  and  as  the 
"Antichrist,  with  all  his  false  doctrines." — "I  confess,"  says  Latimer^ 
before  the  commissioners  who  tried  his  cause,  "  I  confess  that  there  is  one 
"  Catholic  church,  to  the  decisions  of  which  I  shall  remain  attached: 
"  but  this  church  is  not  the  one  you  call  Catholic,  and  which  rather 
"ought  to  have  the  name  of  diabolic."  And  in  his  second  conference 
with  Ridley  :  *'  What  is  there  in  common,"  exclaims  he,  "between 
"  Christ  and  J^nlichrist  ?  It  is  neither  just  nor  lawful  to  bend  under 
"  the  same  yoke  with  the  papists.  Go  out  from  among  them,  separate 
*'from  them,  says  the  Lord."  See  in  what  terms  Ridley  expresses 
himself,  in  a  farewell  letter  which  he  wrote  before  being  led  to  punish- 
ment :  •*  The  see  of  Rome  is  the  see  of  satan ;  and  the  bishop  of  Rome, 
"who  supports  its  abominations,  is  evidently  the  Antichrist  in  person. 
"  And, /or  the  same  reasons,  this  see  is  to-day  the  one  which  St.  John^ 
"  in  his  Revelations,  calls  Babylon,  or  the  harlot  of  Babylon,  and  in  a 
"  spiritual  sense,  Sodom  and  Egypt,  the  mother  of  the  fornications  and 
"  the  abominations  with  which  the  earth  is  filled." 

John  Knox,  the  great  leader  of  the  Scotch  reformation,  in  a  public 
discussion  between  a  priest  and  John  Rough,  to  an  argument  of  the 
theologian  of  Rome,  concerning  the  supreme  authority  of  the  church, 
replied  in  these  terms  : 

«'  As  to  your  Roman  church,"  he  says  to  him,  "in  its  actual  state  of 
"  corruption,  and  as  to  its  authority,  upon  which  you  ground  your  hope 
"  of  victory,  1  no  more  doubt  that  it  is  the  synagogue  of  satan,  and  that 
"  its  head,  who  is  called  the  Pope,  is  the  man  of  sin,  of  whom  the 
"  Apostle  speaks,  than  I  doubt  that  Jesus  Christ  has  suffered  by  the  in- 
"iquity  of  the  visible  church  of  Jerusalem." 

But  here  are  the  most  curious  lines  of  the  dissertation  :  let  us  nok 
forget,  that  they  were  written  at  Paris,  in  1840. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK.  ^63 

**  By  these,  citations,  we  perceive  what  was  the  language  of  the  reform, 
©rs,  and  that  they  were  men  of  God,  whom  God  sent  to  purge  the  Catholic 
church  of  its  errors,  and  bring  it  back  to  its  primitive  simplicity  and 
purity  ;  we  see  no  motive  for  holding  a  language  different  from  theirs, 
or  to  speak  as  courtiers  and  flatterers  concerning  a  church,  which,  in 
our  opinioTi,  is  nothing  else  than  the  Antichrist  himself." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  say,  that  Calvin  saw  in  the  Pope,  the  Anti- 
christ of  Daniel  and  of  St.  John.  On  this  subject,  he  expresses  him- 
self freely  : 

"  We  say,"  he  writes,  ''that  Daniel  and  St.  Paul  have  foretold  that 
the  Antichrist  would  seat  himself  in  the  temple  of  God  :  we  say  that 
the  Pope  of  Rome  is  the  chief  and  prince  of  this  cursed  and  abomina- 
ble kingdom We  say  that   he  has  profaned  the  church  by  his 

impiety,  afflicted  it  by  the  inhumanity  of  his  domination,  poisoned,  and 
put  it  to  death,  by  false  and  pernicious  doctrines,  so  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  there  half-buried,  the  gospel  suffocated,  Christianity  destroyed,  piety 
proscribed,  the  worship  of  God  almost  abolished."* 

He  adds  : 

"  To  some  persons,  it  seems  that  we  are  too  bitter,  when  we  call  the 
Pope  the  Antichrist ;  but  those  who  entertain  this  sentiment,  do  not 
then  see  that  they  accuse  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  of  the  same  crime,  after 
whom  we  speak,  and  from  whose  mouth  we  have  learned  to  hold  this 
language  ?  .  .  .  .  As  if  they  doubted  what  kind  of  Christianity  the 
popes  and  the  college  of  cardinals  have  professed  for  so  many  years 
past,  and  of  which  they  still  at  present  make  profession  ?  The  first  ar- 
ticle of  that  secret  theology  which  prevails  among  them  is,  that  there 
IS  NO  God  ;  the  second,  that  all  that  is  written,  and  all  that  they  preach 
regarding  Jesus  Christ,  are  but  lies  and  impostures;  the  third,  that  all 
things  contained  in  the  scriptures,  regarding  eternal  life  and  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body,  are  but  fables."t 

John  de  Muller  shrugged  his  shoulders,  while  reading  Calvin's  lines, 
which,  at  best,  are  worthy  of  a  Crespin,J  and  asked  if  it  were  not  more 
probable  that  the  Antichrist  should  find  himself  in  a  seat,  which  has 
ended  by  denying  the  Divinity  of  Jesus,  and  by  seeing  in  the  Christ  but 
a  human  being  ?§  And  H.  Grotius  said,  laughing  :  **  1  excuse  not  the 
faults  of  the  papacy ;  but  I  am  certain,  that,  if  the  Antichrist  has  ap- 
peared, he  has  shown  himself  not  only  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  but 

*  Inst.  liv.  IV,  chap.  Ill,  }  12. 

t  Inst.  liv.  IX,  ch.  VII,  J  25-27. 

^Crespin,  bookseller,  binder,  writer,  and  disciple  of  Calvin,  is  the  author  of 
a  work  entitled:  Estat  de  I'Eglise  avec  les  discours  des  temps  depuis  les  apos- 
tres  jusques  au  present,  petit  in-8,  1581 :  libelle  furibond,  06  il  soutient — que 
Paul  III  entretenoit  45,000  paiilardes,  p.  479; — qu'il  estoit  astrologue,  magi- 
cien  et  devin  (471) ; — que  les  papes  avec  Arius  et  Mahomet  ont  enseigne  que 
Jesus  n'est  pasle  fils  de  Dieu; — que  les  moines  qui  commencerent  sous  Paul, 
premier  hermite,  ont  nourri  et  maintenu  cette  mesme  h6resie  en  leurs  diverses 
fa^ons  de  vivro  (457);  que  la  papaute  periroit  en  brief  &  cause  des  mechan- 
cetez  enormes  et  detestables  qui  se  commettoyent  en  icelle  (456), 

Mohann  von  Muller.  sammtliche  Werke,  t.  VIII.  p.  256.  f.  Grotius  had 
made  the  same  reflection  as  Muller.  See  the  Antichristum  rtvclatum  of  Sam. 
Maresius. 


264  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

on  the  shores  of  lake  Leman."*  It  is  probable  that  Grotius  beheld 
him,  not  on  the  end  of  the  eleventh  horn,  of  which  Luther  speaks,  but 
through  the  smoke  and  flames  of  the  funeral  pyre  which  consumed 
Servetus. 

We  now  perceive  whether  the  written  word  is  dangerous  :  it  is  in  the 
scriptures,  that  the  reformat'on  has  discovered  that  the  Pope  is  the  An- 
tichrist, and  that  the  Pope  and  cardinals  are  atheists. 


•  Ego  paparum  vitia  non  excuse antichristus  autem  non  ad  Tiberium  tan- 

tum  sed  et  ad  Lemanum  et  alibi  apparuit.  Op.  theol.  t.  Ill,  p.  499.  Amst.,  1679. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 


THE    SCRIPTURES, 


Opinion  of  Pighius  concerning  the  value  of  scripture  and  tradition, — Heinrich 
Bensheim  of  Hagenau, — His  vision. — Luther  and  Calvin  before  the  supreme 
tribunal.  Cotta,  the  woman  according  to  the  heart  of  God, — Calvin  opposed 
to  Calvin. — Avowals  of  modern  Protestants. 

Pighius  has  censured  the  monks  for  having  accepted  the  struggle 
according  to  the  terms  imposed  by  the  reformers.  **  Undoubtedly," 
says  he,  "the  scripture,  which  their  adversaries  wi^'hed  to  constitute  sole 
judge  of  disputes,  is  a  word,  the  inspiration  of  which  was  recognized  by 
both  sides;  but  the  exterior  or  material  sign,  with  which  it  was  bound 
to  invest  itself,  could  not  possess  for  all  the  same  degree  of  clearness. 
This  sign  could  be  obscured  by  pride,  vanity,  and  all  perverse  instincts. 
Has  not  Luther  written  :  When,  in  the  Bible,  thou  shalt  find :  Do 
works,  read  :  Do  no  works  ?*  Has  he  not  been  often  forced  to  confess, 
that,  in  order  to  comprehend  the  ancient  Testament,  one  should  have 
lived  with  David,  Jeremias,  Isaias,  and  the  prophets;  and  that,  to  un- 
derstand the  evangelists  and  apostles,  it  would  be  necessary  for  a  per- 
son to  have  passed  his  days  with  St.  John  and  St.  Paul  ?  Had  Carl- 
stadt  the  same  degree  of  intelligence  as  Melancthon  ?  Did  Munzer 
understand  Hebrew  and  Syriac  like  Luther  ?  (Ecolampadius  or  Zwin- 
gle,  Greek,  like  Aleandro?  The  dispute  cannot  be  comprehended,  if 
the  sign  be  not  the  same  for  all  those  who  seek  to  explain  the  idea  which 
it  involves.  And  even  were  this  phonetic  sign  identical,  it  would  still 
be  necessary,  that  the  intelligences  which  it  addresses,  should  be  of  equal 
value.  But  if  this  conformity  of  images  does  not  exist  in  the  physical 
world,  how  could  it  be  found  in  the  intellectual  world  ?  If  one  ray  of 
the  sun  does  not  resemble  another  ray,  how  should  the  rays  of  intelli- 
gence be  the  same?  The  theologians,  therefore,  without  abandoning 
scripture,  should,  in  order  to  interpret  it,  appeal  from  it  to  authority,  the 
only  torch,  which,  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles,  shines  with  an  absolute 
clearness.  The  reformation,  then,  had  either  to  deny  this  torch, 
which  was  impossible,  or  to  refuse  to  Catholic  interpreters  the  gifts  with 
which  it  illumined  every  one  of  its  own  exegetists.  They  should  have 
said  to  it :  '*  This  word,  which  you  cite,  is  divine  :  it  came  from  the 
mouth  of  God,  or  of  men  whom  He  inspired.     We  accept  it,  we  adore 

♦  Disz  soil  dlr  ein  gewisse  Regel  seyn,  darnach  du  dich  zu  richtenhast,  dasi, 
wann  du  SchrifTt  behlcht,  und  gebiethet  gute  Werke  zu  thun,  du  es  also  ver- 
stehest,  dasz  die  SchrifTt  verbiete,  gute  Werke  zu  thun.  Tom.  3,  Witt,  lat.  fol. 
171.  t.  2  Alt.  fol.  606,  in  der  Auslegung  dcs  fttnften  Psalms. 

23 


266  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

it :  our  fathers  also  adored  it,  but  they  understood  it  differently  from 
you ;  it  is  not  possible  that  they  were  mistaken;  for  God,  in  that  case, 
would  have  abandoned  his  church;  and  where  then  should  truth  be 
found  ?" 

Wieland  has  expressed  the  same  idea  as  Pighius,  but  with  more 
colouring. — The  bible  cannot,  in  matters  of  faith,  decide  in  the  last  re- 
sort, if,  liive  a  treatise  of  geometry,  the  signs  which  it  employs  have 
not,  in  all  eyes,  an  equal  signification.*  Krug,  the  philosopher,  is, 
perhaps,  more  poetic  : — Thou  sayest  tljat  God  has  spoken,  and  that  his 
word  is  the  wing  which  is  to  bear  thee  up  to  heaven ;  and  thou  darest 
interpret  it!  and  what  if  thou  deceivest  thyself!  Should  you  tell  n.e 
that  you  rely  on  a  colieciive  interpretation,  I  might  agree  with  you  : 
but  then  the  Catholic  church  is  right. f 

In  the  year  1560,  there  dwelt  at  Hagenau  a  poor  monk,  who  had 
belonged  to  the  order  of  Dominican  friars,  driven  away  from  Strasbourg 
at  the  time  of  the  reformation.  He  called  himself  Heinrich  Bensheim, 
He  acknowledges  himself,  that,  up  to  1540,  the  epoch  of  Calvin's  ar- 
rival at  Strasbourg,  he  had  studied  the  scriptures  but  superficially,  J  being 
content  to  follow  with  docility  the  voice  of  his  superiors,  and  entirely 
occupied  in  prayer  and  meditation.  But  when  he  beheld  the  sectaries 
take  possession  of  the  convents,  and  drive  away  the  monks,  he  wished 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  spirit  of  the  new  gospel  and  the  work 
of  its  apostles.  His  study  was  long  and  conscientious  :  he  read  and 
annotated  all  the  writings  of  the  Saxon,  Swiss,  or  French  reformers, 
then  went  to  work.  His  opinion  was  that  of  Pighius.  He  revered  the 
scriptures;  but  he  believed  that  tradition  was  the  only  path  then  open 
to  bring  back  the  honest  heretic  to  the  truth.  "  Let  us  first,"  said  he, 
"seek  an  authority  in  the  reformation,  and  see  its  symbol."  The  Sax- 
on  church  offered  him  multiform  symbols,  in  which  the  word  of  two 
evangelists  presented  a  double  signification,  and  then  he  said  :  "  The 
Saxon  church  has  not  the  truth,  and  is  not  inspired,  for  the  Holy  Ghost 
has  but  one  breathing."  He  interrogated  the  Helvetic  church,  which  re- 
sponded to  him  with  the  same  confusion  of  tongues  ;  and  he  said  again: 
'♦  The  star  of  life  shines  not  upon  Zurich."  He  passed  to  Geneva,  and 
thence  to  France,  where  the  evangelical  communions  were  equally  di- 
vided in  their  doctrines. 

His  book  was  completed  :  he  wished  to  place  in  relief  these  confused 
teachings.  Then,  he  imagirffed  a  drama,  the  elements  of  which  he  found 
in  the  bull  of  Leo  X.  against  Luther,  or,  perhaps,  in  the  poem  of  Math. 
Palmieri,  called  la  cita  di  xita.§  Bensheim,  like  Accoiti,  opens  his  hea- 
ven, which  is  quite  resplendent,  with  seraphim,  archangels,  and  apostles; 
but  the  monk  places  the  scene  at  the  end  of  time,  and  he  supposes, 
what  the  Roman  cardinal  would  not  have  accorded  him,  that  the  souls 
of  heretics  have  slept  until  the  day  of  the  final  judgment. 

♦Wieland,  Bermischto  Aufsatze,  t.  I. 

t  Die  kathoHschc  Kirclie  hat  ganz  Recht  liierin.  Dr.  W.  Krug.  Philoso- 
phisches  Gutachten  in  Sachcn  des  Rationalismus  und  des  Supranaturalis- 
miis,  1827. 

J  Christliche  Erinnerung.  Mayence,  1610. 

iNiceron.,  t.  XI,  p.  83. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN     CALVIN.  267 

The  aagels,  then,  have  sounded  the  trumpet,  to  assemble  the  dead  : 
the  dead,  who  belong  to  the  reformation,  arise.  You  first  behold  the 
doctor  of  Wittenberg  move  aside  the  stone  of  his  tomb,  and  appear 
with  the  gospel  in  his  hand.  The  Sovereign  Judge,  with  the  cross  of 
Golgotha  by  his  side,  cries  out  to  the  Saxon  monk  : 
•'  Luther,  what  hast  thou  done  with  my  blood  ?" 
Luther.  "  Lord,  I  have  taught  that  it  was  corporally  in  the  Eu- 
charist. — In  my  writings  to  Froschauer,  the  printer,  I  have  said  that  I 
was  unwilling  to  have  any  intercourse  with  the  Sacramentadans  of 
Zurich,  to  receive,  or  to  read  any  of  their  books,  seeing  that  they  were 
out  of  the  church  of  God,  miserable  men,  damned,  and  forcibly  destin- 
ed to  hell,  and  because  I  was  unwilling  to  participate  in  any  manner 
in  their  damnation  and  blasphemous  doctrine;  moreover,  whilst  I  was 
living,  I  made  war  upon  them,  both  by  prayers  and  books.* 

**  And,  in  my  epistle  to  the  duke  of  Prussia,  have  I  not  written  : 
There  should  be  no  treaty  with  the  Sacramentarians,  for  they  are  op- 
posed  to  the  common  faith  of  all  the  christian  world,  concerning  the 
truth  of  the  sacrament,  and  are  divided  among  themselves  into  eight 
contrary  and  entirely  false  interpretations?  Therefore,  I  beseech  your 
grace  not  to  allow  them  to  live  in  your  country,  if  you  would  have 
quiet  in  your  soul  and  peace  in  your  province. f 

♦'  And  in  my  book  :  Qwod  verba  Christi  stent,  I  have  written  against 
the  Huguenots  and  Calvinists  : — Let  him  who  refuses  to  believe  that 
the  bread  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  the  true  and  natural  body  of  Christ, 
which  Judas  and  the  wicked  received  as  well  as  St.  Peter,  depart  from 
me,  and  not  communicate  with  me,  neither  by  letters  nor  by  other 
writings,  nor  by  words,  and  let  him  expect  no  peace  from  me,  for  he 
would  lose  his  pains.  And  it  is  of  no  avail  for  these  phrenetics  to  bab- 
ble so  loudly  about  spiritual  communion,  or  to  believe  in  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  since,  with  blasphemous  mouth,  they  deny  this 
article  of  faith." 

And  the  angel,  a  second  time,  sounded  his  trumpet. 

And  the  dust  was  agitated  to  form  again  the  body  of  Bullinger,  of  John 
Lasco,  a  Calvinist  minister  in  Poland,  of  Thomas  Naogeorgus,  of 
Ambrose  Wolff,  of  (Ecolampadius. 

And  all  these  shades,  in  passing  by  Luther,  cast  angry  words  into 
his  face. 

Bullinger.  Is  it  thou  I  behold,  oh!  Luther,  a  man  full  of  errors,  who 
hast  not  rightly  walked  in  the  way  of  the  gospel  ?  J 

John  Lasco.     Avaunt !  thou  rustic  and  ignorant  man  ! 

Thomas  Naogeorgus.  Withdraw,  thou  choleric,  envious  man, 
who  hast  invented,  a  new  doctrine,  contrary  to  holy  antiquity  ;  who  hast 
sought  only  thy  own  honor,  and  not  that  of  Christ  !§ 

Ambrose  Wolff.  Shame  on  thee,  who  hast  written  controversies, 
without  reason,  without  conscience,  without  argument,  and  contrary  to 
th«  sentiment  of  the  whole  ancient  church  ?  || 

♦  Schlusselburgius,  lib.  2  Theolog.  Calv.,  art.  12,  fol.  133. 

t  Rescius,  p.  2. 

I  h,  contra  Brent.  f  In  Psal,  26.  {|  Lib.  contra  form,  concord. 


268  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

(EcoLAMPADius.  God  will  judge  thee  ;  thyself  and  thy  followers, 
through  thy  inconstancy  and  false  wisdom,  divided  into  sixty-two  differ- 
ent opinions.* 

And  the  angel,  a  third  time,  sounded  the  trumpet,  and  Calvin  beheld 
Christ  face  to  face. 

And  Christ  asi^ed  him  as  he  had  Luther  : 

"  What  hast  thou  done  with  my  blood  ?" 

Calvin.  *•  Lord,  I  have  defended  the  truth  against  the  falsehoods 
of  thy  enemies,  the  Lutherans,  infected  with  so  many  errors  that  their 
oldest  theologians  do  not  even  understand  what  little  children  learn  in 
their  catechisms.  They  knew  not  what  the  Lord's  Supper  signified,  nor 
what  was  lis  end.  They  were  brutal  men,  not  having  an  idea  of  honest 
shame,  cavillers,  uttering  the  hyperboles  of  their  Luther,  solicitous  only 
how  to  enchant  the  people  and  please  the  world ;  and  careless  of  the 
judgment  of  God  and  his  angels  :  impetuous,  ^furious,  light,  andincon- 
slant  men,  dealers  in  fibs,  blinded  men,  drunkards,  full  of  doggish  im- 
pudence and  diabolical  pride. "f 

And,  a  fourth  time,  the  angel  sounded  the  trumpet,  the  dust  was  one© 
more  agitated,  to  form  again  a  visible  body,  and  Heshus  was  seen  to 
appear. 

Heshus,  who  at  first  was  seized  with  trembling  at  the  sight  of  CaL 
vin,  began  to  exclaim  : 

"Liar,  who,  in  all  thy  veins,  hast  not  one  drop  of  the  faithful  chsi?- 
tian  or  honest  man;  how  will  thou  and  thy  preachers  evade  the  horri- 
ble judgments  of  God,  you,  who  bear  yourselves  so  boldly  and  treacher- 
ously in  divine  things  pertaining  to  faith,  that  no  one  can  recognize  the 
least  sign  of  the  spirit  of  God  ?  Were  you  not  then  guided  by  that 
Calvinistic,  phrenetic  spirit,  the  despiser  of  God  and  of  his  word,  dis^. 
guising  your  wicked  cause,  in  terms  so  well  devised,  in  order  to  de- 
ceive simple  souls  with  all  fraud,  artifice,  and  cheat  ?  Now,  I  protest  that 
I  have  never  agreed  with  you  in  doctrine,  or  in  faith,  but  have  held  you 
to  be  false  teachers,  blasphemeis,  disloyal  and  wicked  Sacramentarians.:]: 
You  have  endeavoured,  and  especially  thou,  oh  Calvin,  the  sophist, 
to  abolish  a  sentence,  by  your  darkness  and  mists,  quite  contrary  to 
the  words  of  the  Son  of  God.  With  impudent  mouth,  you  have  blas- 
phemed, and  spoken  irreverently  of  the  flesh  of  Christ,  jugglers  as  you 
are,  destitute  of  the  spirit  of  truth,  and  replete  with  the  spirit  of  false- 
hood; cunning  players  of  pass-pass,  you  have  persecuted  the  Saxon 
churches. "§ 

And  Franz  Stancar  came,  and  jostling  Calvin,  who  turned  his  head 
round,  said  to  him  : 

*'  Thou   shalt   understand  me,    blasphemer   o(  Christ ;    thou  ! 

whom  I  hold  guilty  of  the  ancient  heresies  of  the  Cainites,  Arians,  Eu- 
tychians,  Apollinarists,  Acephali,  Theodocians,  and  Macarians.  I  have 
maintained,  that  Peter  Lombard,  called  the  master  of  sentences,  should 
be  esteemed  as  worth  more  than  four   hundred  Melancthons,  three  hun^. 

*  -^qua  Respons.  t  Admonit.  ultima  ad  Wcstplialum-^ 

:^  Epist.  ad  quemdam  ex  praecipua  nobilitate. 
i  Def.  contra  Calv.,  lib.  de  praesent.  ChristL 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

dred  Bulling«rs,  and  five  hundred  Calvins,  from  whom  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  extract  a  single  ounce  of  true  theology,  should  all  of  them 
together  be  pounded  and  mixed  in  the  same  mortar."* 

And  the  angel  sounded  the  trumpet  a  fifth  time.  "  Then,"  says  Hein- 
rich  Bensheim,  **  I  heard  a  frightful  clattering  of  bones,  which  were 
investing  themselves  with  human  flesh.  These  were  the  sectaries  gene- 
rated  by  the  reformation,  and  who  were  again  assuming  life  and  speech: 
Osiandrists,  Stancarians,  Majorists,  Flaccians,  Synergists,  Adiaphorists, 
Mansfeldians,  Misnians,  Wittenbergians,  Ubiquitists,  Substantiarians, 
Accidentarians,  Swenkfeldians,  Calvinists,  Melancthonians,  Carlstadi- 
ans,  Zwinglians,  OEcolampadians,  who  began  to  insult  each  other,  to 
reproach  each  other  for  the  souls  they  had  destroyed,  for  the  blood  they 
had  poured  out,  for  the  tears  which  they  had  caused  humanity  to 
weep !" 

And  a  voice  cried  out : 

"  Have  you  a  symbol  ?" 

And  no  one  answered. 

Then  the  angel,  for  the  sixth  time,  sounded  the  trumpet,  and  a  woman, 
vested  in  black,  approached. 

And  the  angel  asked  her  :   '*  Who  art  thou  ?" 

"  1  am  Cotta,"  answered  the  soul ;  "it  is  I,  who,  at  Madgebourg, 

to  a  poor  child,  who  asked  me  in  the  name  of  God,  gave  bread  to  appease 
his  hunger,  and  water  to  quench  his  thirst,  and  a  prayer  book,  that  he 
might  pray." 

And  Christ  said  to  her  : 

"  Come,  beloved  of  my  father  :  I  was  hungry,  and  thou  gavest  ms 
to  eat;  thou  hast,  in  the  simplicity  of  thy  heart,  believed  what  the 
church  taught  thee  ;  thou  hast  resembled  the  lily  of  the  field,  which  asks 
not  whence  comes  the  rain  that  falls  from  heaven  :  thy  humility  of 
heart  shall  be  rewarded." 

And  Bensheim  awoke.  But  his  drama  was  not  yet  completed. 
There  was  another  tribunal,  before  which  he  desired  to  summon  the  re- 
formers  ;  this  was  his  own.  His  book  ceases  to  be  poetical ,  the  monk 
has  re-appeared,  and  put  on  his  scholastic  robes,  in  order  to  judge  the 
heads  of  the  new  churches.  His  memory  seems  truly  prodigious. 
He  knows  by  heart  all  the  writings  of  the  new  doctors,  whom  he  op- 
poses, not  to  each  other,  but  to  themselves.  Calvin's  confession  is 
curious. 

CALVm.  CALVIN. 

I  would  have  for  ever  buried  such  Such  terms  are  very  profitable  to 
names  as  Trinitarian,  Divine  Persons,  the  church  of  Christ,  as  well  to  ex- 
co-essential,  and  co-eternal.  Utinam  press  the  true  distinction  of  persons  as 
hoec  nomina  sepulta  essent.  Inst.  lib.  to  exclude  the  evasions  of  heretics^ 
1 ,  c.  1 3,  J  5.  and  I  protest  that  I  embrace  them  free« 

ly.  Ep.  p.  240. 


As  to  the  simple  permission  of  God         The  temptations  which  assail  us  are 
regarding  sins,  I  call  it  falsehood,  ter-     not  fortuitous,  but  from  the  devil,  by 

♦  Rescius,  p.  26,  27.  Stancar,  de  Trinitate  et  Mediators 
23* 


270 


LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIST. 


giversation^  fiction,  a  solution  too  cold, 
cavilling.  Inst.,  1.  1,  c.  8,  ^J  1  and  2. 
L.  2,  c.  4,  i}3,  4,5. 

God  was  the  author  of  the  murders, 
massacres  and  outrages,  committed 
by  the  Chaldeans  and  Sabians  against 
Job,  his  servants  and  possessions.  Sce- 
iesti  latTones  ministri  fuerant,  Deum 
fuisse  autoreni  colligimus.  Inst.,  L  t, 
c.  18,  ii  L,  2- 


the  permission  of  God.  God  p^ermits. 
his  word  to  perish  in  some.  He  had 
permitted  Judas  to  betray,  the  Jews  to 
seize  Christ,  and  to  cry:  his  blood  ber 
upon  us,  and  upon  our  children.  Th© 
fathers  were  right,,  in  attributing  to- 
the  sole  permission  of  God,  the  blind- 
ness and  obstinacy  of  the  wicked, 
and  not  to  his  operation.  Comm.  in 
Math.  c.  4,  8,  9,  26,  27;  in  Joh.,  c.  10^ 
J 4;  Joel,  10  and  14. 


The  nam--e  of  God,  in  its  excellence, 
belongs  only  to  the  Father;  after  the 
general  judgment,  the  Son,  according 
to  his  deity,  will  be  subject  to  the  Fa- 
ther. Ad..  Valent.  Gentilem.  Inst.,  1. 
2,  c.  14,3.  la  consideration  of  his  per- 
son, the  Son  cannot  be  called  Creator 
of  heaven  and  earth..  L.  adv.  Val. 
Gentil,  The  Son  of  God,,  by  reason* 
of  his  office,  and  even  according  to  his 
deity,  is  less  than  the  Father.  Ep.  ad 
fratres  Polonos.  The  Son  is  of  him- 
self,, not  of  God  the  heavenly  Father; 
he  has- a  splendour  of  his  own,  not  en- 
gendered of  the  Father.  Inst.,  L  L c 
8;   jn9,  25.  In  c.  Uo.,  v.  9. 


The  Divine  essence  is  entirely  com- 
municated to  the  Son,  by  the  Father, 
who  is  the  principle  and  the  fountain 
of  deity :  this  is  confirmed  by  the  text 
of  St.  John,  6.,  where  the  Son  attri- 
butes to  the  Father  all  that  he  has  of 
divinity.  Inst.,  1.  1,  c.  8,  *»  23  and  25. 
Servetus:  thou  art  constrained  to  ad- 
mit that  Christ  acknowledged  himself 
to  be  from  the  Father,  and  for  this  was- 
truly  his  Son,. 


Christ  had  an  ignorance  in  common 
with  angels  and  men.  In  c.  24.  Math. 
In  cap;  2  Luc. 

From  the  Son  of  God,  a  desire  in- 
considerately escaped,  which  he  had 
forthwith  to  renounce.  In  cap.  11, 
12,  Jo..  He  asked  of  his  Father  a  thing 
impossible;  his  desire  had  to  be  chas- 
tised and  revoked.  His  prayer  was 
not  well  meditated,  but  extracted  by 
the  force  of  pain,  also  it  had  to  be 
corrected.  In  cap.  26.  Math. 


CALVIW. 

Christ  knew  what  was  hidden  front' 
men,  viz:  the  interior  of  hearts. 
Comm.  in  cap.  3  Jo. 

The  affections  of  Christ  were  never 
vicious,  but  were  always  moderated 
and  conformed  to  the  service  of  God: 
no  passion  in  him  exceeded  due  mea- 
sure; there  was  none  without  good 
reason  and  judgment,  for  he  always 
held  himself  under  the  will  of  hisFa- 
tber.  In  cap.  11  Jo.* 


We  were  more  than  once  assailed  by  doubt,  while  perusing  Heinrich 
Bensheim.';  we  were  unable  to  credit  these  incessant  transformations  of 
a  word,  which  they  announced  to  us  as  an  echo  of  the  divine  word,  and 
which,  in  truth,  resembles  the  vessel  of  the  Argonauts,  so  often  repair- 
ed, that  no  fragment  of  its   primitive   frame- work  remained.     Then, 


*  Francis  Fev-Ardent  has  exhibited  the   contradictions  of  the   Calvinistic 
and  Lutheran  doctrines,  in  a  work  which   made  a  great  noise  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  which  is  entitled  :.  Les  ENTREMANaERiBS  btGuerres  Ministrales, 
in  l2mo.     This  stanza  of  four  lines  is  found  at  the  head  of  the  book :; 
Comme  sus  le  Frintemps  la  neige  va  fondant 
Aux  rayons  du  soleil,  quand  son  cours  renouuelle, 
Ainsi  de  iour  en  iour  dedans  co  Fkv-Ardent 
Se  brusle  peu  6  peu  cesto  secte  nouuelle. 


LIFE    OF    J0H2J     CALVIK.  271 

with  an  impulse  of  incredulity,  we  proceeded  to  search  for  the  texts 
cited  by  the  monk  of  Hagenau,  and  we  found  them  at  the  page  which 
he  had  indicated.  And  we  asked  ourselves,  whether  that  light,  which 
the  reformation  brought  us,  was  truly  a  light  of  life  and  truth  ;  whether, 
like  the  light  spoken  of  by  the  Apostle  St.  John,  it  enlightened  all 
those  who  walked  in  its  glare. 

We  again  took  up  Bensheim's  book,  and  read  these  prophetic  words; 

"  And  the  day  will  come,  when  the  reformers  themselves  shall  ac- 
knowledge  the  insufficiency  of  individual  sense,  to  interpret  the  word 
of  God." 

That  day  has  come  :  for  it  is  the  reformation  which  has  penned  the 
following  lines  : 

'•'  Why  has  a  dead  letter  been  substituted  for  a  living  authority, 

if,  to  understand  the  scriptures,  you  oblige  me  to  study  the  languages 
of  the  past?     It  is  a  burden  which  you  impose  upon  my  reason."* 

'•  With  Luther's  maxim,    that   the   scripture  is  the  only  rule  of 

faith,  it  was  impossible  for  the  Protestant  school  to  preserve  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Saxon  master.  If  the  monk  abandoned  the  Catholic 
teaching  because  it  did  not  rest  on  the  scriptures,  could  the  Saxon  sym- 
bol be  preserved,  when  it  was  found  not  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  word 
of  God?'-"t 

"  Prove  to  me,  by  scripture,  that  my  doctrine  is  false,  and  I  am 

ready  to  renounce  it.  It  is  thus  thou  spokest,  oh  !  noble  Luther,  at  the 
Diet  of  Worms,  and  thou  didst  triumph.  We  will  follow  thy  exam- 
pie,  and  say  :  prove  to  us  the  truth  of  Luther's  doctrine,  and  we  shall 
deny  our  own,  for  we  do  not  believe  what  he  believed. "J 

'•  The  Protestant  church,  which  takes  the  scripture  for  a  doc- 
trinal foundation,  is  built  upon  the  sands. "§ 

♦  Prof.  Dr.  von  Schelling,  Vorlesungen  Qber  das  akademische  Studium. 
t  Plank,  Ueber  den  gegenwartigen  Zustand  und  die  Bedurfnisse  unserer  pro- 
testantischen  Kirche.   1817,  p.  24T 

:{:  D.  Papa,  Distichen  in  der  a.  K.  Z.,  1830,  No.  171. 

i  Dr.  F.  F.  Delbrfiek,  Philipp  Melanchthon,  der  Glaubenslehrer,  1826. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

calvin's  catechism. — 1541. 

The  Catholic  catechism. — Catechisms  of  Luther;  the  doctrines  contained  ii» 
them. — Calvin's  catechism,  old  and  worn  out. — The  reformation  has  not  a 
church,  but  churches. — Father  Athanasius  of  Stanztadt. — That  Catholicism 
only  can  have  a  catechism. — All  the  truths  of  the  gospel  affirmed  and  denied 
by  the  rotormation. — Various  proofs  extracted  from  Protestant  works. 

The  Catholic  catechism  *  of  Geneva  was  a  book  almost  as  ancient 
as  the  oldest  chants  of  its  church,  of  an  admirable  simplicity,  essentially 
milk  and  honey;  and,  moreover,  it  was  like  all  the  other  catechisms  of  our 
church.  It  was  nearly  the  same  that  Bossuet,  "admonished  by  his  gray 
locks,"  expounded  to  bis  little  children,  and  that  Vincent  of  Paul  caus- 
ed to  be  recited  by  the  peasants  of  Chatillon  on  the  Chalaronne.  It 
was  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue.  The  priest  asked  :  What  is  God  ?  the 
child  answered  :  God  is  an  infinite  spirit,  &c.;  in  such  sort,  that  it  wa» 
not  necessary  to  apply  to  a  philosopher,  in  order  to  know  the  symbol 
of  faith.  The  young  maiden,  on  the  point  of  making  her  first  com- 
munion, knew  as  much  as  was  known  by  Thomas  a  Kerapis. 

Luther,  struck  by  this  simplicity,  preserved  the  little  book  almost 
entire.  He  retained  the  dialogue,  the  simple  expression,  the  purplish 
colouring,  in  fine,  the  form  :  but,  with  his  breath  of  innovation,  he  cor- 
rupted the  groundwork.  In  the  Catholic  catechism,  the  priest  disap- 
peared  behind  the  divine  word,  of  which  he  was  but  the  interpreter  : 
in  the  Saxon  catechism,  the  man  stands  forward  as  the  king  of  crea- 
tion, and  the  child,  who  is  able  to  read,  learns  to  know  him  who  is 
charged  with  distributing  to  him  the  celestial  manna,  before  he  has  even 
touched  it.  Do  you  comprehend  that  this  monk  has  nailed  upon  the 
head  of  his  large  and  small  catechism,  a  preface,  in  which  he  finds  oc- 
casion to  insult  Catholics?  In  the  preface  to  his  large  catechism, 
he,  for  a  moment,  forgets  the  papists,  who,  although  he  long  since  sang 
their  downfall,  still  prevent  him  from  sleeping,  and  he  pounces  upon 
the  reformed  ministers.  "  Fallen  beings,  who  think  only  of  their 
bellies ;  keepers  of  dogs,  rather  than  pastors  of  christian  souls,  who^ 
quite  glad  to  be  disburdened  of  their   breviaries,  find  it  too  fatiguing  to 

*Christi  domestic!  et  fratres  dicebantur  graece  katechoumenoi,  eseterum  qui 
eos  viva  voce  erudiebant,  katechistai,  et  eruditio  ipsa  katechesis,  universum  vero 
negocium  hoc  appellabant  katcchismon» — Prcef.  Wicelii  in  suum  catechismum. 
Col.  1554. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  273 

read,  each  morning  and  evening,  a  single  page  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  fall  down  exhausted,  when  they  have  recited  the  Lord's  Prayer."* 
We  have  searched  to  find  whether  Luther  had  placed  calumny  in  the 
catalogue  of  sins,  and  we  have  found  it  noted  down  as  an  offence 
against  God  and  the  neighbour.  It  is  not  probable,  therefore,  that  he 
was  willing  to  lie  against  his  conscience,  in  drawing  for  us  so  sad  a  por- 
trait of  the  ministers  of  his  church,  renegades,  whose  loss  Catholicism 
has  no  reason  to  deplore,  and  whose  conquest  the  reformation  has  no 
reason  to  chant.  Luther's  golden  volume.  Liber  aureus,  for  a  long 
time  ranked  among  the  symbolical  books  of  Saxony,  has  seen  its  time  : 
advanced  Protestantism  no  longer,  at  this  day,  admits  human  words  as 
dogmatic,  but  it  still  continues  grossly  to  insult  our  articles  of  belief. 
Has  it  not,  in  our  time,  reprinted  "the  Papistical  Catechism"  of  John 
Frid.  Mayer  ?  a  miserable  pasquinade,  in  which  the  child  is  asked  to 
recite  the  first  commandment  of  God ;  and  in  which  the  child  answers: 
"  Thou  shalt  adore  the  Lord  thy  God,  Mary,  the  holy  angels,  the  saints 
and  their  relics,  the  figure  of  the  cross,  the  cross,  the  holy  father,  &c."t 
In  1536,  Calvin,  probably  with  the  assistance  of  Farel,  published  a 
French  catechism,  for  the  use  of  the  church  of  Geneva,  which  he  trans- 
lated into  Latin,  and  had  published  at  Bale,  by  Robert  Winter.  J  In 
his  letter  to  Sommerset,  he  thus  establishes  the  necessity  for  a 
catechism  : 

*  Qui  scientiae  opinione  inflati,  aut  ventri  indulgentes  non  decent  plebem, 
digni  utique  ut  canuiu  custodes  (Hundeknechle)  siut  potius  quam  animarum 
custodes. — Liberati  a  molestissima  Breviarii  recitatione,  unam  tamen  alteramve 
singulis  diebus  mane,  meridie  ei  vesperi  ex  catechisino,  novo  testamento  aut 
alio  scriptures  sacree  libro  legere  gravantur,  aut  orationem  dominicam  pro  se  et 
auditoribus  suis  recitare. — Seckendorf,  comment,  historicus....  de  Lutheranis- 
mo.  Lib.  II,  sect.  17,  *  41,  p.  146. 

t  Dii  sollst  den  Herrn  deinen  Gott  nit  allein  anbetten,  sondern  neben  ihme 
Mariam,  die  H.  Engel,  die  vetstorbenen  Heiligen,  ihre  Reliquien,  die  Figur 
des  Kreutzes,  das  Kreutz  selber,  den  heiligen  Vater  Pabst  und  vil  anderc  mehr. 

Mayer's  Papistical  Catechism  had  great  success  in  Germany.  Published 
for  the  first  time  (we  think),  in  1679,  it  was  reprinted  at  Frankfort,  on  the 
Oder,  in  1717,  under  the  stamp  of  that  entirely  Catholic  city,  Cologne:  a  lie 
on  the  title  page,  and  a  lie  on  each  page  of  the  work. 

:J:Basileae  1538.  Catechismus  sive  ch.  rel.  institutio  ecclesiee  Genev.  vulgari 
prius  idomate  edita  nuncque  postremo  latinitate  etiam  donata.  Joan.  Calvino 
autore:  Omnes  homines  ad  religionem  esse  natos. — Quid  inter  falsam  ac  ve- 
ram  religionem  intersit. — Quid  de  Deo  nobis  cognoscendum. — De  homine. — 
De  libero  arbitrio. — De  peccato  et  morte. — Quomodo  in  salutem  ac  vitam  resti- 
tuaraur. — De  lege  Domini. — Exodi  XX.  Ego  sum  Dominus  (explicatio  Deca- 
logi). — Legis  summa, — Quid  ex  sola  lege  ad  nos  redeat. — Legem  gradum  esse 
ad  Christum. — Christum  fide  a  nobis  apprehendi. — De  electione  et  preedestina- 
tione. — Quid  sit  vera  fides. — Fides  donum  Dei. — In  Christo  justificamur  per 
fidem. — Per  fidem  sanctificamur  in  legis  obedientiam  — De  pcenitentia  et  re- 
^eneratione. — Quomodo  bonorum  operum  et  fidci  justitia  simul  conveniant. — 
bymbolum  fidei. — Credo  in  unum  Deum  etc.  Explicatio  Symboli  apostolici. — 
Quid  sit  spes. — De  oratione. — Quid  in  oratione  spectandura. — Orationis  domi- 
nies enarratio.  (Explicatio  orationis  dominicse). — Orandi  perseveratio. — De 
sacramentis. — Quid  sacramentum. — De  baptismo. — De  ccena  Domini. — De  ec- 
clesiae  pastoribus  et  eorum  potestate. — De  traditionlbus  humanis. — De  excom- 
municatione. — De  magistratu. — Sequitur:  "Confessio  fidei  in  quam  jurare 
cives  omnes  genevenses,  et  qui  sub  civitatis  ejus  ditione  agunt,  jussi  sunt,  ex- 
scripta  e  Catechismo,  quo  utiturecclesia  genevensis." 


574 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


"  True  it  is,  that  it  is  meet  and  expedient  to  obviate  that  levity  of  fan- 
tastical minds,  who  allow  themselves  too  much  license,  and  also  to  close 
the  door  upon  all  curiosity  and  new  doctrines;  but  the  good  and  proper 
means  for  doing  this,  is  such  as  God  points  out  to  us.  It  is,  first,  to 
have  some  determined  suminary  of  doctrine,  which  all  ought  to  'preach, 
which  all  prelates  and  pastors  should  swear  to  follow,  and  that  no  one 
should  be  received  to  the  ecclesiastical  office,  who  does  not  promise  to 
maintain  such  union.  Afterwards,  that  there  be  a  common  formulary  o( 
instructions,  for  little  children  and  ignorant  persons,  which  may  render 
good  doctrine  familiar  to  them ;  so  that  they  may  discern  it  from  false- 
hoods and  corruptions  which  might  be  introduced  to  the  contrary.  Be- 
lieve, my  Lord,  that  the  church  of  God  never  luill  preserve  itself  with- 
out a  catechism  :  for  this  is  as  the  seed  to  prevent  the  good  grain  from 
perishing,  and  to  make  it  increase  from  age  to  age.  And  as  you  desire 
to  erect  an  edifice  which  shall  endure  long,  and  not  soon  fall  to  decay ^ 
cause  the  children  to  be  instructed  in  a  good  catechism,  which  briefly 
manifests  to  their  little  minds  in  what  consists  true  Christianity.  This 
catechism  will  serve  for  two  purposes,  viz.  as  an  introduction  to  all  the 
people,  to  enable  them  to  profit  by  what  shall  be  preached  to  them> 
and  also,  to  aid  them  to  discern  if  any  presumptuous  person  teaches  a 
strange  doctrine.  However,  I  do  not  say  that  it  is  not  good  and  neces. 
sary  to  restrict  pastors  and  cures  to  the  keeping  of  a  written  form,  as 
well  to  supply  the  ignorance  of  some,  as  also  the  better  to  manifest 
conformity  and  concord  among  the  churches.  Thirdly,  to  cut  short  the 
progress  of  all  curiosity  and  new  invention,  on  the  part  of  such  as 
might  be  inclined  to  extravagances." 

In  his  catechism  for  children,*  Calvin  has  not  pursued  the  sam» 
plan  as  Luther,  who  defines  and  explains  the  law,  then  exposes  the 
dogma  or  creed,  and  afterwards  comes  to  prayer.  Calvin's  progres- 
sion  is  more  rational.     Behold  how  he  proceeds  : 

—  What  is  it  truly  to  know  God  ? 

It  is  to  know  him  in  order  to  honor  him. 

—  What  is  the  true  manner  of  honoring  him  ? 
It  is,  firvSt :  to  place  all  our  confidence  in  him  ; 
2dly.     To  serve  him,  by  complying  with  his  will; 

3dly.  By  invoking  him  in  all  our  troubles,  centering  in  him  om 
hopes,  our  salvation,  our  present  life ; 

*  Le  catechisme,  c'est-i-dirc  le  formulaire  d'instruire  les  enfants  en  lachres- 
tiente,  fait  en  la  maniere  do  dialogue,  ou  le  maistre  interroge  et  I'enfant  r6- 
pond. — Op   de  Calvin,  p  200. 

"  Calvin  composed  this  catechism  in  French,  in  the  year  1536,  and  published 
it  at  Bale,  in  Latin,  in  1538.  He  changed  its  form  in  1541,  reducing  it  into  a 
good  method,  by  questions  and  responses,  to  be  more  easy  for  children  t 
whereas,  in  the  other,  the  matters  were  treated  by  way  of  summaries  and 
short  chapters."  Beza. — Calvin  afterwards  made  a  Latin  translation,  which 
was  printed  at  Strasbourg,  in  1545:  this  edition  was  copied  at  the  end  of  the 
Latin  edition  of  the  Institutes,  printed  at  Geneva,  in  1549,  in  quarto. 

The  edition  of  1538  must  be  very  rare,  since  it  was  not  reprinted,  and  there 
are  grounds  for  believing  that  Calvin  wanted  to  suppress  it.  David  Clement, 
Bibl.  Cur.  t.  VI,  p.  96,  note.     The  catechism  has  been  translated  iato  Hebrew. 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  275 

4thly.  By  confessing,  with  heart  and  lips,  that  every  good  comes 
from  him. 

The  principle  of  true  faith  consists  in  the  contemplation  of  God  in 
Christ ;  from  this  ascetic  vision,  he  deduces  the  apostolic  symbol  formed 
by  four  representations  :  the  Father,  the  Son,  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 
Church. 

From  faith,  he  proceeds  to  consider  works,  repentance,  the  law,  and 
the  ten  commandments;  then  what  he  calls  **the  service  of  God," 
which  consists  in  doing  his  will. 

From  the  law,  he  passes  to  prayer ;  for  man  has  need  of  divine  as- 
sistance, in  order  to  do  the  will  of  God. 

The  Lord's  Prayer  serves  him  as  a  text  for  glorifying  the  Lord,  who 
is  the  source  of  every  good,  and  who  has  given  his  holy  word  and  the 
sacraments  to  the  church. 

At  the  head  of  his  formulary,  the  reformer  has  placed  these  insolent 
lines. 

•*  To  instruct  little  children  in  christian  doctrine,  is  a  thing  which 
the  church  has  always  held  in  singular  esteem.  And  to  do  this,  in  an- 
cient times,  they  not  only  had  schools,  and  commanded  every  one  care- 
fully to  indoctrinate  his  family ;  but  also,  the  public  orders  were  held 
bound  to  examine  the  little  children  upon  points  which  should  com- 
monly be  known  to  all  christians.  And  that  they  might  proceed  with 
method,  they  made  use  of  a  formulary,  called  the  catechism.  Since, 
the  devil,  by  dissipating  the  church,  and  making  horrible  ruin,  of  which 
the  marks  are  still  to  be  seen  in  most  parts  of  the  world,  has  destroyed 
this  holy  policy,  and  has  left  nothing  but  some  sort  of  relics  of  this 
custom,  which  can  only  serve  to  engender  superstition  without  in  any 
wise  conducing  to  edification;  they  call  that  confirmation,  which  is  a 
mere  mummery,  without  the  least  foundation." 

We  must  here  imitate  Calvin's  frankness,  and  tell  him  that  he  de- 
ceives his  reader.  At  the  moment  he  was  accusing  our  church  of  leav- 
ing children  without  spiritual  nourishment,  our  presses  in  every  country 
were  labouring  to  reproduce,  under  various  titles,  of  Articuli jfidei,  and 
Rudimenta  fidei,  in  Latin,  in  French,  and  in  German,  this  little  book, 
which  already  bore  the  name  of  catechism.*  There  was  one  at  least 
which  he  should  have  known,  we  mean  that  which  Erasmus  published, 
under  the  title  of :   Dilucida  explanatio  symboli.j 

Calvin's  method  met  with  little  sympathy  in  Germany.  Ursinus  and 
Olevian  changed  the  pedagogical  form  of  the  two  reformers.  It  is  man 
in  all  his  misery,  fallen  through  sin,  that  the  child  first  learns  to  know. 
But  this  man  has  been  freed  and  resuscitated  by  his  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
What  is  this  faith  ?  Olevian  furnishes  its  formula  :  Man,  made  free, 
owes  his  love  and  gratitude  to  his  Saviour,  and  the  christian  soul  learns 

•  Who  knows  not  the  catechism  of  Wicel,  translated  from  the  German  into 
Latin  verses,  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  catechism  of  Ed- 
mund Auger? 

t  This  little  work,  which  obtained  the  approbation  of  Sadolet,  (Sadol.  ep.  5. 
lib.  4.)  appeared  in  1533,  (Ep.  Er.  ep.  43,  1.  29.)  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  cate- 
chism.    Vie  d'Erasme  par  Burigny,  t,  II,  p.  353, 


276  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

in  what  this  love  consists.  If  he  loves^  he  must  live  in  a  holy  manner, 
and  obey  the  principles  of  the  divine  law.  Then  comes  the  exposition 
of  the  ten  commandments  and  of  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

Calvin  revised  his  French  work,  in  1645,  and  changed  its  method. 
In  the  new  edition,  he  proceeds  by  dialogue,  and  deduces  faith  before 
the  law.  The  Genevan  synod  ranked  the  catechism  among  the  sym- 
bolical books,  and  received  it  as  an  enchiridion  of  christian  truths, 
written  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  synods  of 
France  decided  that  the  reformed  churches  should  receive  it,  without 
changing  any  thing  in  it.  But  it  has  encountered  the  fate  of  Marot's 
rhymes  :  the  worm  of  time  has  gnawed  it,  and  Vernet,  the  rationalist, 
has  taken  the  place  of  Calvin. 

Thus,  in  the  reformation,  spirit  and  matter,  signs  and  ideas,  every 
thing  dies.  Could  it  happen  otherwise  ?  Behold  these  books,  which 
were  designed  for  childhood,  and  in  which  all  the  light  the  reformation 
had  was  poured  forth;  there  is  not  one  of  them  which  includes  identi- 
cal doctrines.  Upon  the  title,  was  written  :  for  the  use  of  the  Protest- 
ant churches.  What  churches  ?  Those  of  France,  of  Switzerland, 
of  Silesia,  of  Denmark,  of  Sweden,  or  of  England  ?  The  reforma- 
tion is  right :  Let  it  still  leave  upon  the  title  page  of  its  cate- 
chisms :  for  the  use  of  the  Protestant  churches.  In  this  stands  record- 
ed its  own  sentence.  It  has  not  a  church,  but  churches;  and  this  de- 
cree has  been  drawn  up  by  a  writer  of  the  reformation.* 

Not  long  since,  in  visiting  the  church  dedicated  to  St.  Nicholas-de- 
Flue,  at  Stantztadt,  in  Switzerland,  we  saw  a  capuchin,  with  silvered 
locks,  teaching  the  catechism  to  some  peasants. 

—  "Who  are  the  beloved  of  God?"  asked  the  monk  of  a  little  girl. 
"  Those  who  know  their  catechism  well,"  responded  the  child,  with- 
out hesitation. 

The  father  smiled. 

—  "  She  is  right,"  said  father  Athanasius  to  me,  in  the  evening  :  "is 
not  the  whole  sacred  chrism  of  the  divine  word  contained  in  this  little 
book  ?  Some  few  drops  may  also  have  fallen  into  those  little  books 
which  Protestants  place  in  ihe  hands  of  their  children,  but  mingled 
with  the  water  of  rain  and  snow." 

—  "  You  would  speak  of  their  catechism  ?"  said  I,  in  reply. 

—  Or  of  their  manuals,  to  which  they  give  this  name,  rejoined  the 
monk  ;  for,  as  there  is  only  one  God,  there  can  be  only  one  catechism. 
Do  you  wish  me  to  give  this  name  to  compilations,  in  which  creed 
changes  like  the  temperature  of  our  mountains,  at  every  thousand 
fathoms  ?  The  catechism  of  Geneva  is  not  like  that  of  Neuchatel ; 
the  catechism  of  Neuchatel  is  different  from  that  of  Zurich.  Hear  me, 
added  he,  and  be  not  in  dread  of  this  cowl,  in  which  Luther  has  lodged 
the  seven  capital  sins,  without  even  having  shown  favour  to  the  one 
borne  by  our  holy  liberator,  the  hermit  Nicholas  de  Flue.  Let  us  seat 
ourselves  before  this  beautiful  lake  of  Lungern,  the  surrounding  fields 
of  which  have  been  made  fertile  by  monks,  and  I  will  cast  aside  my 

♦Planck,  G.  J.,  Ueberdie  gegenwartige  Lage  der  katholischen  und  protes- 
tantischen  Parley.  1816. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  277 

<owl  and  wallet,  and  we   shall  see   whether   any  sins  will  fall  out  of 
them. 

We  went  and  seated  ourselves  on  a  little  mount,  which  sloped  down 
in  verdant  undulations,  whence  our  eye  could  behold  Mount  Pilate  to 
the  north,  the  Miseberg  to  the  south,  the  valley  of  Obwalden  in  front, 
quite  studded  with  beautiful  trees,  thick  forests,  and  green  hills,  which  re- 
lieved the  angular  projections  of  the  rocks. 

—  *'  I  am  all  attention,  father,"  said  I  to  the  monk,  "  I  am  waiting 
for  you  to  shake  the  tree  of  knowledge,  for  here  we  are  in  a  real  terres- 
trial Paradise." 

—  *'  It  is  error  herself,  and  not  I,  that  shall  shake  the  tree  of  knowl- 
edge," 

'*  The  dogma  of  original  sin,  as  that  of  man's  regeneration  by  the 
blood  of  the  Redeemer,  is  an  article  of  faith." 

It  is  Walch  who  speaks.* 

*^  The  dogma  of  original  sin  is  to-day  abandoned,  for  it  is  not  ground- 
ed on  scripture  :  it  would  be  prejudicial  to  the  development  of  the 
human  mind." 

[t  is  doctor  Hase  who  thus  expresses  himself.f 

Think  you,  that  Walch  and  Hase  can  teach  the  same  catechism  ? 

*'  Baptism  confers  grace,  and  makes  us  the  children  of  God." 

This  is  the  doctrine  of  Melancthon.J 

*'  Baptism  is  but  a  symbol  :  it  is  the  figurative  representation  of  our 
entrance  into  the  christian  church." 

This  is  the  teaching  of  Dr.  Thomas  Balguy.§ 

Do  you  believe  that  these  two  doctors  should  put  the  same  catechism 
into  the  hands  of  their  children  ? 

**  The  body  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  are  really  and  truly  in  the 
sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  under  the  species  or  appearances  of 
br^ad  and  wine." 

You  are  aware  that  this  is  the  doctrine  constantly  maintained  by 
Luther,  || 

"  Jesus  took  the  bread,  and  brake  it,  and  said  :  this  is  my  body,  that 
is,  the  image  of  my  body  ; — this  is  my  blood,  that  is,  the  image  of  my 
blood,  which  shall  be  poured  out  like  wine  from  the  chalice." 

This  is  the  interpretation  of  Jacobi.lT 

Will  Jacobi  put  into  his  daughter's  hands  the  catechism,  which 
Luther  had  composed  for  his  little  Margaret  ? 

**  Man  resembles  the  statue  of  Lot,  a  knight  holding  by  the  crupper 
of  a  restive  horse,  which  carries  him  whither  it  pleases." 

Luther  tells  us  this. 


*  Prof.  J.  G.  Walch,  Einleitiing  in  die  polemische  Gottesgelahrtheit,  1754, 
p.  312. 

+  Dr.  Karl  Hase,  Lehrbuch  der  evang.  Dogmatik.  1826. 

I  Augsburger  Confession,  1530.  Art.  IX,  des  Glaubens  und  der  Lehre. 

*  D.  Thomas  Balguy,  Discourses,  dedicated  to  the  King.  1785,  p.  298. 

II  Augs.  Konf.  Art.  X. 

^  Dr.  J.  A,  Jacobi,  Die  Geschichte  Jesu   fOr  denkende  und  gemQthvolle  Le- 
ser.  1816. 

24 


278  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIT. 

•'Whoever  says  that  he  has  not  received  free-will  from  God,  i*tlic 
lazy  servant,  who  buries  his  talent  in  the  ground." 

So  teaches  Schulz.* 

Schulz  is  right,  in  rejecting  the  kleine  Kalechismus  of  the  Saxofs 
monk. 

"  We  have  stripped  the  demon  of  his  personality  :  in  our  days,  wo 
can  laugh  at  him  as  a  fiction. "f 

You  have  just  heard  Treschow,  who  is  reckoned  to  be  one  of  the^ 
luminaiies  of  the  reformation. 

But  you  will  not  long  listen  to  him.  Here  comes  Reinhard,  a  man 
of  great  science,  of  an  eloquence  which  entrances  the  heart,  who,  in 
his  dogmatic  teaching,  maintains  : 

"  That  to  deny  the  existence  of  the  devil,  as  an  absolute,  identical 
being,  is  to  attack  scripture,  which,  at  every  instant,  proclaims  the  de- 
vouring activity  of  this  fallen  angel. "J 

Hence,  therefore,  if  Treschow  admit  the  necessity  of  a  christian 
manual  for  children,  it  is  not  to  Reinhard,  a  Protestant  like  ijinjself, 
that  lie  will  entrust  its  preparation. 

When,  before  admitting  a  child  to  the  holy  communion,  I  ask  him 
to  recite  the  creed,  the  child  obeys  me;  and  the  creed  which  he  repeats 
here,  in  our  little  country  church,  is  the  same  that  ycu  will  hear  in 
France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  in  all  Catholic  count) ics. 

The  child  says,  every  where  :  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Holy- 
Catholic,  Apostolic,  Roman  Church,  in  the  resuuection  of  the- 
dead,"  &c. 

Should  I  ask  the  Protestant  Kffihler,  whether  our  bodies  will  rise 
again  ?  he  will  answer  : 

*'  Yes.  Christ,  at  the  end  of  the  world,  will  resuscitate  the  bodies  of 
men;  that  is,  the  bodies  will  be  again  united  with  their  sculs.  After 
the  resurrection  will  come  the  last  judgment. "§ 

But  Ammon  will  say  : 

"Since  the  notions  of  resurrection  ard  judgment  do  rot  flow  from 
the  New  Testament,  the  books  of  revelation  have  therefore  only  a  purely 
historical  value."  i| 

—  Do  me  the  favour  to  listen  to  me,  said  father  Athanasius  :  I  want 
to  bring  before  you,  one  by  one,  the  principal  tiuti  s  of  chiistianity  ; 
you  shall  behold  those  which  will  enter  into  the  rcfoin  (d  i^)i\  lol. 

The  .scriptures  teach  us  that,  at  the  great  day  of  judnr.cnt,  Jcfus  will 
appear  in  all  his  power,  and  will  say  to  the  gccd  :  Ccn  e,  the  blcefcd 
of  my  P'ather,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  yours;  rrd  to  the  wicked  : 
Depart,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire.  Our  children  have  learned 
this  in  their  catechism. 

Hasenkamp  is  brief  in  his  sentence. 

*•  Down  with  the  dogma  of  eternal  punishments,  and  the  poisoned 
vapours  of  the  abyss!"  ^ 

*  Wns  heiszt  Glaubcn?  15J30,  p.  147. 

t  Dr.  Treschow,  Dcr  Goist  drs  Christcnthiims,  1828. 

I  Roinharc),  Vorlcsurgcn  (ibor  die  Dogmat^Jk,  3d  edition,  1812,  p.  195. 
<)  Kohlcr,  dicHaupt-jitzo  der  chr'stliclien  R(  ligion,  182P,  p.  22-  23. 

II  C.  F   Ammon,  Biblische  Tluolog'e,  2d.  edition,  1813,  t.  Ill,  p.  267. 
1[  Hasenkamp,  Die  Wthrlicit  zur  Gottseligkcit,  III,  p.  309. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIH.  270 

And  Walch  is  still  more  precise  : 

"  The  eternity  of  punishment  is  established  by  the  scriptures."* 

Here  are  two  catechists,  who  could  not  meet  each  other  in  the  same 
temple,  without  laughing. 

Koehler  says  to  the  child  : — "  The  Holy  Ghost  is  the  third  person  of 
the  Holy  Trinity."! 

Ewald  draws  near,  and  overhearing  him,  exclaims  :  **  No,  nothing 
can  prove  to  me  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  I  do  not  find  it  in 
the  Bible,  and  I  believe  nothing  but  what  1  read  in  the  Bible. "if 

"  Is  Jesus  Christ  God  ?" 

Our  child  answers  :   '-Yes,  he  is  God." 

And  if  I  ask  doctor  Ammon's  little  girl :   Is  Jesus  Christ  God  ? 

The  minister's  child  will  answer  :  -'Yes;"  and  the  father  will  add  : 
"If  Jesus  Christ  is  God,  if  he  is  our  Mediator,  our  Saviour,  his  doctrine 
is  holy."§ 

But  what  will  the  son  of  Cludius  say?  He  will  answer :  *•  No, 
Jesus  is  not  God;  for,  in  the  scripture,  he  never  announced  himself  as 
any  thing  but  a  missionary  of  God.  His  doctrine  has  no  connection 
with  his  person."  II 

1  must  read  you  a  fine  passage  of  a  moralist : 

**  Since  Jesus  has  taken  upon  himself  the  sins  of  the  world;  since 
he  has  offered  himself  in  sacrifice  to  redeem,  the  human  race ;  since  he 
has  satisfied  his  Father's  justice,  by  suffering  in  his  own  flesh ;  God,  in 
virtue  of  the  merits  of  the  blood  of  his  Son,  can  well  pardon  repentant 
sinners,  remit  to  them  the  penalties  incurred  by  their  disobedience,  and 
place  them  in  his  glory.  Without  faith  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  the 
soul  cannot  hope  for  salvation  in  eternal  life."|| 

—  Beautiful  and  noble  words,  said  I  to  father  Athanasius, 

—  Very  fine,  as  you  have  remarked,  and  for  which  I  return  my  thanks 
to  doctor  Kraftt;  but  listen  to  doctor  Paulus. 

'•  How  can  such  ideas,  so  little  biblical,  as  those  of  satisfaction, 
reparation,  and  redemption  by  a  bloody  expiation,  ever  be  admitted  by 
a  christian  ?"ir 

To  which  of  ihem  would  you  present  your  children  for  instruction  ? 

And  these  are  two  glorious  intelligences,  who,  with  their  very  pow- 
erful imaginations,  could  not  write  a  dialogue  of  two  lines  concerning 
the  christian  symbol !  Bring  before  me  all  the  Protestants  in  the 
world,  I  will  non-pluss  the  whole  of  them,  by  demanding  from  them  a 
page  of  catechism  for  my  little  children.  And  yet,  they  will  say  to  me 
tliat  they  have  found  the  truth,  and  they  cannot  define  what  the  truth  is. 

Father  Athanasius,  after  a  moment's  silence,  added  ; 

*  Walch,  loc.  cit.,  p.  488.  +  Kohler,  loc.  cit.,  p.  16.  ^ 
t  J.  L.  Ewald,  nothiger   Anhan^  zu   der   Schrift:  die  Reliffionslohre  der 

Bibel.  1814.  a  o  e 

^  Ammon,  die  unveranderliche  Einheit,  1827,  III,  p.  21. 

♦  G.  H.  Cludius,  Uransichten  des  Christenthums,  1808. 

H  Dr.  I.  C.  G.  L.  Krafft,  Christus  unsere  Weisheit.  Vier  Predigten,  1829, 
p.  33. 

If  Prof.  Dr.  H.  E,  G.  Paulus,  Das  Leben  Jesu  als  Grundlage  einer  reinen 
Goschichte  desUrchristenthums,  1828.  (pieface). 


280 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIW, 


—  Do  you  see  yon  little  tower  ?  It  was  there  dwelt  Nicholas  de 
Flue.  I  occupy  the  little  chamber,  where,  each  morning,  on  rising 
with  the  sun,  he  prostrated  himself  to  adore  in  spirit  Him,  who  gives 
fertility  to  our  fields,  who  gives  life  to  our  flowers,  water  to  our  rocks, 
nourishment  to  our  birds,  material  bread  to  our  labourers.  I  said  to 
myself,  sometimes  :  this  poor  hermit,  who  believed  the  doctrines  he  was 
taught,  walked  well  in  the  way  of  the  Lord.  Is  it  a  misfortune  for 
him,  not  to  have  beheld  the  light  which  the  reformation  pretends  to  have 
caused  to  shine  upon  the  world?  Then  all  the  reminiscences  of  my 
former  reading,  (for  1  was  long  harrassed  by  doubts),  came  thronging 
and  buzzing  in  n)y  head,  like  those  insects  which  the  setting  sun  causes 
to  gather  round  us. 

And  Zschockke  exclaimed  : — *'  Let  Protestantism  march  onward,, 
even  if  it  be  destined  to  plunge  into  a  bottomless  abyss  !"* 

And  Wolfarth  said  : — "  If  the  evangelical  church  desire  to  main, 
tain  her  ground,  let  her  unfurl  the  standard  of  the  crusader,  let  her  be 
faithful  to  this  Teutonic  motto  :   Hurrah  !  onward  !"'t 

And  Kleuker  cried: — "Come,  courage;  let  us  protest  against  the 
protestations  of  the  new  Protestantism  !":}: 

And  Berger  said: — "What  must  one  do  to  obtain  eternal  life? 
There  are  as  many  answers  to  this  question  as  there  are  Protestants." § 

A.nd,  declared  Rambech  : — "We  are  in  a  very  Babel :  Babel,  in 
Hebrew,  is  confusio,  that  is,  confusion,  that  is,  confession."  1| 

And  Fischer  said  : — "  Give  me  a  mile  square,  and  I  shall  find  for 
you  five  or  six  pulpits,  in  which  the  pastors  preach  a  different  gospel.  .  .„ 
The  people,  in  their  simplicity,  believe  that  truth  is  one,  and  they  caa- 
not  comprehend  how  each  minister  can  be  in  possession  of  a  dogma 
which  is  his  own  peculiar  property. "IT 

But  lo  !  God  has  given  to  figures  a  more  poAverful  voice  than  ever 
was  that  of  the  dissenting  reformers  :   I  will  cause  you  to  hear  it. 

In  1823,  the  Presbyterians,  whose  churches  are  most  numerous  in 
the  south,  the  west,  and  the  centre  of  the  United  States,  had  1,21 4  pas- 
tors,  and  136,473  members;  the  Congregationalists,  whose  hierarchy, 
since  1708,  occupies  a  middle  ground,  between  the  Presbyterians  and 
the  Independents,  had  720  ministers  and  960  churches;  the  Baptists, 
2,577  ministers;  the  Episcopal  church,  11  bishops,  486  ministers,  24,- 
075  members;  the  Wesleyans,  3  bishops,  1,405  ministers,  and  382,000* 
members;  the  Quakers  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York, 
750,000  members;  the  German  Protestants,  90  pastors,  and  30.000 
members;  the  Dutch  Reformed,  150  ministers,  and  40,000  members? 
the  Lutherans,  200  ministers,  and  800  congregations ;  the  Swedenbor- 
gians,   50  preachers,   and   100,000  members;  the  Universalists,  140 

*  J.  H.  D.  Zschokke,  Ueberlieferungen  zur  Geschichte  unserer  Zeit.  1817. 
Oct.,  p.  28. 

t  Dr.  A.  Wohlfnrth  in  der  all.  Kirch.  Zeit.,  1830,  No.  593. 

:}:  Dr.  J.  F.  Kleuker,  Ueber  den  alteu  und  neuen  Protestantismus,  1832, 

i  Berger,  Einleitungziir  Roligion  in  der  Vernunft. 

II  Dr.  J.  J.  Rambach,  Historische  Einleitung  in  die  Streitigkeiten  zwischen 
der  evangelisch-lutherischen  und  romisch-katholischen  Kirche,  t.  I,  p.  201. 

IT  Dr  Fr.  Fischer,  Zur  Einleitung  in  die  Dogmatik  der  evang.  protest* 
Kirche,  1828. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  281 

pastors,  and  5,400  members  ;  the  Presbyterians,  60  pastors,  and  60 
congregations;*  the  Free- Will  Baptists,  242  ministers,  and  12,000 
members;  the  Six-Principle  Baptists,  20  ministers,  and  1,500  mem- 
bers ;  the  open-Communion  Baptists,  who  are  not  Anabaptists,  23  minis- 
ters, and  1,284  members;  the  Sabbatharians,  29  ministers,  and  2,862 
members ;  the  Marionites,  200  ministers,  and  20,000  members. f 

One  fine  day,  some  Protestant  missionaries,  with  the  Bible  under 
their  arms,  alighted  upon  this  land,  already  agitated  by  so  many  sects, 
and,  at  their  breath,  were  seen  to  be  born  new  Baptists,  Methodists, 
Hernhutters,  Calvinists,  rigid  Lutherans,  Presbists,  Rationalists  and 
Suprarationalists.:}!  The  sun  is  not  more  fertilizing,  upon  our  moun- 
tains in  the  month  of  May,  than  is  the  word  of  these  evangelical  pil- 
grims ;  except,  that  the  herbs,  flowers,  and  grain,  which  it  causes  to 
grow  and  mature,  all  chant  the  same  canticle;  whilst  the  souls  begot- 
ten by  the  reformation,  have  each  a  different  canticle. 

"  And  now  permit  a  page  of  the  catechism  of  one  of  these  communions 
to  fall  amongst  them,  and  you  may  be  certain  that  not  one  of  these  sects 
will  divine  to  what  church  the  page  belongs.  But  let  the  wind  bear 
upon  its  wings  a  leaf  of  ours,  and  drop  it  beyond  Mount  Rose,  and  the 
first  priest  that  shall  pass  along  the  borders  of  lake  Major,  will  stoop  to 
lift  it,  and,  on  reading  it,  will  say  :  '  This  is  a  fragment  of  a  Catholic 
book.' " 

♦  We  presume  the  author  here  refers  to  some  particular  sect  of  Presbyte- 
rians.—  Tr. 

t  Burnier,  R-^vueBritanniqueReligieuse,  or  a  selection  of  articles  extracted 
from  the  best  Religious  journals  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  Ge- 
neva. 1829. 

■jiAeuszerung  eines  "sehr  verstandigen  Mannes"  gegen  Riemeyer.  S,  dessen 
Beobachtungen  auf  Reisen.  t.  I,  p.  ife. 

24* 


CHAPTER    XXVIir. 

calvin's  becall. — 1541. 

Causes  of  the  recall  of  Calvin. — Miserable  condition  of  the  reformed  eh urcK* 
at  Geneva. — Letter  of  J,  Bernard  fo  the  exile. — Menaces  of  Berne. — Mis- 
sion of  deputies  to  treat  of  different  points  in  litigation.— Their  return  to- 
Geneva. — The  Calvinistic  party  excite  the  population  against  the  patriots 
who  signed  the  convention  with  Borne.— The  Ariiculants. — Punishment  of 
the  Captain  General  of  the  militia. — Division  of  minds. — The  councils  think 
of  recalling  Calvin. — Letters  of  the  Syndics. — The  reformer's  refusal. — 
New  measures  of  the  councils. — Adjuration. — Calvin  yields. — Departure  for 
Geneva^ — St.  Ignatius  and  Calvin. 

We  must  now  examine  the  causes  which  led  to  the  recall  of  the 
exile. 

On  his  arrival  at  Geneva,  Calvin,  in  his  ill  disguised  designs  of  abso. 
lutism,  had  sought  a  point  of  support  somewhere  independent  of  tha 
people,  and  had  found  it  in  the  inferior  councils  :  but  the  people,  with 
admirable  good  sens\  had  divined  the  plans  of  the  theocrat,  and,  in  at 
moment  of  wrath,  had  driven  him  away.  The  wound  still  remained: 
Geneva  was  divided.  The  aristocracy  wished  to  effect  a  political  revo- 
lution, by  proposing,  that  "nothing  should  be  brought  forward,  in  the 
council  of  the  two  hundred,  which  had  not  first  been  discussed  in  the 
small  council,  nor  be  proposed  in  the  general  council,  before  having 
been  treated  of,  as  well  in  the  small  council  as  in  that  of  the  two  hun- 
dred."* The  ])eople  saved  the  liberties  of  Geneva,  by  avoiding  the 
snare  into  which,  thirty  years  later,  they  were  to  fall. 

The  popular  party  was  neither  fortunate  nor  skillful.  It  continued 
to  lampoon  the  exiles,  to  make  them  the  subject  of  ale-house  mockeries, 
and  of  low  buffooneries.  It  thus  revived  the  memory  of  names  which 
should  have  been  permitted  to  sink  into  oblivion  :  this  was  at  once  a 
want  of  tact  and  of  generosity.  It  exiled  obscure  college  preceptors, 
who  refused  to  commune  with  unleavened  bread.  Geneva  lost  Saunier, 
Mathurin  Gordier,  and  other  emigrants,  who  raised  the  cry  of  intole- 
rance, jyialhurin  Gordier  was  a  pedagogue,  who  had  rendered  services 
to  elementary  instruction.  Calvin  had  still  warm  partisans  among  the 
French  exiles,  expelled  from  Paris,  Meaux,  and  particularly  from 
Lyons. 

Pie  has  taken  caro  to  portray  the  preachers,   who  had  succeeded  to 

*  J.  Fazy,  Essai  d'un  precis  surThistoiro  de  Gon6vo,  1. 1,  p.  252  et  suiv.. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVMC.  283 

the  ministry  of  the  word  :*  '*  The  Franciscan,  who  had  been  convert- 
ed to  the  gospel  in  the  arms  of  a  woman,  a  debauchee  monk,  a  scamp 
loaded  with  leprosy  and  superstitions  : — the  actor,  who  enacted  sanctity 
of  manners,  as  one  would  a  coniedy; — the  upholder  and  frequenter  of 
wicked  places ;  three  intruders,  who  had  usurped  the  ministry,  which 
they  publicly  prostituted."  If  these  portraits  be  likenesses,  the  Gene- 
van  church  was  very  guilty,  in  not  interdicting  from  preaching,  such 
creatures,  who  merited  the  lash  and  pillory.  But  if  Calvin  has  calum- 
niated  the.n,  it  is  an  act  of  baseness,  which  must  brand  his  name  for 
ever.  And  the  proof  that  he  lied,  they  say,  is  found  in  the  prayer  he 
makes  to  Bullinger,  to  keep  from  every  eye,  the  secrets  which  he  con- 
fides to  the  discretion  of  a  friend. f  We  know  not  whether  Bullinger 
was  silent;  but  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  Calvin's  objurgations  embold- 
ened his  partisans,  who  observed  no  moderation,  and  publicly  denounc- 
ed the  morals,  the  faith,  and  the  science  of  the  preachers.  The  CaU 
vinisls  called  them  papists,  intruders,  ignorant  fellows.  To  the  reproach 
of  being  papists,  they  replied  by  exhibiting  their  wives;  to  the  reproach 
of  intrusion,  by  demanding  to  see  the  letters  of  vocation  belonging  to 
the  son  of  the  scribe  of  Noyon ;  to  the  reproach  of  insufficiency,  by 
citing  the  names  of  the  ministers  whom  Berne,  after  the  victory  of 
Lutry,  had  taken  from  the  bar-rooms,  in  order  to  transform  them  into 
apostles,  by  the  imposition  of  hands.  The  struggle  increased  in  vio- 
lence;  the  refugees  insulted  the  ministers  in  the  streets,  laughed  loudly 
at  their  sermons,  and  refused  to  receive  the  communion  at  their  hands.^ 
Did  the  syndics  interpose  their  authority,  the  Calvinists  accused  them 
of  a  tendency  to  idolatry  :  disorder  reigned  through  the  city.  Did  a 
dogmatic  question  arise,  there  was  no  one  found  among  the  clergy  with 
gufficient  light  to  decide  it  :  and  the  names  of  Farel  and  of  Calvin 
came  to  the  memory  of  the  people.  The  ministers,  discouraged,  asked 
to  be  allowed  to  resign.     This  was  refused  tliem.:J: 

Then  Ja.nes  Bernard  took  upon  himself  to  write  to  Calvin,  a  letter 
worthy  of  an  unfrocked  monk.  "  Come,  come,"  said  he,  "my  father 
in  Christ,  a  true  father  to  us  all,  come  !  all  hearts  long  for  your  return. 
You  shall  see,  with  what  joy  you  will  be  welcomed  !  You  will  learn 
to  know  me.  I  am  not  such  as  I  have  been  portrayed  by  lying  reports; 
but  a  faithful  and  sincere  friend^  a  devoted  brother.  Delay  not ;  hasten 
to  contemplate  again,  to  behold  Geneva,  that  is,  a  whole  people,  reno- 
vated  by  divine  grace.  Farewell;  deign  to  hasten  to  the  aid  of  our 
church,  if  you  do  not  wish  the  Lard  to  demand  from  you  an  account  of 
our  blood  and  our  tears. "§ 

We  were  looking  for  some  lines  in   reply,   from   Calvin,  but  there 

^  Soo  chnptor  XVIII. 

t  Obtostimnr  vos,  frntres,  civeatis  no  huiu.^  cutstolae  publicatio  nobis  sit 
fraudi.  F'mib'arins  onim  in  sinum  vestrum  quidvis  deponimus  quoin  promis- 
cue  simiis  n 'rr  •tuii.  Vcstrcp  it  ^quo   (ido'.   haec  sccreto  commissa  mcmincritis. 

■^  Pico:,  h'=!t(j'rc  dc  Geneve,  t.  I,  p  369  et  suiv, 

^  Voni  erjro,  venennde  mi  p<tor  in  Chrlsta..,.  Cognosces  me  insup-^rnon 
qualem  hnct-^nus  rel  ^tione  quoriundam,  sed  plum,  sinccrum  ac  fidrlem  fratrom 
ac  amlcun  t'lun  ....  V>1'\  occHsiae  nastrre  digncris  succurrere,  alioqu'.  rcqui- 
rel  dc  manu  tat  sanqfaincm  nostrum  Dominus  Dcus.  Tuus  Jacobus  Bernard. 
US,  ministor  ovangelicus.  Genovce,  6  Fob.  1641. 


284  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

were  none.  We  must  pardon  his  silence,  or,  perhaps,  laud  the  prudence 
of  those  who  collected  the  reformer's  letters,  and  who  shall  have  read 
his  response.     How  did  he  manage  to  praise  an  intruder  ? 

Each  day,  the  field  of  intestine  quarrels  was  enlarged.  Berne, 
which  bad  confiscated  the  country  de  Vaud,  coveted  that  of  the  Gene- 
vese ;  this  would  have  been  its  brightest  jewel.  The  lands  of  the  chap- 
ter  of  Saint  Victor  were  enclosed  in  the  bailiwicks  of  Terni  and  Gail- 
lard,  the  proprietorship  of  which  it  contested.  Its  language,  at  first, 
affectionate,  grew  bolder  and  more  menacing.  The  republican  pride  was 
aroused  :  the  patriotism  of  a  whole  people  cannot  be  assailed  with  im. 
punity.  The  council,  dreading  to  irritate  the  Bernese  oligarchy,  by  a 
rejection  of  their  claim,  deputed  three  of  its  citizens  to  treat  with  Berne, 
concerning  the  points  in  litigation.  This  choice  was  fortunate.  John 
LuUin,  Auiedee  de  Chapeaurouge.  and  John  Gabriel  de  Monathon  were 
good  patriots.  John  Lullin  belon£:ed  to  one  of  the  oldest  families  of 
Geneva ;  ambassador,  with  Besan^on  Hugues,  John  Philippe,  and  Ami 
Gerard,  to  the  league,  in  1530,  he  had  been  named  syndic,  in  1538, 
Ami  de  Chapeaurouge,  or,  as  he  signed  himself,  Ami  de  Ghapeau-Roge, 
was  member  of  the  council  in  1529,  30,  and  31.  John  Gabriel  de 
Monathon  was  also  of  an  ancient  stock.  It  was,  with  reason,  expect- 
ed  that  they  would  courageously  defend  the  rights  of  the  city.  But 
whether  it  was  that  the  deputies  had  secret  instructions,  or  that  they  de- 
sired, by  prompt  measures,  to  avert  an  armed  invasion  from  their  coun- 
try;  they  signed  a  treaty,  in  which  the  rights  of  Berne  to  the  chapter 
and  boundaries  of  St.  Victor,  were  formally  recognized.  The  popula- 
tion of  Geneva,  excited  by  the  Calvinist  faction,  received  the  returning 
deputies  with  murmurs  and  insults.  They  cried  out :  Give  way  for  the 
articulants  i  The  fanaticized  populace,  on  a  sudden,  forgot  a  life  pure- 
ly occupied  in  public  duties,  the  signal  services  which  had  been 
rendered  to  the  country,  a  nobleness  which  had  never  proved  untrue  ta 
itself,  either  on  the  field  of  battle,  in  the  affairs  of  administration,  or  in 
the  domestic  sanctuary.  It  was  not  merely  a  trivial  pleasantry,  which 
the  faction  cast  into  the  face  of  the  deputies,  but  the  cry  of  treason.  The 
inferior  councils  were  alarmed,  and  refused  to  ratify  the  articles  of  the 
treaty ;  and  as  the  murmurs  of  the  partisans  of  the  exile  continued  in- 
creasing, they  took  the  resolution  to  sacrifice  the  patriots.  This  was 
an  act  of  base  cowardice. 

The  arliculanls  had  numerous  partisans,  as  well  as  infuriated  ene- 
mies. What  most  contributed  to  injure  them,  was  the  protection  of 
Berne.  The  inferior  councils  endeavoured  to  have  them  incarcerated, 
on  the  27th  of  January,  1540  ;  but  at  the  general  assembly,  on  the  first  of 
February,  they  succeeded  to  prove  their  innocence,  and  confound  their 
calumniators.  This  was  a  noble  victory,  but  they  abused  it.  As  it 
was  important  for  them  to  have  a  pledge  of  future  security,  they  sue 
ceeded,  with  the  aid  of  the  influence  of  Berne,  to  place  at  the  head  of 
the  city  militia,  a  man  of  resolution,  John  Philippe,  the  enemy  of 
Calvin.  The  struggle  grew  more  envenomed.  The  Calvinists  regard- 
ed the  deputies  as  nothing  but  traitors,  sold  to  a  foreign  power,  and 
meditating  the  oppression  of  Geneva. 

The  little  council,  which  did  not  allow  itself  to  be  controlled  by  the 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN,  285 

FOte  of  the  general  council,  continued  silently  to  urge  on  the  process- 
of  the  deputies.  The  arliculanis  became  fearful,  and  committed  an 
error  in  leaving  the  city.  They  were  condemned  ;  and  the  people,  by 
their  silence,  sanctioned  the  decree  of  death.  One  Sunday,  the  two 
parties  met  each  other,  at  a  bird-shooting.  Philippe  sought  for  some 
pretext  to  chastise  the  insolence  of  his  enemies.  The  struggle  com- 
menced with  insults  and  abuse;  but  blood  was  wanted.  The  irritated 
captain  unsheathed  his  sword,  and  smote  to  the  heart  an  unfortunate 
man,  named  Daberes,  who  belonged  to  neither  faction.  The  cry  was 
jraised  ;  au  Mouiard  !  The  place,  thus  named,  was  soon  filled  with 
combatants;  the  blood  of  Daberes  called  for  vengeance  :  the  murder- 
er  was  sought  for ;  he  had  taken  refuge*  in  the  stable  of  the  tower  de 
Perse,  where  he  was  soon  discovered,  seized,  and  dragged  to  prison, 
amid  the  clamours  of  an  infuriated  populace.  There  was  but  one  head 
that  could  appease  its  anger,  and  that  was  the  head  of  John  Philippe, 
but  recently  its  idol.  The  syndics  pronounced  the  sentence  of  death 
against  the  captain. 

"We,  the  syndics,  judges  of  criminal  causes  in  the  city,  having  seen 
the  process  drawn  up  in  form,  at  the  instance  of  iM.,  the  lieutenant, 
with  specifications  against  thee,  John  Philippe,  and  the  answers  which 
thou  hast  voluntarily  placed  in  our  hands,  and  which  thou  hast  often 
reiterated,  by  which  it  is  to  us  apparent  and  proved,  that,  on  Sunday 
last,  thou  didst  assemble  a  large  number  of  persons,  and  excite  a  great 
tumult,  in  which  there  were  several  murders  committed,  and  many  per- 
sons wounded  ;  a  case  of  crime  incurring  grievous  corporal  chastise- 
ment.— Therefore,  after  having  consulted  our  citizens  and  burghers, 
according  to  our  ancient  customs,  sitting  in  the  place  of  our  predeces- 
sors, having  the  book  of  the  holy  scriptures  before  our  eyes,  saying  :  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Amen. 
— By  our  definitive  sentence,  which  we  here  render  in  writing,  we  con. 
demn  thee,  John  Philippe,  to  be  taken  to  the  place  de  Champel,  and 
to  have  thy  head  severed  from  thy  shoulders,  even  till  thy  soul  be  sepa- 
rated from  thy  body,  and  the  said  body  to  be  aflixed  to  the  gibbet. 
Thus  shall  be  ended  thy  days,  to  give  example  to  traitors,  who  might 
be  tempted  to  commit  such  crimes. — And  we  commend  and  command 
you,  M.  the  lieutenant,  to  put  in  execution  this  our  present  sentence."! 

The  head  of  John  Philippe  having  fallen,  the  populace  was  silent. 
The  punishment  of  the  captain  general,  and  the  death  of  Claude  Richard- 
et,  who  had  killed  himself,  in  his  desire  to  escape  from  the  hands  of  Jus- 
tice, both  of  whom  were  violent  enemies  of  Calvin,  were  regarded  by  cer- 
tain fanatics  as  instances  of  divine  chastisement.  Beza  and  the  histo- 
rian Eoset,  have,  of  the  executioner  and  of  chance,  made  two  immedi- 
ate instruments  of  the  anger  of  heaven.  The  inferior  councils  should 
profit  by  this  moment  of  stupor,  to  recall  the  exile.  Religious  authori- 
ty was  in  hands  incapable  to  sustain  such  a  burden.  The  reformed 
churches  of  Switzerland  could  cite  some  names  more  or  less  celebrated: 
Lausanne   had  Viret;  Zurich,    Leo   Judae ;  Neuchatel,   FareL      But 

*■  Fazy,  t.  I,  p.  %BQ, 

X  Cited  by  Picot,  History  of  Geneva,  1. 1. 


?86  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIT. 

what  was  to  be  thought  of  Geneva,  where  the  spiritual  administraliors 
was  entrusted  to  one  La  Mar,  who  snid,  in  the  pulpit,  that  "Christ  had 
gone  to  death  as  rapidly  as  man  ever  went  to  be  married  ?"  Calvin's 
name  had  been  greater,  since  the  period  of  his  appearance  at  the  diets 
of  Woruis  and  Katisbon.  Though  the  French  doctor  had  cut  no  figure 
in  the  debates  of  the  diets,  it  was  known,  that  when  brought  face  to  face 
with  Melancthon,  at  that  epoch  the  eagle  of  the  scene,  his  knowledge 
had  not  suffered  much  from  the  approximation  ;  it  was  even  said,  that 
Philip  had  conferred  on  him  the  name  of  theologian.  The  political" 
power,  which  in  vain  sought  support  and  aid  from  tiie  priesthood,  was 
disregarded.  The  councils  needed  some  name  to  elevate  them  in  the 
eyes  of  the  multitude;  but  if  they  knew  of  any  such,  they  were  names 
belonging  to  the  patriot  party,  to  the  libertines,  who  were  too  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  exile  to  consent  to  his  recall.  There  was  neither 
unity  nor  cohesion  in  the  councils.  They  presented  a  strange  medley 
of  beliefs  and  opinions  :  Catholicism,  Lutheranisra,  Zwinglianism^ 
Anabaptism  had  representatives  there;  Calvin  and  John  Philippe  also, 
had  their  partisans.  At  first,  an  attempt  was  made  to  draw  over  Farel 
and  Viret;  but  neither  of  these  was  willing  to  undertake  the  adminis. 
Iration  of  a  church,  in  which  Calvin  had  failed.  There  remained  but  one 
recourse. 

Calvin  must  be  recalled.  "  Therefore,  for  the  increase  and  advance- 
ment of  the  word  of  God,  it  was  ordained  to  send  to  Strasbourg  to  seek 
for  master  Johannes  Calvinus,  who  is  very  learned,  to  be  the  evangel- 
ist of  the  city  of  Geneva."*  This  was  a  measure  rendered  necessary, 
by  the  degradation  of  all  authority  and  power. 

Calvin  desired  an  act  of  popular  justice,  real  or  apparent.  He  ought  to 
be  contented.  The  council  recalled  "the  man  whom  Providence  had 
sent  to  Geneva  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  God." 

The  syndics  and  council  wrote  to  him  : 

"  Sir.  our  good  brother  and  excellent  friend:  in  recommending  our- 
selves to  you  very  affectionately,  inasmuch  as  we  are  perfectly  assured 
that  your  desire  is  only  for  the  increase  and  advancement  of  the  glory 
and  honor  of  God  and  of  his  holy  word,  on  the  part  of  our  small,  our 
great,  and  our  general  councils,  (which  all  have  earnestly  urged  us  to 
do  this),  we  pray  you  very  affectionately  to  be  pleased  to  come  to  us, 
and  return  to  your  former  post  and  ministry ;  and  we  hope,  with  the 
assistance  of  God,  that  this  will  be  cause  of  great  good  and  fruit  for  the 
augmentation  of  the  holy  gospel.  Our  people  are  very  desirous  to  have 
you.  And  we  shall  so  arrange  matters  with  you,  that  you  shall  have 
occasion  to  be  satisfied. — Geneva,  22d.  October,  1540. 

Your  good  friends, 
The  Syndics  and  Council  of  Geneva."! 

Power  here  caused  the  voice  of  the  people  to  speak,  and  yet  it  had 
not  once  been  lifted  up  in  favour  of  the  exile.  Had  they  been  desirous 
for  his  recall,  they  njight  have  used   Philippe's  scaffold  for  a  tribune  to,- 

♦Fragm.  bioj^.  extraits  dcs  reglstres  du  20  novcmbre  1540. 
t  Cited  by  Paul  Henry,  pieces  justificatives,  p.  77,  t.  I.. 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  287 

demand  it.  The  historian,  who  has  rummaged  all  the  archives  of  the 
city,  h^  not  found  a  single  testimony  in  favour  of  the  professor  of 
Strasbourg.* 

Calvin  was  making  preparations  to  go  to  Worms,  when  he  received 
the  letter  of  the  council  of  Geneva.  Bucer  and  certain  refugees  were  dtsi- 
rous  to  answer  it.  Their  language  is  noble.  '•  We  sincerely  congratulate 
you,"  they  said  to  the  Genevese,  '-on  the  good  thought  which  has  struck 
you,  to  recall  your  worthy  pastor.  If,  to  maltreat  and  drive  away  his 
ministers,  be  an  offence  against  God,  it  is  an  unequivocal  sign  of  wis- 
dom to  recognize  that  Christ  shines  again  in  your  glorious  martyr. 
Calvin  has  never  had  but  one  thought,  the  solicitude  for  your  salvation, 

even  had  he  to  pour  out  the  last  drop  of  his  blood f     To-piorrow  or 

the  day  after,  he  sets  out  with  us  for  Worms.  If  the  religious  confer- 
ences,  which  are  to  take  place  there,  lead  to  no  reconciliation  of  partie?, 
we  have  to  look  for  serious  com. notions.  Should  religion  be  tormented 
in  Germany,  it  will  also  be  done  elsewhere  :  this  is  to  be  dreaded.  It 
is  not  then  probable,  that  Calvin  would  despise  the  divine  will,  which 
sends  him  on  a  mission  to  the  colloquy." 

Jacob  Bedrottus,  professor  of  Greek  at  Strasbourg,  gave  to  this  mis- 
sion an  entirely  human  motive,  more  probable  than  the  intervention  of 
the  Divinity  :  this  was,  that  the  exile  understood  and  spoke  the  French 
language.! 

Calvin  imagined  that  his  word  would  be  more  potent  than  it  had 
ever  been  before.  He  was  mistaken,  as  we  have  seen  already  :  and 
perhaps  it  was  this  hope  of  worldly  glory,  which  induced  him  to  refuse 
to  set  forth  immediately  for  Geneva  ;  probably,  also,  he  did  not  con- 
sider the  offence  offered  to  his  dignity  sufficiently  expiated  by  the  letters 
of  recall  :  he  desired  a  more  striking  reparation.  His  response  to  "the 
puissant  seigniors  and  gentlemen,  the  syndics  and  council  of  Geneva," 
is  dry,  ambiguous,  and  embarrassed.  Through  a  phraseology  sparkling 
with  expressions  of  humility,  Calvin  is  very  glad  to  show  his  enemies, 
that  he  is  the  man  whom  Providence  sends  to  the  diet  to  represent  the 
interests  of  the  divine  word. 

"  I  pray  you,  therefore,"  he  says  to  them,  "as  not  long  since  I  wrote 
to  you,  to  consider  always  that  I  am  here  to  serve,  according  to  the 
slight  abilities  God  has  given  me,  all  the  christian  churches,  in  the 
number  of  which  your  church  is  comprehended  ;  and  hence,  I  cannot 
abandon  such  a  vocation,  but  am  constrained  to  await  the  issue  which 
the  Lord  will  please  give  us.  And  though  I  be  nothing,  it  should  suf- 
fice for  me,  that  I  am  appointed  to  this  by  the  will  of  the  Lord,  to  de- 
vote myself  to  every  thing  which  he  shall  be  pleased  to  entrust  to  me; 
and  although  we  do  not  see  matters  disposed  for  success,  yet  it  is  neces- 

*  Notices  genealogiques,  t.  IIT,  art.  Perrin,  p.  403. 

t  Vero  en'm  Chrisius  contemnitur  ct  injuria  afficitur,  ubi  tales  ministri  reji» 
ciuntur  et  indigno  tractantur.  Bene  itaque  nunc  habent  res  vestrae  dam 
Christum  in  hac  prssclaro  ejus  organo  rursus  agnoscitis.  MSS.  Gen. 

:j:  Si  nescis,  legates  mlserunt  ad  senatum  nostrum,  turn  ad  Calvinum,  GenC' 
venses,  hujus  revocandi  gratia.  Responderunt  nostri  se  nunc  valde  opus  ha- 
bere Calvino  ad  colloquium,  parlim  propter  linguae  galiicse  cognitionem. 
Argeat.,  24  nov.  Sturm,  Antip, 


288  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

sary  for  us  to  use  all  <3ilUgence,  and  to  hold  ourselves  ow  our  guards 
the  more  so,  that  our  enemies  are  seeking  to  surprise  us  unawares,  and 
what  is  worse,  as  they  are  full  of  cunning,  we  know  not  what  schemes 
they  are  machinating."* 

Calvin  feared  the  hostile  dispositions  of  the  people.  Viret,  who  had 
been  for  some  time  at  Geneva,  endeavoured  to  encourage  him.  Calvin 
answered  him  : — "  Truly,  I  can  with  difficulty  peruse  your  letter  with- 
out laughing  :  Return  to  Geneva!  Why  not  crucify  me  ?  It  would  be 
better  lor  me  to  die  right  oft',  than  to  expose  myself  to  be  tortured  con- 
tinually, in  that  (iery  chamber."! 

Viret  exhibited  the  letter  to  the  syndics. 

Then  the  political  power  was  seen  to  abase  itself  even  to  entreaties, 
to  humble  itself  before  the  exile,  to  blast  the  city,  by  representing  it, 
since  the  banishment  of  the  minister^  as  a  prey  to  disputes,-  debauche- 
ries, seditions,  factions,  and  homicides^  and  to  glorify  the  exiles,  as 
servants  of  Christ,  victims  of  the  brutality  of  an  ungrateful  populace, 
which  at  once  had  forgotten  their  glory  and  their  services.  Calvin  and 
Farel,  who  had  insulted  the  citizen  magistracy  from  the  pulpit,  who 
had  three  times  disobeyed  the  will  of  the  national  representatives,  are 
now  holy  ministers  of  the  gospel,  whose  return  is  the  only  means 
of  again  introducing  order  into  the  country. 

The  sovereign  council  placed  itself  in  this  attitude,  m  making  its 
supplications  before  the  consistories  of  Berne,  of  Bale,  of  Zurich,  and 
•of  Strasbourg, 

The  letter  having  been  written,  the  sentence  of  banishment  was  re- 
pealed, and  the  ancient  syndic.  Ami  Perrin,  sent  as  deputy  to  the  senate 
of  Strasbourg,  to  solicit  the  recall  of  Calvin.  Ami  Perrin  ought  to 
have  refused  this  mission,  as,  until  then,  he  had  shown  himself  the  ene- 
my of  the  exiles,  and  the  leader  of  the  faction  of  the  libertines.  He  was 
a  generous  patriot,  who  feared  Berne,  and  dreaded  the  subjection  of  his 
country.  In  the  return  of  Calvin,  he  saw  nothing  but  a  means  of  es- 
caping the  schemes  of  an  ambitious  canton.  The  historian  must  give 
him  credit  for  his  devotedness.  Ami  Perrin  forgot  even  the  insult  which 
the  Calvinist  party  had  quite  recently  offered  his  wife,  who  was  too  fond 
of  those  pleasures,  for  which  a  rigorous  puritanism  censured  her  as  for 
crimes.  § 

•  MSS,  de  Geneve. 

t  Cur  non  potius  ad  crucem?  Satius  enim  fuerit  semel  perire,  quam  in  ilia 
carniticina  itcruin  torqucri.     MSS.  Gen. 

t  Inique  profligaii,  magnaque  ingratitudine  reject!  fuerunt,  prsetcritis  plane 
ac  oblitis  gratiis  ct  beneficiis  haud  sane  vulgaribus,  quae  a  Domino  horum  inin- 
isterio  obtinuimus.  Ab  ea  cnini  hora  qua  ejecti  fuerunt,  nihil  prceter  molestias, 
inimicitias,  lites>  contentiones,  dissolutiones,  seditiones,  factiones,  et  homici- 
dia  habuimus.  Clarissimis  principibus,  D.  consuli  etscnatui  urbis  Basiliensis, 
vel  Argentinonsis,  aut  Tigurincnsis,  amicis  nostria  integerrimis.  Maio  1540. 

t  Men,  women,  and  children,  who  have  danced,  are  thrown  into  prison.  Isf. 
Nov,  1540.  P.  M.  v.,  who  danced  last  Sunday  with  the  wife  of  Ami  Perrin, 
the  wife  of  said  Marquiot,  and  the  hostess  of  Morlier,  shall  be  punished  ac- 
cordin<T  to  the  ordinances.  The  Sieur  J.  Coquet  imprisoned  because,  on  the 
day  of°the  target  shooting,  he  said  to  certain  persons  that  they  might  dance, 
and  made  the  usual  proclamations  concerning  dances,  songs,  and  other  things, 
which  come  under  the  preceding  penalties.  18  Jane,  1540. 


LIFE    OF    JOH:^     CALVIN.  289 

Calvin  .still  resisted,  Beza  relates  that  Bucer,  to  overcome  the  op- 
position of  his  friend,  had  recourse  to  an  expedient  which  was  ever 
successful.  To  compel  the  reformer  to  consent,  he  invoked  the  name 
of  God  and  the  example  of  the  prophet  Jonas.  This  expedient  was  by- 
no  means  new  ;  it  had  already  been  tried  four  times,  and  always  with 
the  same  success.* 

The  senate  was  desirous  to  give  the  air  of  a  triumph  to  the  minister's  re- 
turn. A  herald  at  arms  was  sent  to  him,  at  Strasbourg,  to  accompany 
him  on  his  journey.!  This  herald,  Avho  took  with  him  a  saddle-horse, 
was  commissioned  to  hire  a  carriage  for  the  wife  of  the  professor,  and  a 
wagon  for  their  effects.  The  house  destined  for  Calvin,  was  prepared 
beforehand  ;  it  was  located  at  the  upper  part  of  the  street  des  Chanoincs, 
at  a  point,  whence  the  eye  could  contemplate  the  chain  of  the  Jura,  the 
two  Saleves,  Mount  Blanc  with  its  snows,  the  waters  of  the  lake,  and 
the  hills  of  Savoy,  which  sloped  off  in  gentle  undulations  to  the  very 
ramparts.  The  council  had  called  to  mind  Luther's  love  for  flowers, 
for  the  songs  of  birds,  and  for  verdure,  and  in  front  of  Calvin's  dwell- 
ing, it  had  taken  care  to  have  a  little  garden  full^  of  verdure,  flowers, 
and  birds.  The  cottage  of  the  pastor,  simple,  but  in  good  taste,  was 
but  a  few  paces  distant  from  the  church  of  St.  P^ter,  of  which  they 
had  removed  the  chief  gallery,  and  lowered  the  pulpit,  that  the  minis- 
ter's voice  might  the  more  easily  reach  the  ears  of  the  faithful 4  Along 
each  side  of  the  church,  they  had  arranged  benches  for  divine  service. 
An  annual  sum  of  five  hundred  florins  was  assigned  the  minister,  with 
a  dozen  cuttings  of  grain,  and  two  tuns  of  wine.§  This  was  a  mani- 
festation of  generosity,  if  compared  with  the  salary  of  the  syndics — 
who  had  only  twenty-five  florins,  without  other  perquisites, — or  with 
the  income  of  the  ancient  bishops  of  Geneva.  Anthony  de  Champion, 
that  model  of  every  virtue,  who,  in  1493,  felt  the  necessity  of  reform 
among  the  clergy  of  his  diocess,  ||  often,  in  winter,  was  destitute  of  fire 
to  warm  himself,  for  he  gave  every  thing  he  had  to  the  poor.  Luther, 
burdened  with  children,  received  scarcely  the  half  of  Calvin's  salary ; 
and,  besides,  the  elector  did  not  always  pay  the  pension  ;  and  this  com- 
pelled the  doctor  to  make  sale  of  the  silver  goblets,  which  he  had  re- 
ceived as  presents  from  the  princes. 

After  three  years  of  exile,  Calvin  once  more  beheld  Geneva,  The 
people  did  not  go  forth  to  meet  the  minister,  nor  utter  any  acclamations 

*  Censuit  tandem  Buccrus  illorum  precibus  esse  ad  tempus  concedenduir, 
■quod  tamen  aCalvino,  non  nisi  interposita  gravi  divini  judicii  denunciatione 
et  proposuo  Jones  exeniplo,  fuit  impetratum. 

t  22d  oi  July,  1541. — ^  36.  To  our  mounted  herald,  who  shall  go  for  M.  Cal- 
-vin,  preacher,  who  is  at  present  at  Strasbourg.  Also,  resolved  to  send  after  his 
wife.  September  16th,  moreover,  resolved  to  send  for  his  household  eflects, 
and  ordered  that  money,  and  men,  and  all  other  things  necessary  under  such 
circumstances,  be  placed  at  his  service.  September  17th,  paid  12  florins  to  ]\I. 
James  Desarts,  for  having  brought  his  effects  to  M,  J.  Calvin,  preacher. 

X  21  Aug.  1541. — That  the  temple  of  St.  Peter  may  be  more  convenient  for 
preaching,  it  has  been  ordained  that  the  grand  gallery  of  the  choir  should  be 
pulled  down,  and  a  fine  suitable  pulpit  be  made,  and  benches  arranged  in  the 
most  convenient  place. 

4  Picot,  Histoire  de  Geneve. 

Ij  Senebier,  Histoire  litteraire  de  Geneve,  t.  I. 

25 


290  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIW. 

of  joy ;  they  manifested  no  testimony  of  surprise  or  gladness.  Soon 
after  his  arrival,  Calvin  presented  to  the  council  letters  from  Strasbourg 
and  its  preachers,  "and  also  from  Bale,  which  were  read  aloud.  After- 
wards, at  length,  he  gave  his  excuses  for  the  long  delay  he  had  made ; 
then,  prayed  that  order  sliould  be  established  in  the  church,  and  that 
this  order  should  be  drawn  up  in  writing,  and  that  persons  of  the  coun- 
oil  should  be  selected,  with  whom  he  might  confer,  and  who  should 
make  report  to  the  council ;  and,  as  to  himself,  he  offered  himself  to  be 
for  ever  the  servant  of  Geneva."* 

At  the  moment  Calvin  re-entered  Geneva,  there  to  extinguish  the  last 
sparks  of  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  one  of  his  old  fellow  disciples  at  the 
University  of  Paris,  Ignatius,  w^as  leaving  France,  to  travel  to  a  new 
world,  in  order  to  conquer,  for  Catholicism,  millions  of  souls.  God 
blessed  this  heroic  pilgrim,  who,  after  a  life  of  trials,  of  patience,  of  sor- 
rows, and  evangelical  triumphs,  slept  in  the  Lord ;  and  who,  three  centu- 
ries after  his  death,  forced,  as  also  did  his  companion,  Francis  Xavier,  this 
cry  of  admiration  from  a  Protestant :  "  Ah  !  would  to  God  that  thou 
wast  seated  in  the  midst  of  us,  w^ith  thy  crown  of  virtues  !"t 

*  Reg.  de  la  ville,  13  septembre  1541. 

t  Wollte  Gottdasz,  so  wie  Du  warst,  Du  oiner  der  Unserigen  warst,  ober 
gewesen  warst.  Baldaus,  Geschichte  von  Jndien. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


GENEVA  BEIORE  THE  EEFOEMATION. 

Manners  of  the  Burghers  of  Geneva,  at  the  epoch  of  the  reformation. — Charac- 
ter of  the  merchant. — Commerce,  the  source  of  wealth  and  nobility. — The 
people. — The  jurists. — The  physicians. — Calvin,  a  stranger  to  the  institu- 
tions and  life  of  the  city. — The  Libertines. — Calvin,  and  those  infected  with 
the  pest. 

In  order  to  estimate  the  action  of  Calvin  upon  the  religious  or  politi- 
cal administration  of  Geneva,  it  is  necessary  to  study  the  manners  of 
the  burghers  of  the  city,  at  the  time  of  the  reformation. 

In  the  sixteenth  century,*  Geneva  was  a  city  of  mercantile  enter- 
prise, resembling  the  other  commercial  cities  of  that  epoch,  in  the  noise 
and  bustle  that  resounded  through  its  streets,  and  differing  from  them, 
in  the  individuality  of  its  industrial  habits.  Located  at  the  foot  of  the 
Alps,  it  received  from  Italy,  silks^  spices^  soaps^  fruits,  perfumes;  from 
France,  cloths,  tissues,  wool,  books ;  from  Savoy,  honey,  grain,  fruits ; 
from  Germany,  iron,  copper,  wood  and  engravings ;  articles  of  mer- 
chandise, which  it  bougiit,  or  obtained  by  barter,  in  order  to  sell  again, 
or  export.  The  Genevese  merchant  was  the  very  type  of  merchants  : 
none,  more  active,  honest,  conscientious,  and  frequently,  none  richer, 
could  be  found  any  where.  There  were  braziers,  tailors,  shoemakers, 
carpenters,  masons,  perfectly  able  to  dwell  in  palaces,  but  who  were 
content  to  live  in  cottages,  ornamented  with  small  gardens,  quite  bloom- 
ing with  flowers  ;  for  master  and  workman  loved  flowers  passionately. 
The  Fruggers  of  Augsbourg,  those  great  bankers  of  the  middle  ages, 
against  whom  Luther  so  mercilessly  closed  the  gates  of  heaven,  did 
business  with  Geneva;  and  not  one  of  their  drafts  was  protested. 
*'  The  word  of  a  Genevese,"  did  they  often  say,  **is  worth  all  the  gold 
of  a  Saxon  elector."  And  they  were  right.  An  Italian,  who  came 
from  Venice,  Ferrara,  or  Milan,  to  introduce  some  new  trade  into  Gene- 
va, was  in  admiration  at  the  noise  of  hammers,  files,  scales,  with  which, 
at  every  hour  of  the  day,  the  city  resounded  ;  at  the  cleanliness  of  the 
streets,  and  the  elegant  simplicity  of  the  public  edifices.  He  could  not 
dissemble  his  surprise,  on  comparing  the  marble  palaces,  inhabited  by 
the  merchants  of  the  maritime  cities  of  Italy,  with  the  very  modest 
dwellings  of  the  Genevese  merchants.  Bonnivard,  Pecolat,  Berthelier, 
disdained  not  to  arrange  the  accounts  of  their   butchers,   or  work  with^ 

*  Notices  genealogiques   sur  les   families   genevoises,  depuls  les  premiers 
temps  jusq;ii*A  nos.  jours,  par  J.  A.  Galifte,.  in  8vo.,  t.  I,  Introd. 


29r2 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


their  masons ;  they  went  to  market  for  their  family  provisions,  descend- 
ed  into  their  cellars,  to  take  care  of  their  wines,  pruned  the  trees  of 
their  orchards,  and  watered  the  flowers  of  their  parterres.* 

Commerce  was  the  life  of  Geneva.  Most  of  the  great  families,  the 
names  of  which  were  cited  with  pride,  had  enriched  themselves  by 
trade  :  these  families  were  almost  all  of  foreign  origin.  Geneves© 
blood  was  mingled  with  Italian,  P'rench,  and  German  blood.  The 
Genevese,  necessarily,  from  this  cross  of  races,  borrowed  the  manners 
of  the  people  with  whom  they  formed  alliances.  The  Genevan  resembled 
tlie  Frenchman,  in  his  love  for  dances,  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  for  blus- 
tering  mirth  on  Sundays,  and  games  of  hazard ;  the  German,  in  his 
inclination  for  rural  pursuits  ;  the  Savoyard,  in  his  probity  ;  the  Italian, 
in  his  passion  for  independence.  From  the  republican  of  Pisa,  he  had 
borrowed  certain  municipal  institutions.  At  Pisa,  as  at  London  in 
our  day,  and  as  was  the  case  at  Geneva  at  the  period  of  the  reformation, 
no  one  could  obtain  civil  offices  who  was  not  a  member  of  some  trade. 
At  Florence,  Mathew  Palmieri,  embassador  to  king  Alphonsus,  the  poet 
of  --'the  city  of  life/'  belonged  to  the  body  of  apothecaries.!  It  was 
not  rare  to  see  the  most  illustrious  citizens,  add  to  their  title,  that  of 
apothecary,  of  furrier,  or  rope-maker. 

The  wife  of  Tudert,  Camilla  Burla-machi,  of  a  blood  almost  royal, 
placed  her  son,  John  Tudert,  as  apprentice  with  a  clockmaker,  and 
iier  other  son,  Louis,  in  the  employ  of  a  merchant  of  Nuremberg,  nam- 
ed Abraham  Pierrot.  The  son  of  the  syndic,  the  first  magistrate  of  the 
city,  swept  the  counter  or  shop  of  his  master ;  only,  as  a  mark  of  dis. 
tinction,  care  was  taken  to  affix  a  red  ribbon  to  his  broom.  At  that 
time,  domestic  employments  were  not  degrading,  when  it  was  but  a 
cha;Stisement  of  a. blind  chance;  the  abandoned  orphan  girl,  served  as 
chambermaid  in  the  house  of  her  uncle  or  relative.  But  sliame  upon  the 
sluggard,  who  was  seen  begging  alms  through  the  streets !  the  mer- 
chant and  patrician  turned  from  him  without  pity  :  live  by  your  labour, 
was  the  Oi'dinary  motto. 

Commerce  was  the  foundation  of  glory,  of  gain,  and  of  honors. 
The  naturalized  foreigner,  the  citizen  burgess,  could  acquire  titles  of 
nobility,  have  himself  called  seignior,  and  assunie  a  coat  of  arms. 
The  apothecaries  wei'e  nearly  all  nobles.  It  was  they  who  sold  the  can- 
dles which  were  burned  before  the  nich  of  some  saint,  the  wax  tapers 
of  the  churches,^  or  the  torches  borne  by  those  who  attended  funerals. 
Some  were  found  at  the  same  time  selling  drugs  and  pastry,  when  the 
widow,  whom  they  married,  was  heiress  of  a  shop  well  patronized  by 
customers.  There  was  one  street,  called  "the  Street  of  the  Shoema- 
kers," whither  persons  r,esorted  from  many  leagues  distance,  to  supply 
themselves  with  shoes.  At  the  fairs  of  Lyons,  of  St.  Pierre  and  St.  Jean, 
the  shoes  of  Geneva  were  piled  up  in  the  form  of  pyramids.  These  Ge^ 
nevese  shoemakers  had  a  reputation  throughout  France  and  Germany  : 
moreover,  they  were  extremely   rich.     When   they  died  without  lieirs». 


*  Giliffe,  t.  I,  In  trod. 

t  Niceron,  Memoires  pour  servir  k  I'histoire    des  hommes   ill'ustres  dans  l^ 
r^publique  des  lettres,  t.  XI,.  p,.  77.. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN'    CALVIN. 


3^ 


they  bequeathed  their  fortune  to  an  abbey,  to  a  convent,  or  an  hospital, 
under  consideration  that  the  legatee  should  recite  a  certain  number  of 
Paters  and  Aves  for  the  repose  of  the  testator's  soul.  The  reformation, 
by  destroying  the  monasteries,  put  an  end  to  the  prayers  of  a  grateful 
piety. 

But  our  Genevese  merchants  have  still  other  titles  to  glory.  When 
(he  liberties  of  their  country  were  menaced  ;  when  the  stranger  attempt- 
ed,  with  his  sword,  to  touch  the  franchises  of  the  city,  or  violate  the 
privileges  of  the  corporations ;  then  braziers,  carpenters,  shoemakers, 
masons,  tavern-keepers,  seized  cloak  and  halberd,  to  defend  their  liber- 
ties :  Geneva  rose  up  in  mass.  The  people,  as  cunning  as  they  were 
brave,  commenced  laughing,  when  they  heard  the  heralds  of  the  duke 
of  Savoy  proclaim  through  the  streets,  that  he  consented  to  re-estab- 
lish the  fairs,  on  the  sole  condition  that  he  should  be  named  their  prp- 
tector.  The  snare  was  skillfully  laid.  But  the  Genevese  did  not  al- 
low themselves  to  be  caught,  and  they  exclaimed,  with  one  voice  ;  — 
Liberty  is  worth  more  than  riches.*  These  merchants  were  ardent 
patriots,  who  joyfully  shed  their  blood  for  their  native  city.  History 
has  lately  undertaken  to  ransack  the  archives  of  families ;  she  has 
stirred  up  the  ashes  of  the  artizans  of  the  middle  ages ;  she  has  shaken 
their  coffins,  and  under  the  unpretending  slab  which  covered  them,  she 
has  found  names  which,  in  our  day,  they  have  the  hardihood  to  repudi- 
ate, but  which  she,  who  knows  no  fear,  has  nailed  upon  the  coat  of 
arms  of  our  modern  patricians.  Previously  to  the  reformation,  these 
patriots  dreaded  to  offend  the  ear  by  aristocratic  titles  :  the  d'Eysieres 
were  called  Desire,  the  d'Entands,  Dantand,  the  d'Aciers,  Dassier.f 
How  raanylmerchants  there  are,  of  the  street  du  Rhone  and  the  place- 
du  Moulard,  who  descend  in  right  line  from  the  celebrities  of  the  an- 
cient days  of  the  republic  !  Let  them  search  well,  and  they  will  find 
their  titles  of  nobility  in  some  ancient  study  of  a  notary.  Then  will 
they  have  the  right  to  wear  a  sword  by  their  side,  like  those  de  Config- 
nons,  who  are  reduced  to  till  the  ground,  though  descended  from  the 
knights  of  the  thirteenth  century.  ^  . 

After  the  Devil  and  the  Pope,  Luther  most  cordially  hated  the  jurists. 
There  is  not  a  page  of  his  Tisch-Reden,  (Table-Talk),  where  he  does 
not  amuse  himself  with  worrying  them.  One  day,  he  makes  long  and 
very  crooked  claws  shoot  from  the  ends  of  their  fingers ;  another,  he 
hangs  pendent  to  their  backs  a  tail,  like  that  which  his  friend  Lucas 
Granach  gave  to  satan  ;  another  time,  it  is  a  very  dirty  monk's  cowl, 
which  he  had  met  with  in  some  secularized  refectory,  that  he  casts  over 
the  head  of  their  leader.  And  then,  listen  to  the  peals  of  foolish  laughter,, 
the  droll  sarcasms,  the  libertine  sallies,  which  come  from  the  doctor 
and  his  friends! |  The  jurists,  dishonored,  exposed  in  the  pillory  of  the 
Wittenberg  bar-room,  at  length  lost  patience,  and  let  loose  their  goat 
Schwenkfeld  against  Luther.     This  goat   had  horns,  teeth,,  and  claws ; 

*  Fazv,  Essai  d'un  precis'  de  I'histoire  de  Geneve,  t.  T,  p.  87,^ 

t  Galiffe,  Introd.,  p,  21. 

t  See,  in  the  Table-Talk,   the    chapters    which    are    entitled  :  Juristen  b8>e 
Christen. — Juristen-Unwissenheit — Juristen    wissen  nicht  was  Kirche  isl — Ju- 
rlstcnknnst — Juristen  wenig,  aber  viel  Procuratores,  etc, 
25* 


294:  LIFE    OF    JOH^'    CALVIN. 

he  was  a  veritable  fabulous  animal,  and  he  employed  against  the  Saxon 
monk  all  the  arms  which  nature  had  given  him.  The  combat  was  long 
and  furious ;  and,  even  on  the  avowal  of  Lutherans  themselves,  the 
goat  gained  the  victory.  He  gored  master  Martin  to  the  very  blood, 
who,  at  first,  began  screaming,  like  one  possessed,  but  the  goat  released 
not  his  hold;  then,  Martin  fell  to  asking  pardon  and  mercy,  which 
were  allowed  him,  on  condition  of  a  truce  of  several  months,  signed  by 
both  parties. 

The  jurists,  less  numerous  at  Geneva  than  at  Wittenberg,  were  im- 
portant  personages  on  both  shores  of  lake  Leman.  Luther  could  not 
have  restrained  himself  from  laughter,  had  he  beheld  these  men  of  the 
law,  transformed  into  noble  seigniors,  largely  paid,  leading  a  joyous 
life,  sitting  in  the  mo^  honorable  places  of  the  council,  and  sometime* 
invested  with  the  title  of  syndic,  without  even-  having  acquired  the  right 
oY  citizenship. 

In  1457,  the  council  deputed  two  doctors  and  two  syndics  to  Chara- 
bery  :  the  doctors  received,  per  day,  a  crown,  two  florins,  or  two  francs 
and  twenty  centimes,  of  our  money;  the  magistrates  only  six  sous;  the 
doctors  had  the  title  of  Dominus,  or  Seignior ;  the  syndics  that  of  Sir, 
or  Messire.* 

In  Calvin's  contest  against  Genevese  liberties,  the  jurists  showed' 
themselves  cravens  and  cowards  :  not  one  of  them  undertook  the  de- 
fense of  the  oppressed ;  not  one  of  them  dared  cast  in  the  theologian's 
face  the  blood  of  the  victims  ;  not  one  of  them  gathered  a  coal  from 
the  funeral  pile  of  Servetus,  to  set  fire  to  the  minister's  robe  :  they  were 
afraid,  and  probably  they  had  reason.  Who  knows  ?  perhaps,  had  they 
troubled  the  sleep  of  the  despot,  Calvin,  less-  patient  thai|  Luther,  in- 
stead  of  calling  for  the  devil,  who  does  not  always  come  when  he  is 
called,  might  have  sent  the  executioner,  who  would  have  run,  as  he  did 
for  the  punishment  of  Gruet.  The  student  of  Noyon  had  a  more  pene- 
trating glance  than  the  Saxon  monk.  Luther  read  the  face,  Calvin 
looked  into  the  soul.  A  few  month's  sojourn  at  Geneva  had  sufficed  to 
make  him  know  the  jurists;  souls,  accustomed  to  the  sweets  of  life,  to 
a  tranquil  sleep,  to  the  pleasures  of  the  table,  to  worldly  joys,  and  ready 
to  obey  any  one  who  could  exercise  open  force  :  and  Calvin  was  deter- 
mined'to  search  for  the  light.  He  would  have  entertained  much  great- 
er dread  of  a  babbling  student  than  of  a  jurist,  nailed,  by  his  very  na- 
ture, to  a  dead  letter,  the  understanding  of  which  the  reformer  had 
reserved  to  him.self. 

The  sun  of  the  reformation,  in  Saxony,  had  hatched  out  a  myriad  of 
doctors,  who  had  descended  like  hawks  upon  the  word  of  God,  to  tear 
it  to  pieces.  At  Geneva  it  had  remained  sterile.  Calvin  has  taken 
])ains  to  give  us  the  portraits  of  the  ministers  who  had  siK^ceeded  him 
in  the  evangelical  pulpit  :  one  of  them  had  found  his  commission  as 
preacher  in  the  arms  of  a  prostitute  ;  another,  changes  his  religion  as  the 
serpent  changes  his  skin  ;  a  third,  scarcely  knows  how  to  read;  em- 
bryo doctors,  whom,  in  case  of  need,  Calvin  could  crush  with  his 
heel,  or  with  the  nib  of  his  pen.     How   often,  in  Saxony,  did  Luther 

*  Picot,  Histoire  de  Geneve,  p.  139,  t.  I. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CA1.V1K.  29-3 

behold  his  path  obstructed  by  a  host  of  theologasters,  who  wished  to  rob 
liini  of  his  tune  !     The  monli  was  forced  to  ply  the  lash  lustily,  in  or- 
der to  drive  them  away.     And   if  some   of  them,    like  Carlstadt,  with 
face  and  back  bruised,  dared  again  present  themselves  before  him,  doc- 
tor Martin  seized  the  sword  of  the  nearest  elector,  and  drove  the  unhap. 
py  wretches  before  him,  to  perish  with  famine  in  some  unknown  village. 
Calvin,  as  you  perceive,  was  more  favoured  by  heaven.     On  bis  return 
to  Geneva,  scarcely  did  he  find  some  two  or  three  unfrocked  Carmelites, 
who  Jinew  enough  Latin  to  be  porters  at  a  convent  gate.    Luther's  task 
was  entirely  more  painful  !     Popes,    cardinals,    kings,  emperors,  elec- 
tors, monks,  devils,  jurists,  even   physicians   thronged  around,  in  order 
to  torment  the  unhappy  man.     At   Eisleben   and  Jena,  the  physicians 
themselves  took  part   in  theological   disputes.      It  was  not  enough  for 
them  to  slay  the  body ;  they  must  also  kill  the  soul. — "Little  ones,"  said 
Luther  to  them,  in  his  Table-Talk,  '•'  I  do  not  amuse  myself  with  giving 
physic  to  your  patients,  let  me  then  evangelize  my  own.     At  the  great 
day  of  judgment,  God  will  not  ask  you  an  account  of  the  souls,  but  of 
the  bodies,  which,  under  the  sanction  of  your  diplomas,  you  shall  have 
run  through,  cupped,  slashed,  tortured."     But  those  physicians,  possess- 
ed by  the  devil,  listened  not  to   the  voice  of  the  doctor,  and,  with  scal- 
pel in  hand,  treated  the  Bible   like  a  real  carcass.     Some  of  them  had 
tried  their  hand  upon  the  toulo  of  the  Eucharistic  institution,  with  a  fa- 
tuity so  grotesque  and  absurd,    that  Aurifaber  laughed  at  it  for  days  to- 
gether.    See  how  much   more  fortunate   Calvin  is  at  Geneva !     One 
would  say,  that  society  there  had  been  expressly  constituted  to  suit  him: 
number  the  physicians,    who   might   be  able   to   annoy   him   by  their 
babbling;   with  difficulty  can  you   find  some  two  or  three.     "When, 
at  this  epoch,"  says  M.  Galiffe,  "a  person   was  sick,  he  called  the  bar- 
bers, who  w^ere   nearly  always   surgeons,"    and  who,  in  consequence, 
played  a  far  more  important  part   than   they  do  in  our  day.*     Hence, 
there  was  one  germ  the  less  of  opposition  :   for  we  cannot  suppose  that 
Calvin  could  have  had  any  dread  of  a  barber. 

If  the  various  elements  of  Genevan  society,  considered  in  their  indi- 
viduality, were  not  menacing  for  Calvin,  we  are  forced,  on  a  careful 
study  of  them,  to  avow  that  the  public  spirit  was  hostile  to  him.  His 
exile  had  appeased  the  popular  w^rath  ;  his  return  had  been  hailed  by 
no  token  of  joy,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  made  by  some  of  the 
syndics ! 

A  stranger  to  the  institutions  of  the  city,  to  the  governmental  man- 
ners of  the  country,  to  the  actual  life  of  the  citizens,  Calvin  was  but 
the  representative  of  a  religious  opinion,  unrelieved,  and  destitute  of 
form,  which  the  population  had  adopted,  less  from  conviction,  than 
through  a  spirit  of  independence,  and  that,  by  a  change  of  religion, 
they  might  emancipate  themselves  from  the  house  of  Savoy.  The  revo- 
lution having  been  effected,  the  national  character  still  remained  the 
same ;  it  is  not  so  easy  for  a  people  to  strip  themselves  of  their  nature 
as  of  their  faith.  Do  not  expect  from  a  mercantile  population,  that 
noble  devotedness  which   leads   to   martyrdom  :  when  such  a  people 

*  Galiffe,  t.  I,  Introduce,  p.  14. 


296 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN". 


soize  their  arms,  it  is  nearly  always  in  behalf  of  material  interests,  and 
if  they  consent  to  renounce  their  faith,  it  is  because  they  are  reconu 
pcnsed  for  their  apostacy.  The  Genevan  did  not  divest  himself  of  hi,s 
personality,  in  adopting  the  symbol  of  Farel.  Before,  as  well  as  after 
the  banishment  of  Calvin,  he  had  continued  to  lead  his  habitual  life  ; 
calm  and  simple,  during  a  portion  of  the  day,  that  is,  during  the  hours 
of  labour;  loquacious  and  noisy  in  the  evening,  at  the  bar-room,  the 
ordinary  rendezvous  of  the  burgher.  This  semi-nocturnal  existence, 
the  sweetest  portion  of  German  life,  is  still  found  in  most  of  the  circles 
of  Germany.  Not  long  ago,  at  the  tavern  of  the  Black  Eagle,  in  Wit- 
tenberg, they  exhibited  the  table  upon  which  Martin  had  so  often  lean- 
ed his  elbows,  the  benches  upon  which  he  sat,  and  the  glass  which  he 
had  fdled  with  the  sparkling  beer  of  Thorgau.  Enter  :  you  are  sure, 
ai  this  day,  at  the  same  hours,  to  find  the  same  guests  of  three  centuries: 
students,  jurists,  merchants;  only  the  theologians  are  fewer  in  number. 
In  its  contact  with  the  German  people,  Geneva  had  acquired  this  taste 
for  tavern  enjoyments,  grown  even  stronger  since  the  reformation,  an 
epoch,  when  numbers  of  French  emigrants  had  come  to  bring  to  their 
coreligionists  the  reckless  joys  of  the  Gallic  bar-room,  the  censorious 
Xtme,  the  self-importance  and  vanity  peculiar  to  the  inhabitants  of  large 
cities.  By  degrees,  beer  had  been  abandoned  for  wines  and  liquors,, 
and  the  German  dance,  so  entirely  modest,  displaced  by  French  dances, 
sometimes  ardent,  even  to  wantonness. 

When  bishop  Charles  de  Seyssel  made  his  entry  into  Geneva,  the 
people  received  him  like  a  veritable  prince  of  the  church,  with  the 
sound  of  bag-pipes  and  trumpets,  and  danced  the  whole  evening  in 
token  of  joy.  To  honor  the  bishop,  a  monk  composed  a  history,  which 
met  with  great  success  on  the  theatre,  and  which  to  the  writer  was  worth' 
a  florin,  as  the  reward  of  authorship.* 

This  propensity  for  tavern  life  was  particularly  prevalent  among  the 
libertines.  In  them,  it  was  allied  with  an  expansive  character,  an  ar- 
dent love  of  country,  a  pride  easily  excited,  as  we  have  remarked  al- 
ready. The  libertine  is  the  purest  expression  of  the  national  type  : 
Genevese,  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  that  is,  laborious,  sober  and  discreet ; 
Frenchman,  in  the  evening,  till  bed-time,  that  is,  loquacious,  censorious, 
loving  to  rail  at  all  superiors  of  every  class, — at  the  bankers,  nobles, 
ministers,  and  especially  at  their  wives.  If,  in  searching  the  registers. 
of  this  epoch,  you  find  a  burgher  reprimanded  by  one  of  the  councils, 
you  may  be  certain  that  this  burgher  was  a  libertine;  if  Geneva  be 
menaced  in  its  independence,  and  blood  must  be  shed,  this  blood  will 
he  that  of  a  libertine,  a  man  of  no  discretion,  but  ever  ready  to  sacri- 
fice himself  for  his  country.  It  is  this  patriotism,  of  which  he  has  ex- 
hibited such  frequent  proofs,  which  makes  him  so  proud.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  Genevan  legislation  fell  into  an  affected  scrupulousness 
tliat  was  ridiculous.  It  punished,  by  imprisonment,  the  lady  who  had 
arranged  her  hair  with  too  much  coquetry,  and  even  the  chambermaid 
who  had  assisted  her ;  the  merchant,  who  played  cards ;  the  peasant, 
who  reproached  his  oxen  in  too  acrid  terms;  the  burgher,  who  had  liQt. 

*  Fazy,  Fssai,  etc.,  p.. 03,  t.  I.. 


LIFE    Of    JOHN    CALVIK.  297 

extinguished  his  lamp  at  the  hour  appointed.     Geneva  at  length  began 
to  resemble  a  school,  governed  by  some  village  pedant. 

The  libertines  had  reason  to  protest,  in  their  ballads,  against  an  ex- 
otic puritanism,  which  was  essaying  to  change  the  national  character 
We  can  comprehend  their  wrath  against  this  preacher  of  Noyon,  wiio 
never  knew  the  delights  of  family  happiness ;  an  ungrateful  son,  a  dry 
student,  who  carried  his  dark  humour  with  him,  from  land  to  land;  a 
man  without  country,  without  affection,  without  any  tie  of  the  heart, 
and  who  wanted  to  smite  with  his  anathemas  the  unrestrained  gaity  ot 
the  fireside,  the  indiscretions  of  the  bar-room,  the  noisy  rejoicings  of  the 
inner  sanctuary  of  families,  and  even  the  very  national  customs.  Sick, 
from  an  asthma  which  frequently  nails  him  to  his  arm-chair,  the  noise, 
of  the  streets  or  of  public  assemblies,  irritates  his  nerves ;  the  dance 
prevents  him  from  sleeping,  and  the  clatter  of  glasses  gives  him  the 
headache.  The  image  of  those  banquets,  at  which  they  amused  them- 
selves at  the  expense  of  the  gloomy  policy  of  the  theocrat,  where  they 
permitted  themselves  to  laugh  at  his  nasal  tones,  at  his  cadaverous  figure, 
at  his  half-dead  eye,  and  withered  hands,  re-appears  in  his  sermons,  at 
every  instant.  They  would  speak  of  him  as  of  a  Spartan,  fed  only  on 
black  broth.  Listen  to  the  orator  :  his  accusations  are  vague,  his 
strokes  are  dull  and  undecided;  we  see  clearly  that  it  is  not  blasphe- 
mies against  the  gospel,  scandals  against  morality,  or  attacks  on  modes- 
ty, which  he  has  undertaken  to  denounce. 

'•'When  they  are  there,"  says  he,  "how  many  frivolous  discourses  do 
they  hold.  There,  where  they  should  eat  as  if  in  the  presence  of  God, 
and  rejoicing  with  his  angels,  will  be  found  vanities  Avhich,  in  such  sort, 
will  transport  men,  that  to  many  it  appears  they  have  no  good  cheer, 
without  they  are  made  gay,  I  know  not  after  what  sort  :  I  speak  even 
of  good  persons.  ...  If  there  be  question  of  a  banquet,  how  do  they 
commence?  Is  it  by  invoking  the  name  of  God  ?  Oh!  this  would 
seem  a  matter  of  melancholy  :  therefore  the  name  of  God  must  be 
buried ;  for,  should  they  think  on  God,  it  seems  that  all  the  pleasure 
ihey  take  in  banqueting  would  be  changed  into  mourning ;  and  then 
every  restraint  w^ill  be  removed,  so  that  there  will  be  question  only  of 
treasonable  and  malicious  propositions;  there  will  be  nothing  novel, 
except  to  tear  the  neighbour  to  pieces ;  and  a  continual  machination 
will  take  place  against  this  person,  and  that  person.  Behold,  what 
things  prevail  at  these  banquets.  Hence,  then,  since  men  are  so  much 
inclined  to  vices,  it  is  impossible  there  should  be  no  fault,  even  if  the 
bridle  of  restraint  be  not  entirely  relaxed.  I  pray  you,  then,  must  there 
not  be,  as  it  were,  a  gulf  of  hell  there,  where  those  persons  assemble 
to  plot  all  sorts  of  malice  and  treachery  ?"* 

Calvin's  panegy^rists  have  taken  these  impulses  of  a  sickly  organiza- 
tion, for  evangelical  transports  ;  but  they  radiated  rather  from  the  head 
than  the  heart.  For,  we  must  guard  ourselves  from  trusting  to  those 
declamations,  used,  at  the  coming  of  Luther,  against  Catholic  morals : 
bar-room  speeches,  engendered  amid  circulating  pots  of  Munich  beer, 
by  nuns,  escaped  from  the  convents,    and   monks,  who  knew  but  these 

*  Sermon  on  Faith. 


298  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

three  words  of  the  Old  Testament :  crescite  et  multiplicammi, — increase 
and  multiply.*  The  Franciscan  whO;.  after  Calvin's  exile,  thundered 
in  the  pulpit  most  loudly  against  the  disorders  of  Catholics,  was  pre- 
cisely that  Bernard,  who  had  found  "the  Lord  in  the  arms  of  his  own 
maid  servant." 

Before  the  reformation,  Geneva  was  a  pious,  charitable,  christian, 
city ;  its  priests  were  nearly  all  men  of  intelligence  and  good  morals  ; 
its  bishops,  the  very  models  of  wisdom  and  patrioiism.  Protestantism 
has  been  able  to  reproach  the  last  prelate,  Peter  de  la  Baume,  for  pusil- 
lanimity of  character,  and  perhaps  for  a  somewhat  too-  lively  inclination 
to  advance  the  interests  of  the  house  of  Savoy,  but  it  has  respected  the 
virtue  of  the  bishop.  It  was  Adhemar  Fabri  that  confirmed  the  muni- 
cipal liberties  of  the  city.  One  of  the  articles  of  the  episcopal  charter 
imported,  that  the  citizens  had  the  right  of  judgment,  in  all  cases  of 
blood ;  another,  that  no  one  should  be  subjected  to  the  torture,  without 
the  authorization  of  the  people ;  a  third,  that  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  the 
guardianship  of  the  city  should  be  confided  to  the  burghers,  and  that 
during  this  interval,  neither  duke,  bishop,  nor  inferior  agent,  should  ex- 
ercise the  slightest  power:  and  a  fourth,  that  to  the  burghers  belonged 
the  election  of  the  burgomasters. f  We  shall  see  what  Calvin  will  do 
with  these  liberties. 

At  the  moment  when  this  Genevese  community,  constituted  of  such 
various  elements,  was  yielding  to  its  nature,  oblivious  of  the  past,  and 
rndiflferent  to  the  future,  God  descended  to  visit  it.  The  pest,  after 
having  desolated  Italy,  and  ravaged  part  of  France,  had  just  pomicedt 
upon  the  banks  of  lake  Leman.  Throughout  all  the  streets  of  this 
mercantile  city,  there  went  up  a  cry  of  fear  and  terror. 

*'  On  the  26th  of  October,  the  ministers  mount  the  pulpits,  and 
set  forth  *'hovv  the  christian  churches  are  greatly  molested  by  the  pest, 
and  for  this  cause  we  are  bound  to  pray  to  God  for  one  another;  that  it 
would  be  good  to  return  to  God,  with  humble  supplication,  and  to  pray 
for  the  augmentation  and  honor  of  the  holy  gospel,  and  that  on  Sunday 
next,  30th  of  October,  they  could  be  able  to.  announce  the  holy  supper 
of  tlie  Lord  for  the  Sunday  following. — One  day,  during  the  week,  the 
sermon  was  announced  by  ringing  the  large  bell,  to  assemble  the  peo- 
ple, in  order  to  pray  God  that  he  would  please,  by  his  grace,  preserve 
us,  and  that  the  Sixty,  CC.  and  the  heads  of  families  might  be  admon- 
ished.— The  preachers  have  repeated  beautiful  remonstrances,,  as  in  or-^ 
dinary  council,  that  communion  should  be  announced  next  Sunday,  for 
the  Sunday  following; — that  prayers  should  be  said  one  day  dbringthe 
week  ;   that,  on  that  day,  the  shops  should  be  closed,  and  that  the  citi- 

♦  With  regard  to  the  state  of  morals,  after  the  triumph  of  the  reformation, 
the  reader  may  consult  several  of  the  Postillee  of  Luther;  1st  and  2d  Sundays 
of  Advent;— Melancthon,  Ep.  lib,.  IV.— Capito,  ep.  adFarellum: — Burnet. 
History  of  the  Reformation,  part  2. — Motives  of  Good  Actions,  by  Stubbs» 
London,  1596; — and  L'Eglise  Romaine,  defendue  contre  les  attaques-du  Pro- 
testantisme,  8vo.  225-233. 

t  Hottinger,  Histoire  des  Eglises  de  la  Suisse.    Bretschneider. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  299 

^ens  should  be  fidmonishcd,  in  order  to  cause  them  to  assist  at  the  ser. 
mon.  * 

These  prayers  did  not  avert  the  scourge,  which  raged  terribly.  We 
^ere  desirous  to  contemplate  the  reformed  ministers  under  this  trial. 
We  remembered  the  beautiful  words  of  Calvin  to  Sadolet  :t 

'•  Even  had  I  no  regard  for  the  church  of  Geneva,  from  which  I 
cannot  distract  my  mind,  which  I  cannot  love  less,  but  hold  it  dear  as 
my  own  soul;  granted  that  I  had  no  affection  for  it ;  there,  where  I  see 
defamed  my  ministry,  which  I  have,  as  it  were,  known  to  be  from 
Christ,  I  must,  if  need  there  be,  even  maintain  it  at  the  price  of  my 
life. — God,  once  having  appointed  me  to  Geneva,  has  obliged  me  al- 
ways to  yield  it  faith  and  loyalty." 

The  ministers  concealed  themselves.  J 

ApA  then,  a  man,  still  youthful,  who  loved  the  muses  passionately, 
Bastien  Chatillon,  better  known  under  the  name  of  Castalio  or  Castal- 
ion,§  presents  himself,  and  says  :  "  I  am  ready  to  go  to  the  pest-house, 
iilihough  many  of  the  preachers  have  said,  that  they  would  sooner  go 
to  the  devil,  than  go  there."  || 

And  Chatillon  went  courageously  to  visit  those  infected  with  the  pest, 
in  company  with  another  Frenchman,  by  name,  P.  Blanchet,  who  died 
a  victim  to  his  zeal.l" 

Then,  say  the  state  registers  :  "  Ordained  1|  that  the  ministers  assemble 
to  elect  the  most  proper  person,  and  that  ihe  council  order  him  to  go 
there.  And  as  to  the  election  to  visit  said  hospital,  that  M.  Calvin  be 
excluded  frmn  those  who  may  he  chosen,  because  there  is  need  of  him 
for  the  church. — The  ministers  presented  themselves  with  Calvin,  and 
set  forth  how  they  had  advised  amongst  themselves,  that,  to  visit  the 
pest-hospital,  it  is  necessary  to  be  firm,  and  not  timid,  and  that  they 
had  found  one,  who  iscf  France,  a  faithful  person;  wherefore,  should 
their  lordships  find  him  suitable,  they  present  him.  Although  their 
office  be  to  serve  God  and  his  church,  as  well  in  prosperity  as  adversity, 
even  to  death,  they  confessed  they  did  not  do  their  duty,  in  this  conjunc- 
ure. — Resolved,  to  give  them  a  hearing,  always  understanding  that  M. 
Calvin  is  not  comprehended  with  the  rest,  because  he  is  needed  to  serve 
in  the  church,  and  to  respond  to  all  passers,  who  may  wish  to  consult 
kim. — The  said  ministers  having  entered  without  Calvin,  have  confess- 
ed that  God  has  not  given  them  the  grace  to  have  strength  and  consten- 
cy  to  visit  the  hospital,  praying,  therefore,  to  be  held  excused. — M.  de 
<jeneston,  offered  himself,  provided  the  selection  were  properly  made, 
according  to  God,  saying  that  he  was  ready,  if  the  lot  fell  on  him. — 
Resolved  to  pr&y  to  God  to  give  them  greater  constancy  for  the  fu. 
ture." 

Lots  were  not  cast,  and  Calvin  kept  himself  concealed  from  all  eyes, 

♦  Registres  du  conseil  d'Etat  de  Geneve. 
t  Opusc.  fr.,  p.  166. 
^  See  the  chapter  entitled :  Castalion. 
k  Registres,  1   mai  1543. 

II  Registres,  juin  1543.  H  lb.  ib. 

f  Fragments  historiques,  extraits  des  registres  du  conseil  d'Etat  de  Genfeve, 
page  iO. 


300  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

in  his  own  dwelling,  allowing  the  scourge  of  God  to  pass,  and  those 
souls  to  die  in  despair,  for  whom  Sadolet  would  have  given  his  life  : 
the  reason  is,  because  Calvin  was  not  the  legitimate  pastor  of  Geneva. 

In  1510,  the  pest  came  to  desolate  Wittenberg.  Luther  had  pro- 
nounced his  vows  :  he  was  all  love.  He  has  no  fear  of  the  scourge, 
but  writes  to  his  friend,  Lange,  •'  Fly,  do   you  tell  me  !     My  God,  no  ! 

the  monastery  is  not  lost  because  one  monk  is  cut  down I  am 

at  my  post ;  I  shall  remain  there,  through  obedience,  until  I  am  ordered 
to  leave  it,  and  then  I  will  fly  from  the  pest  through  obedience.  Not 
that  I  have  no  fear  of  the  pest,  for  1  am  not  an  Apostle  Paul,  but  a 
reader  of  the  disciple  of  Jesus,    who  will  deliver  me  from  fear."* 

This  is  the  language  of  a  good  shepherd,  a  language  quite  evangel- 
ical :  but  wait  awhile ;  the  monk  now  calls  himself  doctor  Martin,  and 
has  thrown  aside  his  surplice  and  burned  his  letters  of  ordination.  We 
are  in  the  year  1527,  at  the  moment  when  the  dread  of  death  is  driving 
millions  to  the  table  of  communion- — What  is  to  be  done  ?  Send 
them  aw^ay,  says  Luther :  *'  It  is  quite  enough  that  they  publicly  receive 
the  body  of  Christ  four  times  a  year.  The  church  is  not  a  slave;  to 
give  the  sacrament  to  all  who  would  approach  the  holy  table,  especial- 
ly in  the  time  of  the  pest,  would  be  too  weighty  a  burden  for  the  min- 
isters."t 

•  De  Wette,  Luther's  Briefe,  1. 1.  Lango,  26  oct.  1516.  Op.  Luth.  t.  XXlj 
p.  561.  Edit,  de  Walsh. 

t  Michelet:  Memoires  de  Luther,  t.  II,  p  342. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

THE     CLERICAL     SYSTEM. 1541-— 1543. 

"What  the  reformation  would  have  been,  had  Calvin  been  born  at  Eisleben.— 
Hierarchical  ideas  of  Calvin. — The  ecclesiastical  order, — Pastors. — Elders. — 
Doctors. — Deacons. — The  Consistory  .^-Examination  of  the  hierarchical  sys- 
tem of  Calvin. — Absence  of  unity. — The  Elder,  an  informer,  a  judge,  a 
pope* — Tardy  return  of  Calvin  to  Catholic  ideas,  concerning  the  necessity 
of  the  episcopacy. 

Had  God  placed  the  birth  of  Calvin  at  Eisleben,  the  Saxon  reforma. 
tion  would  not  have  been  accomplished ;  for  the  son  of  the  scribe  of 
Noyon  had  not  received  from  heaven  sufficient  power  to  operate  a 
revolution.  One  should  be  like  Luther,  in  order  to  agitate  masses  :  he 
should  have  lightnings  in  his  eye,  and  thunders  in  his  voice,  in  order  to 
fascinate,  by  glance  and  speech.  Now,  Calvin's  Avord  was  soft  and 
timid,  and  his  glance  without  power.  Luther  took  possession  of  the 
theological  world,  after  having  lived  with  the  labourers  of  the  mines, 
whose  gross  songs  he  had  listened  to,  while  drinking  troubled  beer  and 
mating  black  bread.  From  his  childhood,  he  had  wrestled,  body  to  body, 
with  a  society,  w^hich  refused  him  the  alms  he  was  demartding  from 
door  to  door,  through  Magdebourg.  At  night,  in  his  lodgings,  he  slept 
upon  straw,  and  in  the  morning  aroused  himself  at  cock-crow,  to  re- 
sume his  pilgrim  life.  Each  hour  of  sleep  that  he  enjoyed,  was  a  conquest 
over  the  hard  hearts  of  his  fellow  citizens ;  each  crumb  of  bread  which 
he  ate,  up  to  the  epoch  of  his  entrance  into  the  convent,  had  cost  him 
either  a  tear  or  a  prayer ;  even  the  knowledge,  with  which  he  had  fill- 
ed his  head,  he  had  stolen  from  books  which  he  was  not  rich  enough 
to  purchase.  To  humanity,  which  had  repelled  and  contemned  him, 
he  owed  nothing  but  hatred  and  anger.  When,  therefore,  the  day  came 
that  he  was  to  measure  arms  with  an  ungrateful  world,  he  brought  to 
the  combat  a  soul,  exasperated  by  privation,  hardened  by  all  sorts  of 
afflictions ;  without  pity  for  the  griefs  of  others ;  irritated  against  the 
insolence  of  the  great,  the  pomp  of  prelates,  and  the  ignorance  of 
monks. 

The  moral  and  physical  conditions  of  Calvin's  life  were  very  differ- 
ent ;  his  father  was  under  no  necessity,  like  Martin's  father,  to  exile  a 
child  from  inability  to  feed  him.  Gerard  had  been  able  to  give  mate- 
rial  bread  to  his  well  beloved  John.  As  smin  as  the  child  knew  how  to 
read,  the  abbe  d'Hangest  had  broken  to  him  the  bread  of  immaterial 
life.  Calvin  had  no  reason  to  reproach  humanity,  which  had  proved  a 
veritable  mother  to  him ;  the  only  difference  was,  that  in  the  bosom  of 
26 


302  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CAIVIN, 

the  Picardian,  nature  had  placed  a  boundless  pride,  instea!<I  of  the  p^s* 
sionate  instincts  of  Luther.  Martin  Luther,  therefore,  was  formed  and 
fitted  to  shake  to  pieces  and  destroy,  and  John  Calvin,  to  settle  down 
amid  ruins  already  made,  fix  himself  there,  and,  in  case  of  need,  hmld 
up  for  himself  a  throne  or  a  pavilion.  Place  Luther,  at  Geneva^  on 
the  benches  of  the  consistory,  and  revolt,  left  to  itself,  will  not  be  abler 
to  invest  itself  with  a  visible  form,  because  Luther  does  not,  like  Calvin, 
possess  that  organizing  instinct,  which  makes  even  disorder  prolific, 
•'  One,"  says  M.  Paul  Henry,  "has  the  genius  which  kills,  the  other, 
the  genius  which  gives  life ;  the  Saxon  is  suited  for  war,  the  Genevese 
for  order ;  Luther  loves  the  tempest,  Calvin,  the  house  built  upon  the 
rock."*  But  the  work  of  John  of  Noyon,  according  to  the  words  of 
the  Psalmist,  was  destined,  sooner  or  later,  to  perish,  because  the  Lord 
built  not  with  him. 

A  spectacle,  which  had  ever  filled  Calvin  with  wonder^  was  that  of 
the  Catholic  hierarchy.  There  can  be  no  religion  without  a  hierarchy; 
and  one  was  needed  for  the  Genevese  church.  In  collecting  together 
the  elements  of  a  new  theocracy,  the  genius  of  Calvin  was  particularly 
conspicuous.  Had  the  reformatiofi  been  abandoned  to  the  impetuous 
instincts  of  Farel,  it  is  probable  it  would  have  avssumed  the  Zwinglian 
form,  or,  after  long  struggles,  would  have  been  absorbed  by  Catholi- 
cism ;  in  any  case,  it  could  with  diiicujity  have  elevated  itself  to  an 
individuality  :   Geneva  would  not  have  had  its  own  church. 

This  work  of  reconstruction  is  the  idea  which  occupied  the  mind  of 
Calvin,  from  the  very  first  moment  of  his  return  to  Geneva.  The  sys- 
tem of  predestination,  which,  at  Strasbourg,  he  agitated  in  his  books, 
in  his  oral  sermons,  in  his  discourses,  is  but  the  crowning  of  the  edi- 
fice, which  he  undertook  to  construct,  as  soon  as  he  had  conceived  the 
idea  of  a  reformation.  The  theocracy  which  he  was  desirous  to  found, 
was  modeled  after  the  ancient  theocracy  ;  except  that  he  excluded  the 
monarchical  element,  to  substitute  a  form  rather  aristocratic  than  repub- 
lican. Instead  of  the  episcopacy,  which  had  charge  to  watch  over  the 
integrity  of  doctrines,  he  organized  a  consistory;  a  tribunal,  numbering 
among  its  attributes  of  authority,  the  police  of  consciences.  In  his 
system,  the  church  is  intimately  united  with  the  state;-  they  are  two 
powers  which  lend  each  other  a  mutual  support :  the  state  has  the  right 
to  select  ministers;  the  church,,  in  the  consistory,  watches  over  the  evan- 
gelical word.  But,  at  a  glance,  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Catholic  form 
can  be  seen.  In  the  Poman  hierarchy,  above  the  episcopal  power, 
hovers  a  personality,  living  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  which,  in  case  of 
disputes  on  doctrines,  judges  in  a  sovereign  manner,  and  without  appeal, 
thereby  preventing  all  religious  collision  :  this  is  the  very  ideal  of 
unity.  In  Calvin's  system,  the  authority  of  the  word,  so  to  speak,  be- 
longs to  each  member  of  the  consistory.  Suppose  differences  to  arise 
in  the  church  ;  who  shall  regulate  the  common  creed  ?  who  shall  de» 
fine  the  dogma  ?  who  shall^ive  authority  to  the  contested  word?     Then, 

*  Das  Losungswort  des  Einen  ist  Krieg,  des  Andern  Ordnung;  der  Eine 
lauft  Sturm,  der  Andere  baut  die  Burg  Gottes  aus.— P.  Henry,  Das  Lebes 
Johann  Calvins,  t.  II,  p.  4. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  303 

one  of  two  tilings  must  take  place  :  either  the  consistory  will  be  ab- 
sorbed in  some  powerful  being,  whose  slave  it  will  become ;  or  the  con- 
sistory,— a  veritable  republic, — will  recognize  no  master  but  individual 
sense.  In  the  first  supposition,  you  will  have  to  undergo  all  the  fan- 
tasies  of  despotism ;  in  the  second,  all  the  disorders  of  anarchy.  If 
the  despot  be  organized  after  the  fashion  of  Calvin,  and  have  recourse 
to  cunning  and  brute  force,  to  sustain  his  dominion,  the  staie  necessari- 
ly falls  into  servitude  :  tyranny,  and  even  sacerdotal  tyranny,  wields 
the  sceptre.     Follow  Calvin. 

In  the  state  registers,  we  read,  under  the  date  of  the  13th  Septem- 
ber, 1541  : 

"  Calvin  has  prayed  that  order  be  introduced  into  the  church,  and 
that  this  should  be  drawn  up  in  writing,  and  that  persons  of  the  council 
should  be  appointed  to  hold  conference  with  them  (the  ministers),  who 
shall  make  report  in  council." 

And  September  16th : 

"  In  pursuance  of  the  resolution  of  the  great  and  small  councils,  it 
has  been  anew  ordered,  that  the  seigniors,  the  preachers,  with  the  seig- 
niors, the  six  deputies,  should  follow  the  ordinances  concerning  the 
order  of  tlie  church,  with  a  rule  of  life,  which,  before  every  thing,  shall 
be  supervised  by  the  small  council,  then  by  the  Two  Hundred  and 
general  council,  to  the  end  that  it  may  be  known  that  each  one  shall 
conduct  himself  according  to  God  and  justice." 

And  on  the  29th  of  September  : 

"  They  have  continued  to  read  all  the  articles  of  said  ordinances, 
some  of  which  have  been  accepted  and  some  rejected ;  however,  it  has 
been  thought  that  it  would  be  proper  to  ordain  and  establish  a  rule  of 
life  for  each  one." 

And  November  20th,   1546  : 

**  In  general  council,  Sunday,  the  ordinances  of  the  church  have 
been  passed  without  contradiction." 

Here  we  have  the  Genevan  church  organized  :  the  constitution  is  the 
one  which  has  long  since  been  conceived  by  Calvin,  and  the  idea  of 
which  is  found  in  his  Christian  Institutes.  In  this  church,  the  ecclesi- 
astical order  is  thus  constituted . — The  minister  or  pastor. — The  doctor. 
— The  elder. — The  deacon. 

The  pastor  is  chosen  by  the  ecclesiastical  order,  the  council  confirms 
the  election,  and  the  commune  controls  the  nomination  through  the 
syndics.*  The  pastor  takes  an  oath,  to  obey  the  civil  and  religious 
constitutions  of  the  state  :  '*  In  so  far,  as  these  do  not  prejudice  the 
liberty  which  the  servants  of  God  have,  to  teach  as  the  Lord  commands 
in  his  word."!  The  first  guarantee  of  the  pastoral  election  is  interior 
vocation  :%  the  visible  sign  of  this  vocation  is  an  exemplary  purity  of 
morals  :  the  Lord  alone  is  judge  of  interior  dispositions.  The  minis- 
ter,  before  being  clothed  with  the  priesthood,  which  is  conferred  by  im- 

*  Instit.  chret.,  liv.  IV,  3;  Lev.,  VIII,   3,  4.  Comm.  Tite,   V,  8.  Philipp.,  I. 
L  Hebreux,  V,  4.  Ord.  eccles.,  titre  I,  4. 
t  Inst.,  liv.  IV,  chap.  20. 
I  Inst.,  IV,  3.  Comm.  Rom.,  1. 1.  I.  Cor.  11.  Ord.  eccl.,  1. 1,  5. 


304  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

position  of  hands,*  must,  for  a  long  time,  have  meditated  upon  the  trea» 
sures  of  the  divine  word.f  To  be  a  priest  of  the  Lord,  one  must  be 
exempt  from  any  corporal  infirmity,  capable  of  exciting  contempt  or 
ridicule.  J 

Each  week,  the  pastors  of  the  city  and  of  the  country  places,  in 
turn,  make  a  discourse  upon  some  chosen  text  of  scripture.  The  dis- 
course having  been  pronounced,  the  ministers  assemble  to  examine  the 
doctrines  of  the  orator.  If,  in  the  assembly,  there  arise  some  differ, 
ence  of  opinion  concerning  the  teaching  of  the  preacher,  an  appeal  is 
made  to  the  elders,  who  give  their  opinion,  with  their  reasons  for  it,,  and 
then  refer  the  matter  to  the  council. 

The  pastor  confers  baptism,  which  can  only  be  administered -in  the 
temple  :  the  illigitimacy  of  the  child  must  be  revealed  to  the  pastor. 
Marriage,  preceded  by  three  publications,  takes  place  at  the  church,  on 
any  day  except  days  for  communion.  At  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  pas- 
tor presents  the  bread ;  the  elder  and  deacon  present  the  chalice  ;  the 
christian,  before  receiving  communion,  must  have  presented  himself  be- 
fore the  pastor,  to  recite  his  act  of  faith.  The  child  at  catechism 
should  do  the  same.  Each  year,  the  pastor,  accompanied  by  an  elder, 
visits  the  families,  and  receives  from  each  citizen  a  profession  of  faith. § 
Every  sick  person  is  obliged  to  summon  the  pastor.  The  minister,  fol- 
lowed by  a  member  of  the  council,  visits  the  prisons. 

The  doctors,  \\  directors  of  the  church,  give  oral  lessons  on  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  expose  and  defend  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and- 
bnng  back  unbelievers  to  the  truth. 

.  The  elders  watch  over  the  morals  of  the  community,  are  designated 
by  the  pastoral  body,  and  elected  for  a  year,  by  the  small  council  :  ten 
should  belong  to  the  council  of  the  Sixty,  or  of  the  Two  Hundred,  and 
two  should  be  members  of  the  small  council.  The  commune  has  the 
right  of  veio.  In  entering  upon  their  office,  they  take  the  following 
oath  : 

''  I  swear,  in  accordance  with  the  charge  given  me,  to  watch  all 
scandals,  to  hinder  all  idolatries,  blasphemies,  dissoluteness,  and  other 
things  contravening  the  honor  of  God  and  the  reformation  of  the  evan- 
gelical church.  When  I  shall  know  any  thing  worthy  of  being  report- 
ed to  the  consistory,  to  do  my  duty  faithfully,  without  hatred  or  favour, 
but  only  to  the  end  that  the  church  be  maintained  in  good  order,  and 
in  the  fear  of  God." 

The  deacons  are  of  two  kinds  :  some  take  care  of  the  sick  and  poor, 
others  distribute  regular  alms.l 

All  these  difierent  powers  are  made  dependent  upon  the  consistory  : 
an  institution,  which  leaped  in  its  maturity  from  the  brain  of  Calvin, 
for  the  misfortune  of  his  fellow   citizens ;  a  fiery  chamber^  dfestined  ta 

*  Inst.,  IV,  3.  Comm.  Gal.,  I,  1.  Old.  eccl.  tit.  I,  IK 
t  Inst.,  IV,  3.  Comm.  I.  Cor.  XII,  7.  Ord.  cccl,,  t.  I,  6. 
\  Comm.  Tite,  I,  7.  Tim.,  Ill,  1.  Ord.  eccl.,  t,  1,  art.  5. 
(,  Ord.  eccl.,  27. 

II  Inst.,  IV,  3.  Comm.  Eph.,  IV,  II.  Ord.  eccl.,  art.  2. 
IT  Inst.,   IV,  3..  Ord..occU  t.  Ill,  art»  4,  7  et  suiv.. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  305 

cost  the  country  so  many  tears ;  a  tribunal  of  inquisition,  through 
which  so  many  patriot  souls  had  to  pass,  in  order  to  go  into  exile,  or  as- 
cend the  scaffold. 

The  consistory  is  composed  of  six  pastors  and  twelve  elders;*  it 
assembles  every  Thursday,  and  summons  sinners  before  its  bar.  [f  the 
fault  have  remained  secret,  the  off"ender  is  admonished;  if  he  relapse, 
he  is  banished  from  the  holy  table. f  If  the  scandal  have  been  public, 
the  sinner  is  reprimanded,  if  he  do  not  repent,  he  is  excommunicat- 
ed, then  interdicted;  if  he  refuse  to  recognize  the  right  of  malediction, 
he  is  denounced  to  the  civil  power,  and  exiled  for  a  year  from  the  terri- 
tory of  the  republic.  The  name  of  the  criminal  is  published  and 
placarded  ;  the  sinner  must  be  marked  on  the  forehead  with  the  sign 
of  revolt,  that,  in  pursuance  of  the  precept  of  the  gospel,  all  intercourse 
with  a  soul  that  has  prevaricated  should  cease. 

We  need  but  repeat  the  admission:}:  which  has  escaped  the  pen  of 
Calvin's  historian  : — that  the  genius  of  the  reformation,  powerful  for 
destruction,  has  not  the  same  energy  for  building  up  again.  Calvin  has 
himself  acknowledged  "the  defects  of  his  institutions,"  which  he  at- 
tributes to  the  "infirmity  of  the  times."§  This  is  the  common  lot  of  all 
those  who  have  been  sent  to  overturn  the  Catholic  edifice  ;  all  had  the 
same  mission ;  to  make  ruins,  and  then  to  build  upon  these  ruins. 
Here  it  was,  that  God  wished  to  manifest  their  utter  nothingness  to  these 
men  of  the  world.  Behold  Calvin  engaged  in  this  work,  an  intellec- 
tual work.  Matter  can  be  reorganized  very  easily;  with  a  little  wood, 
he  has  raised  up  again  the  prostrate  pulpit ;  with  a  little  plaster,  he  has 
concealed  the  exterior  mutilations  of  the  iconoclasts ;  with  a  little  mar- 
ble, he  has  repaired  the  altar-tables ;  this  was  the  work  of  human  hands. 
But  it  is  difficult  to  reconstruct  the  work  of  God,  once  it  has  been  de- 
stroyed. 

Hence,  you  must  perceive,  that,  in  Calvin's  work,  the  corner-stone 
is  wanting — the  Pope,  or  unity.  What  is  a  consistory,  where  the  spir- 
itual is  absorbed  by  the  political  element,  ||  where  the  church  is  repre- 
sented by  laics  or  elders, — popes  in  citizen's  dress, — who,  before  as- 
cending the  doctoral  chair,  are  subjected  to  no  probation  ;  who  will  im- 
pose symbols,  draw  up  formularies,  cuise,  raise  up  their  hands  and 
excommunicate  ?  Who,  then,  has  given  them  the  gift  of  tongues,  the 
evangelical  commission,  the  science  of  interpretation,  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  ecclesiastical  law  ?     You  are  aware  how  terrible  is  the  right  of 

*  Porro  scire  opera  pretium  est  non  solos  verbi  ministros  sedere  judices  in 
consistorio,  sed  numero  duplo  majorem,  partim  ex  minori  senatu  ex  delectis 
senioribusesse,  ut  vocant,  partim  ex  majori  deligi;  ad  haec  unum  fere  ex  ipsis 
syndicis  prsesidere. — Ep.  167. 

t  Inst.,  VI,  3,  4.  Comm.   Actes,  IV,  3.  Ord.  eccl.,  t.  IV,  156  et  suiv. 

X  Dasz  er  im  Umstiirzen  glticklicher  ist,  als  im  Aufbauen. — Paul  Henry, 
t.  II,  p.  115. 

^  Nunc  habemus  qualecumque  presbyterorum  judicium,  et  formam  diseipli- 
nse  qualem  ferebat  temporum  infirmitas.  Ep.  35,  ad  Myconium. 

II  To  assist  with  the  preacliersinthe  consistory,  are  elected  a  syndic,  two  coun- 
selors, and  eleven  other  persons,  including  the  secretary  and  a  chanter,  rfie 
last  not  being  of  the  Two  Hundred,  though  the  others  sho'uld  be.  9,  Feb, 
1543. 

26* 


306  LIFE  or  JOHN  calviit. 

excommunication  in  the  Catholic  chmxh,  and  with  what  prudence  it  is 
exercised.  The  Genevan  bishops,  sometimes  had  recourse  to  it,  but  it 
was  when  some  despotic  prince  had  usurped  the  privileges  of  the  com- 
mune, that  is,  the  most  precious  possession  of  the  citizen,  and  after  the 
priest  had  vainly  employed,  prayers,  tears,  and  supplications.  At  Ge- 
neva, a  dozen  laymen  will  assemble  together,  on  a  fixed  day,  some  of 
them  just  out  of  their  shops,  others  from  their  fields,  others  from  the 
bar-room,  and  will  meet  to  decide  if  this  person  should  be  reprimanded, 
that  person  interdicted,  this  subjected  to  fine,  and  that  other  sent  to  the 
council,  in  order  to  be  exiled.  But  who  has  told  them  that  the  speech 
which  has  escaped  from  the  lips  of  the  accused,  is  an  offence  against 
God  ?  We  Protestants,  remarks  Langsdorf,  have  not  a  pope,  but  what 
is  worse,  popes.*  Behold  what  a  wound  has  been  inflicted  upon  the 
popular  principle  !  In  the  primitive  church,  the  restoration  of  which 
was  the  favourite  dream  of  the  patriots,  it  was  the  people  assembled 
that  elected  the  bishop.  In  the  Calvinistic  legislation,  the  elder  issues 
not  from  the  people,  but,  by  an  entirely  aristocratic  apportionment,  he 
comes  from  the  councils ;  ten  are  selected  from  the  Two  Hundred  or 
from  the  Sixty,  and  two  only  from  the  small  council.  These  elders, 
intellects  which  have  been  subjected  to  no  trial,  have  a  twofold  power: 
as  spiritual  judges,  they,  in  the  consistory,  admonish  obstinate  sinners, 
whom  they  punish  as  secular  judges,  when  seated  in  the  council. 

What  security  has  the  accused,  before  a  sovereign  tribunal,  formed 
out  of  pastors,  and  elders  designated  by  the  pastors,  and  from  the  judg- 
ment of  which  he  can  make  no  appeal ! 

It  is  curious  to  study  the  part  played  by  the  elders.  In  entering  upon 
their  office,  they  swear  to  report  to  the  consistory,  "every  thing  worthy 
to  be  recounted." 

Each  year,  in  company  with  a  minister,  they  introduce  themselves 
into  families,  to  exact  formularies  of  faith. 

The  elder,  consequently,  has  a  twofold  employment :  he  is  at  the 
same  time  inquisitor  and  informer.  In  vain  do  they  tell  us  that  these 
are  pious  and  enlightened  laymen. f  Before  all,  they  are  men,  and 
when  they  pass  from  the  consistory  to  the  council,  in  order  to  chastise 
a  citizen,  whose  fault  they  have  spied  out  and  denounced,  how  shall 
the  offender  be  able  to  count  on  the  impartiality  of  judges,  who  cannot 
acquit  him  without  perjuring  themselves  !  Hence,  this  very  Venetian 
office,  which  the  constitution,  as  a  privilege  or  mark  of  honor,  conferred 
upon  some  chosen  men,  began  soon  to  weigh  heavy  upon  their  con- 
sciences:  the  police  of  morals  suffered  in  consequence.  Then,  Calvin 
created  employments  for  subaltern  informers,  who  were  paid  either  by 
the  state,  or  by  the  criminal.  There  were  guardians  of  the  city  and 
guardians  of  the  country,  whose  whole  duty  was  to  take  note  of  sins 
committed  against  God  or  against  the  state,  and  to  denounce  them  to 
the  authorities.     The  tariff  had  been  established  beforehand  : — Who- 


*  Zwar  haben  die  Protestanten  keinen  Papst,  aber  was  vielleicht  noch 
scblvmmer  ist,  sie  haben  Pabste.— Bl5szen  dor  protestantischen  Theologie^ 
1830,  p.  448. 

t  Jean  GabereU  Calvin  k  Geneve,  p.  69. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  307 

ever  blasphemed,  in  s\vearing  by  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  was 
condemned  to  kiss  the  earth,  to  be  exposed  in  the  pillory  for  an  hour, 
and  to  pay  five  sous  fine. — Whoever  seduced  his  companion  or  friend 
to  go  to  the  tavern,  was  condemned  to  the  same  penalty. — In  the  coun. 
try,  whoever  did  not  assist  at  the  church  offices,  paid  three  sous. — 
Wiioever  arrived  after  the  commencement  of  the  preaching,  was  at  first 
admonished,  afterwards  subjected  to  a  fine,  if  he  fell  again  into  the 
same  fault.  But  there  remained  some  money  in  the  coffers,  inasmuch 
as  the  informers  did  their  duty  conscientiously.  Then  a  member  of  the 
council  demanded  : — "  What  recompense  the  seigniors  assisting  at  the 
consistory  shall  have  for  their  trouble  ?"  Consultation  was  had,  and  it 
was  decided,  "  that  all  fines  should  be  put  in  a  box  together,  and  from 
this,  to  each  one,  two  sous  per  day  should  be  given."* 

We  remember  Calvin,  when  in  France,  lamenting  the  punishment 
inflicted  on  certain  obstinate  fanatics,  who  openly  insulted  the  national 
religion.  His  heart,  moved  to  pity,  then  refused  to  the  secular  magis- 
trate  the  power  to  judge  consciences.  To-day,  Calvin  is,  at  Geneva, 
magistrate  and  minister,  and  his  language  is  very  different. 

'•'What  shall  be  done,"  does  he  ask,  "with  christians,  who,  after 
having  been  banished  from  the  holy  table,  mock  at  the  judgment  of  the 
church  ?''"t 

Calvin  proposes  this  question  to  himself,  and  soon  finds  an  answer  to 
it  : — The  elders  should  denounce  them  to  the  magistrates^  and  require 
an  exemplary  punishment. 

The  motive  for  this  transformation  is  shameful  :  ''If  he  have  deviated 
frrom  the  principles  set  forth  in  his  Institutes,  it  is  because  he  was  un- 
der the  necessity  of  repressing  the  insolence  of  a  hostile  population. "J 

It  is  manifest,  that  Calvin,  in  constructing  his  system,  was  desirous 
to  assume  the  government  of  the  Jewish  race  for  his  model.  He  may 
be  reproached  with  having  sacrificed  the  prerogatives  of  the  episcopacy 
to  the  interests  of  his  ov/n  personality,  which  could  only  be  sustained 
by  means  of  force.  The  state,  by  an  addition  of  a  double  number  of 
lay  persons  to  the  consistory,  becomes  a  tribunal  of  faith,  in  which  the 
worldly  element  is  predominant,  in  place  of  the  spiritual  element, 
which  only  is  adequate  to  the  decision  of  doctrinal  questions.  The 
pastors  are  there,  at  once  in  a  numerical  and  a  social  minority ;  for 
they  receive  from  their  colleagues  the  bread  which  they  eat,  and  the  gar- 
ments with  which  they  are  clad  :  it  is  the  state  that  feeds  the  church. 
However,  Israel,  with  its  schools  of  prophets,  was  independent  of  the 
kings;  and  in  the  primitive  church,  tlie  discipline  of  which  Calvin  is 
ambitious  to  revive,  the  faithful  supported  their  priests.  The  new 
church,  being  destitute  of  possessions  and  endowments,  was  compelled, 
in  all  questions  of  a  fiscal  character,   to   consult  and  follow  the  advice 

♦Registres  de  I'Etat,  12  dec.  1541, 

t  Qui  suspensi  a  sacra  ccBiia  proterve  judicium  ecclesiae  respuunt,  hac  sua 
cnntumacia  declarant  se  extraneos,  ac  proinde  nihil  senioribus  restare  video^ 
nisi  ut  magistratura  exstimulent  ad  eos  durius  coercendos. — Ep.  278. 

:{:  Wahrscheinllch  ist  er  von  dem  richtigen  Princip,  welches  erin  den  Institti- 
tionen  aufstellt,  nur  abgewlchen,  well  ihn  die  Halsstarrikeit  des  Volkes,  mtt 
dem  er  es  zu  thun  hatte,  dazu  zwang. — Paul  Henry,  t,  II,  p..  119-120. 


308  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

of  the  council ;  this  was  a  state  of  servitude  created  by  Calvin.  A 
spirit,  so  enlightened  as  his,  could  not  thus  have  subscribed  to  the  degra- 
dation of  the  priesthood,  without  having  been  constrained  by  some  ex- 
terior force,  which  we  must  endeavour  to  ascertain. — Catholicism  once 
destroyed,  had  to  be  replaced  by  a  religion,  which,  for  its  very  existence, 
needed  the  support  of  power.  Calvin,  therefore,  placed  the  church 
under  the  tutelage  of  the  council,  and  made  a  priest  out  of  the  council- 
man, by  investing  him  with  psycological  attributes,  that  is,  with  au- 
thority to  examine  and  determine  questions  of  faith.  Thus  did  the  state 
fmd  itself  interested  in  supporting  the  religious  reform,  in  which  it  in- 
tervened with  a  double  representation.  But  thus  constituted,  this  bas- 
tard priesthood,  at  the  same  time  civil  and  spiritual,  could  only  develope 
itself  by  the  assistance  of  a  superior  intelligence,  which,  in  itself, 
should  personify  the  minister  and  the  citizen.  Now,  this  phenominal 
duality  was  found  strongly  reflected  in  Calvin.  Powerful,  because  of 
his  scripture  knowledge,  his  habit  of  speai^ing,  his  activity  of  body  and 
mind,  Calvin  only  was  capable  of  infusing  some  life  into  the  new 
creation.  Should  he  be  removed  from  Geneva,  the  republic  will  ne- 
cessarily be  compelled  to  cast  itself  into  the  arms  of  Zwinglianism  : 
now,  Geneva,  made  Zwinglian,  would  soon  become  the  property  of 
Berne.  It  can  only  be  independent  in  proportion  as  it  shall  have  a 
distinct  religion.  Seek  through  all  Switzerland,  you  will  at  this  mo- 
ment find  but  one  single  man  capable  of  conferring  upon  the  city  a  re- 
ligious individuality,  and  that  man  is  Calvin.  This  has  been  under- 
stood by  the  syndics  and  councils,  in  procuring  his  recall ;  and  this, 
unfortunately  for  Geneva,  was  also  well  understood  by  himself.  We 
must  wait  awhile,  to  behold  the  reformer  translating  this  necessity  into 
a  providential  fact,  to  justify  his  oppression  of  all  who  shall  not  recog- 
nize him  as  an  instrument  of  the  Divinity.  What  does  it  matter,  then, 
that  he  feigns  to  subject  the  church  to  the  state,  if  he  have  so  combined 
the  powers,  that  the  state  cannot  touch  the  church  without  suicide,  and 
that  the  church,  as  well  as  the  state,  must  be  lifeless,  except  inasmuch 
as  both  shall  derive  their  being  from  the  breath  of  the  high  priest  ? 
And  it  was  so  truly  a  theocracy,  which  he  thought  of  founding  for  his 
own  profit,  that  he  refused  to  institute  the  sytiodal  administration,  where 
the  minister  is  representative  of  the  communion  ;  where  all  intellectu- 
al superiority  is  effaced,  before  the  christian  equality  of  the  members 
who  compose  it ;  where  questions  of  doctrine  are  settled  by  the  eccle- 
siastical judges.  He  wished  no  such  tribunal,  independent  of  a  power 
for  which  he  received  no  salary.  When  Henry  IV.  was  desirous  to 
enfeeble  the  Protestant  communion,  which  had  developed  itself  in 
France,  thanks  to  the  synodal  principle,  he  gave  to  this  communion 
a  political  existence,  which  caused  its  ruin,  under  Richelieu  and 
Louis  XIV.  • 

It  was  for  want  of  having  sufficiently  studied  Calvin,  under  this  two- 
fold symbolism,  that  M.  Gaberel  could  be  offended  at  those  who  main- 
tained that  the  reformer  had  placed  the  clergy  above  the  state,  in  obe- 
dience to  those  Catholic  ideas,  with  which,  in  spite  of  himself^  he  was 
impregnated.* 

*  Calvin  i  Geneve,  p.  73. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  309 

Calvin  wished  to  borrow  nothing  from  Catholicism ;  this  is  certain  : 
he  is  the  creator  of  a  politico-religious  system,  where,  theoretically,  the 
popular  element  seems  to  predominate,  whilst,  in  reality,  it  is  neu- 
tralized and  absorbed  by  the  psycological  or  sacerdotal  element.  It  is 
a  theocrat,  that,  at  some  street  corner,  has  assumed  the  vesture  of  a  la- 
bourer,  to  induce  the  impression  that  he  is  at  once  priest  and  citizen. 

Calvin,  in  accusing  "the  infirmity  of  the  times,"  that  he  might  justi- 
fy himself,  could  not  conceal  from  himself  that  his  disciplinary  creation 
had  only  a  borrowed  vitality,  which  would  soon  become  extinct.  Then, 
just  as  did  Melancthon,  he  reverted  to  the  Catholic  system,  and  dream- 
ed of  a  Genevan  episcopacy,  which  he  would  bequeath  to  his  succes- 
sors, in  default  of  power  to  leave  them  his  own  genius  as  an  inheri- 
tance. In  fact,  he  thought  himself  bishop  of  Geneva,  with  a  power 
such  as  had  never  been  possessed,  during  the  middle  ages,  by  an  Avitus 
or  a  John  of  Savoy. — ''  M.  de  Beza  has  often  said  to  me,"  relates 
Casaubon,  "that  master  Calvin,  who  had  thrown  aside  the  episcopacy, 
was,  in  fact,  bishop  of  Geneva,  and  that,  a  little  before  his  death,  he 
had  proposed  to  M.  de  Beza  to  make  him  his  successor;  but  that  M. 
de  Beza  was  unwilling,  because  he  Avas  aware  of  his  own  strength,  and 
that  he  could  not  accept  the  dignity  of  the  dying  man,  except  under  bene- 
fit of  inventory."*  The  ministers  themselves,  as  can  be  seen  from  the 
state  registers  for  1580,  had  truckled  under  the  despotism  of  Calvin, 
and  feared  lest  this  despotism  should  be  made  an  hereditary  office. ^ 

It  was  in  one  of  those  moments,  when  public  opinion,  replenished 
with  courage  from  the  bar-room, — that  last  tribune  which  Calvin  tried 
to  snatch  from  the  people, — is  revolting  against  the  tribunal  of  censure, 
that  the  reformer  commences  to  regret  having  abolished  the  episcopal 
dignity.  Then,  as  in  1554,  he  writes,  addressing  Sigismond  :  "The 
ancient  church  had  instituted  the  patriarchate,  and  given  its  primates  to 
each  province,  that  this  bond  of  peace  might  more  strongly  bind  all  the 
bishops  together.  I  would  desire  for  Poland  an  archbishop,  not  to  ex- 
ercise a  despotic  domination  or  consecrated  rights,  but  to  preside  over 
the  synods,  and  to  maintain  a  holy  unity  among  his  colleagues.  In  the 
provinces  or  in  the  cities,  I  would  desire  to  have  bishops  to  perpetuate 
harmony  in  the  christian  church. "f 

Thus,  then,  did  Calvin,  towards  the  end  of  his  career,  like  the  well 
beloved  disciple  of  Luther,  comprehend,  that  a  christian  society  must 
have  a  hierarchical  constitution,  in  order  to  live  in  the  future.  Both 
were  driven  to  unity  :  Melancthon,  by  a  view  of  the  miseries  of  that 
human  word,  which  had  been  emancipated  by  Luther,  and  Calvin,  from 
very  weariness  of  the  oppression,  which  he  had  caused  to  weigh  upon  that 
word  Avhich  he  was  desirous  to  enslave. 

*  Epist.  praest.' virorum,  Amst.  1684,  p.  250.— G.  Brandt,  Histoire  de  la  re- 
forme  des  Pays  Bas,  t.  I,  p.  397. 

t  Si  hodie  Pol;  regno  unus  praeesset  archiepiscopus,  non  qui  dominaretur  in 
reliquos,  vel  jus  ab  illis  ereptum  sibi  arrogaret,  sed  qui  ordinis  eausa  in  synodis 
prinium  teneret  locum  et  sanctam  inter  collegas  foveret  unitatem.  Essent 
deinde  vel  provinciales,  vel  urbani  episcopi  qui  peculiariter  ordini  conservtii3i» 
do  intenti  forent.^Bp.  Cal.  Ed.  Amst.,  p.  87. 


310  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

The  word  was  soon  to  assume  the  offensive,  and  to  destroy  even  the 
very  form  of  the  reformer's  work.* 

*  "The  general  council  no  longer  exists,  and  the  constitution  of  Geneva  is 
different  from  what  it  was  formerly.  The  electoral  corps, — composed  of  all 
the  citizens  who  have  reached  25  years  of  age,  and  who  pay  seven  florins  direct 
contribution, — elects  the  representative  council:  this  chooses,  within  itself, 
tlie  state  council,  consisting  of  twenty-five  members.  The  representative 
council  possesses  the  legislative  power  under  the  initiative  of  the  council  of 
state,  to  which  the  executive  power  belongs.  The  four  syndics  are  chosen 
from  the  council  of  state,  and  nominated  by  the  representative  council ;  they 
preside  over  both  councils.  The  counselors  of  state  are  elected  for  eight  years, 
and  at  the  end  of  that  term,  can  be  re-elected. 

"  The  two  bodies  at  the  head  of  the  national  church  of  Geneva,  are  the 
covipany  of  pastors,  and  the  consistory.  The  company  consists  of  all  pastors, 
whether  in  or  out  of  service,  joined  with  certain  professors  of  the  academy: 
it  numbers  at  present  fifty  members,  for  the  most  part  ecclesiastics.  It  has 
tlie  management  of  all  ecclesiastical  affairs,  nominates  pastors  and  professors  of 
theology,  consecrates  ministers,  has  under  its  inspection  students  of  theology, 
draws  up,  when  there  is  need,  the  liturgies  and  catecliisms;  all  under  the 
sanction  of  the  council  of  state.  The  consistory  is  composed  of  all  pastors 
in  actual  service,  fourteen  of  the  city,  fourteen  from  the  country,  and  fourteen 
laics,  of  whom  two  are  counselors  of  state,  named  by  the  council  of  state,  in 
union  with  the  company  of  pastors,  an  auditor  (a  magistrate  of  justice  and  of 
police),  chosen  by  the  council  of  state,  and  eleven  elders,  named  by  the  council 
Itself.  The  constitution  of  1814  has  preserved  to  the  consistory  all  the  attributes 
■which  it  had  under  the  ancient  republic,  except  with  regard  to  affairs  of  mar- 
riage: but,  in  fact,  since  it  no  longer  pronounces  censures  and  excommunica- 
tions, its  functions  are  almost  reduced  to  a  general  supervision  of  morals,  and 
to  a  discussion  of  the  reports  rendered  each  year  by  the  pastor  of  each  parish» 
concerning  the  religious  and  moral  condition  of  his  flock. 

"  The  company  and  consistory  united,  elect,  each  year,  a  moderator  and  vice 
moderator,  selected  from  among  the  pastors,  and  who  preside  over  both  bodies  j 
some  years  ago,  the  moderator  was  changed  each  week:  each  city  pastor  be* 
came  moderator,  in  his  turn.  The  company  meets  each  Friday,  tlie  consistory 
every  Thursday." — M.  Lefort,  cited  by  M.  Paul  Henry. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

The  church  and  the   priest  or  calvin. 

What  is  the  church?— How  is  it  to  be  recognized ?^The  ecclesiastical  minis'^ 
try.— Twofold  vocation. — Spiritual  authority.— Discipline. — Excommunica* 
tion. — Civil  power.-^Society. — Examination  of  Calvin's  hierarchical  system, 
^=— Insufficiency  of  the  marks  of  the  true  church  which  are  indicated  by  the 
reformer. — The  reformation  could  not  appeal  to  the  scriptures,  the  highest 
signs  of  which  are  denied  by  Protestants.— Proofs  in  support  of  this. — Lu- 
ther in  opposition  to  Calvin,  concerning  the  legitimacy  of  pastors. — Beau- 
tiful avowal  of  M.  Ernest  Naville,  a  Protestant. — The  liberty  of  private 
judgment  and  its  abysses. — Previsions  of  Calvin. 

Calvin  has  declared,  with  the  prophet :  **  The  heavens  chant  the 
glory  of  God;"  but,  in  his  view,  the  spectacle  of  nature,  [however 
marvelous  it  may  be,  is  not  the  surest  way  to  conduct  man  to  a  notion 
of  the  Divinity.  He  brings  him  to  faith,  by  revelation  entirely  con- 
tained in  the  inspired  books. 

"  The  authority,"  he  says,  "which,  in  Catholicism,  endeavours  to 
prove  the  truth  of  the  Bible,  is  but  a  human  testimony.  There  is  an 
interior  voice,  which  speaks  in  the  depths  of  our  hearts,  far  more  mag- 
nificently than  human  words ;  this  is  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit. 

"  By  the  scripture,  and  the  church,  born  of  its  breath,  all  questions 
of  doctrine  and  discipline  should  be  decided  in  the  christian  communi- 
ty. The  church  holds  her  powers  from  Christ,  who  holds  them  from 
God  :  the  church  of  Christ  is  the  church  of  God." 

It  is  in  his  Institutes,  that  Calvin  has  fm-nished  us  a  definition  of  the 
church. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  the  fourth  book,  he  calls  it : — The  society  of 
the  predestined,  known  only  to  God,  who  could,  by  his  sole  will,  have 
been  able  to  sanctify  them  ;  but  who  has  willed  that  they  should  reach 
heaven  through  the  visible  church.  The  scripture  also  gives  the  name 
of  church  to  that  communion  of  mortal  beings,  who  are  united  on 
earth  in  the  same  faith  in  God  and  in  Christ.  But  how  is  the  faith  of 
each  member  of  this  holy  army  to  be  recognized  ?  By  charity,*  which 
causes  us  to  hold  all  as  brethren,  who,  with  us,  confess  the  same  Grod 
and  the  same  Christ. 

"  In  the  doctrinal  confession,  unity  should  reign.  There  is  one  God, 
Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  is  himself  God ;  it  is  through  Jesus  that 

•  Quoniam  fidei  certitude  necessaria  non  erat,  quoddam  charitatis  judicium 
ejus  loco  substituit.— Gh.  1,  }  8. 


312  hl¥E    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

we  arrive  at  salvation  :  behold  truths  of  faith.  But  the  church  con* 
tains  sinners  ;  therefore,  in  it  contradictory  opinions  can  be  taught,  pro- 
vided these  do  not  attack  the  essence  of  Christianity. 

"  But  how  is  the  church  to  be  recognized  ?  By  two  signs,  which 
God  himself  has  revealed  to  us  :  there,  exists  the  church,  where  the  di- 
vine  word  is  announced  in  its  primitive  purity,  where  the  sacraments,  in- 
stituted by  Jesus,  are  received  and  revered." 

In  the  second  chapter,  Calvin  treats  of  the  true  and  false  church. 
*'  There,  where  fraud  and  falsehood  reign,"  says  he,  "the  church  could 
not  exist :  it  is  with  this  twofold  character,  that  he  invests  the  church 
of  the  papists.  The  Pope  cannot  represent  unity;  he  is  the  personifi- 
cation of  the  Antichrist,  he  is  the  Antichrist  himself.*  In  vain  do  the 
Catholics  invoke  the  long  chain  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter  :  an 
argument  of  no  worth,  if  they  have  abandoned  Christ  and  his  doctrine. 
They  should  not  accuse  the  reformed  church  of  schism  :  nor  does  the 
reformation  maintain  that  the  church  is  entirely  extinct  in  the  papism." 

The  third  chapter  is  consecrated  to  the  ecclesiastical  ministry. 
"Christ  has  appointed  apostles,  prophets,  evangelists,  preachers,  and 
doctors. t  Bishops,  priests  or  elders,  preachers  are  equal  in  office  and 
dignity.  All  those  who  preach  the  word  are  bishops.  The  elders, 
chosen  with  the  bishops,  have,  in  the  church,  censure  and  discipline  in 
their  functions.  Thus  each  church  possessed,  in  the  beginning,  a  sen- 
ate invested  with  spiritual  jurisdiction.  The  deacons  watched  over  the 
poor,  some  distributed  alms,  others  took  care  of  the  sick.  St.  Paul, 
in  his  epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Corinthians,  (Rom.  12,  7;  1  Cor. 
12,  28 )  speaks  of  employments  which  only  concerned  the  relief  of  the 
poor. 

"There  are  two  sorts  of  vocation,  the  one  interior,  which  is  that  of 
St.  Paul,  the  other,  exterior;  both  indispensable  to  those  who  aspire  to 
the  ministry.  For  the  sacerdotal  election,  the  priest  concurs  with  the 
people.  Paul  and  Barnabas  named  the  elders,  but  the  people,  raising 
up  their  hands,  consecrated  those  elected."  Calvin  is  desirous  to  pre- 
serve that  ancient  usage  of  the  primitive  church,  the  imposition  of  hands* 
"The  imposition  of  hands  ,used  in  conferring  the  priesthood,  is  not  a 
vain  thing,  says  he  ;  it  is  a  sign  of  spiritual  grace.  J"  If  he  does  not 
make  it  a  sacrament,  the  reason  is,  because  he  does  not  attach  to  it  any 
grace. 

Calvin  then  passes  to  the  authority  of  the  church.  "The  church  has 
the  right  to  teach,  which  pertains  to  the  office  of  preacher.  The 
interpretation  of  scripture  belongs  to  the  synod.  The  scripture  is  sole 
judge  in  matters  of  faith.  The  truth  lives  eternally  in  the  church, 
which,  in  this  sense  only,  is  infallible.  The  Holy  Ghost  can  illumine 
the  christian  assembly  or  community,  but  also  he  can  fail  to  do  so. 

*  See  chapter  entitled :  The  Devil  and  the  Antichrist. 

t  Autos  edoke,  tous  men  apostolous,  tous  de  prophetas,  tons  de  euaggelistas, 
tons  de  poimenas  kai  didaskalous. — Eph.  4,  11. 

Pastores  instituit  ac  doctores  Deus  quorum  ore  sues  doceret,  eos  authoritate 
instruxit,  nihil  denique  omisit  quod  ad  sanctum  fidei  consensum  et  rectum  or- 
dinem  faceret. — Inst.,  1.  IV,  ch.  1,  fol.  370. 

Jlnst.,  1.  IV,  eh.  19. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN     CALVIN.  3l3 

We  adopt  some  of  the  decisions  of  councils,  and  reject  others  which  are 
contrary  to  the  scriptures. 

"The  minister  is  bishop,  and  has  the  right  to  accomplish  the  sacred 
mysteries^  (ch.  3,  §  6).  His  office  embraces  the  preaching  of  the  word 
and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments.  Should  a  soul  lose  itself,  the 
Lord  will  ask  of  him  an  account  of  it,  (ch.  3.  18  ). 

"The  right  of  election  belongs  to  the  commune,  assisted  by  the  ec- 
clesiastics. Without  the  assent  of  the  people  and  of  the  civil  power, 
the  ministers  cannot  name  to  sacerdotal  functions  ;  the  civil  power  can- 
not make  any  choice  without  the  concurrence  of  the  spiritual  power, 
nor  displace  and  divest  the  priest,  without  the  sanction  of  the  com- 
mune. .  ^ 

"The  church,  according  to  scripture,  regulates  the  police  of  the  tem- 
ples, and  the  external  ceremonies ;  but  she  cannot  constrain  conscience, 
which  is  above  the  reach  of  civil  and  religious  laws.  The  Lord  is  the 
only  legislator  of  conscience. 

"The  church  is  a  spiritual  government,  and  one  sls  regular  as  that  of 
the  state.  She  has  the  power  of  the  keys;  from  this  power,  emanate 
the  rights  of  instruction,  of  preaching,  of  the  remission  of  faults,  and  of 
excommunication  ;  she  binds  and  looses,  but  her  jurisdiction  is  entirely 
spiritual;  she  has  not  the  power  of  the  sword;  she  cannot  inflict  cor- 
poral punishments,  fines,  the  prison,  exile.  The  censures  of  whick 
she  makes  use,  to  be  lawful,  must  be  pronounced  by  a  constituted  body, 
and  not  by  an  individual. 

"Of  ail  chastisements,  excommunication  is  the  greatest  which  the 
church  has  the  right  to  use," 

Calvin  establishes  this  right  in  the  fourth  book  of  his  Institutes. 

"Without  discipline,  a  family,  any  more  than  a  church,  cannot  exist.. 
The  doctrine  of  Christ  is  the  soul  of  the  church;  discipline  takes  place 
of  the  nerves  which  keep  the  members  united  together  :  to  destroy  dis- 
cipline is  to  kill  the  church.  Discipline  is  the  bridle,  which  subdues 
the  rebellious  soul,  the  spur,  which  exciters  the  lazy  will,  the  paternal 
rod,  which  gently  chastises  the  indocile  child.  Jesus  has  said,  (IMatH. 
18,  15,  16  )  :  "He  who,  after  two  reprimands  made  before  three  wit- 
nesses, shall  not  amend,  shall  be  brought  before  the  tribunal  of  the 
church,  which  shall  publicly  reprimand  him."  If  the  reprimand  shall 
be  ineffectual,  he  shall  be  expelled  and  driven  away  from  the  society 
of  the  faithful.  If  there  be  question  of  crimes,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
exhibit  greater  severity.  Paul  excommunicated,  and  delivered  over  to 
satan,  a  man  who  had  profansd  the  sanctity  of  marriage.  '  When  the 
people  abuse  the  sacraments,  the  pastor  should  assume  energetic  meas- 
ures ;  it  is  his  duty  to  prevent  God  from  being  outraged  in  the  Lord's 
supper.  Hear  how  zealously  Chrysostom  speaks  against  those  priests, 
who  were  unwilling  to  drive  away  the  unworthy  rich  from  the  table  of 
communion.  "This  blood  will  be  re-demanded  of  you.  If  you  fear 
men,  God  will  despise  you;  if  you  fear  God,  men  will  respect  you. 
What  are  kings  to  me  ?  I  know  one  greater  than  all  of  them  ;  he  is  the 
"king  of  heaven  :  sooner  than  suffer  such  a  scandal  would  I  abandon 
my  head  to  the  knife  and  my  blood  to  the  earth." 

^*The  diadem  should  not  shelter  a  royal  brow  from  the  thunders  of  tl  e 
27 


314  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

church.  Kings,  bow  down  your  heads,  and  humble  yourselves  before 
Christ  the  Lord,  king  of  kings.  Take  it  not  ill  that  the  church  judges 
you  !  You,  who  hear  nothing  but  sweet  concerts  of  flattery,  need  to 
hear  the  severe  word  of  God  from  the  lips  of  his  ministers !  You  should 
even  desire  that  the  priest  would  not  spare  you,  that  hereafter  you  may 
find  in  God  a  more  compassionate  judge."* 

At  first,  Luther  had  imagined  an  independent  christian  society, 
where  each  member,  like  the  child  which  has  been  baptized,  should 
have  no  other  sign  but  that  of  his  celestial  origin,  and  not  be  made  to 
depend  on  a  being  created  in  his  own  likeness;  and  in  which  no  pa- 
pal, episcopal,  or  royal  power  could  impose  laws  or  regulations  :  an 
Utopia,  which  the  peasants  were  soon  to  transform  into  a  terrible  real- 
ity.t 

Calvin  has  different  ideas.  "As  in  man  there  are  two  elements, 
spirit  and  matter,  says  he ;  so  in  the  world  there  are  two  powers,  oner 
which  governs  matter,  the  other,  spirit.  The  church  is  as  necessary  to 
the  state,  as  are  bread,  air,  and  sunshine.  The  state  should  not  only 
support  the  organic  life,  the  liberty,  the  fortune  of  man,  but  sustain  in 
this  world  the  religious  element,  against  the  perverse  instincts  or  scan- 

*  The  following  is  the  formula  of  excommunication,  for  a  long  time  used  in 
France  and  at  Geneva  : 

My  Bretliren,  after  having  so  long  borne  with  N.,  after  having  besought, 
exhorted,  adjured  him  to  be  converted  to  God,  he  perseveres  in  his  impeni- 
tence with  hardened  obstinacy,  rebells  against  God,  tramples  under  foot  his 
word  and  the  order  which  he  has  established  in  his  chuFch,  glorying  in  his 
sin,  he  is  the  cause  why  the  church  has  so  long  been  disturbed,  and  the  name 
of  God  blasphemed.  We,  the  ministers  of  God's  word,  rtrmed  with  spiritual 
arms,  powerful  through  God  for  the  destruction  of  the  fortresses  that  are  erected 
against  him  :  to  whom  the  eternal  son  of  God  has  given  the  power  to  bind  and 
to  loose  on  earth,  declaring  that  whatever  we  shall  have  bound  on  earth  shall 
be  bound  in  heaven  ;  desiring  to  cleanse  the  house  of  God  and  to  deliver  the 
church  from  scandals,  and  in  pronouncing  anathema  against  the  wicked,  to 
glorify  the  name  of  God  :  In  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  Lord  J.  C. 
with  the  advice  and  authority,  of  the  pastors  and  elders  assembled  in  eolloquy,, 
and  of  the  consistory  of  this  church :  We  have  cut  off,  and  we  do  cut  off,  from 
the  communion  of  the  church,  the  said  N.,  we  excommunicate  him  and  sepa- 
rate him  from  the  society  of  the  faithful,  that  he  may  be  to  you  as  o.  pagan  and 
a  heathen,  and  an  anathema  and  execration  amongst  the  true  faithful,  that  his- 
haughtiness  be  esteemed  contagions,  and  that  his  example,  seize  your  minds  with 
horror,  and  cause  you  to  tremble  under  the  powerful  hand  of  God,  since  it  is  a 
horrible  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  Which  sentence  of  ex- 
communication the  son  of  God  will  ratify  and  make  efficacious,  until  chis  sin-- 
ner,  confused  and  abashed  before  God,  give  him  glory  by  his  conversion,  and 
being  delivered  from  the  bonds  of  satan  which  envelope  him,  he  lament  his 
sin  with  tears  of  repentance.  Pray  to  God,  well  beloved  brethren,  that  he 
have  pity  on  this  poor  sinner  and  that  this  horrible  judgment,  which,  with  re- 
gret and  great  sadness  of  heart,  we  pronouce  against  him  by  the  authority  of 
the  son  of  God,  may  serve  to  humble  him,  and  bring  back  to  the  way  of  sal- 
vation a  soul  which  has  wandered  from  it.  Amen.  Cursed  is  he  who  shall  do 
the  work  of  the  Lord  negligently.  If  there  be  any  who  loves  not  the  Lord 
Christ,  let  him  be  Anthema,  Maranatha,  amen." 

+  Sicut  parvuli  baptizati  qui  nullis  studiis,  nullis  operibus  occupati,  in  omnia 
sunt  liberi,  dico  itaque  :  neque  papa,  neque  episcopus,  neque  ullus  hominum 
habet  jus  unius  syllabae  constituendse  super  Christianum  hominem,  nisi  id  fiat 
ejus  consensu  :  quidquid  aliter  fit,  tyrannico  spirita  tit. — Lmth.  de  captiv, 
Babyl.,  p.  288. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  315 

dais  of  the  wicked."  The  civil  power  possesses  no  episcopal  right, 
and  cannot  make  laws  to  govern  conscience.  Moses,  at  one  time,  was 
priest  and  magistrate;  but  the  social  condition  of  the  Jewish  people 
was  not  then  organized ;  at  a  later  period,  he  had  to  give  up  the  sacer- 
dotal  functions  to  his  brother. 

"There  are  three  sorts  of  government ;  monarchy,  aristocracy,  de- 
mocracy :  the  aristocratic  form  is  that  in  which  power  is  administered 
by  chosen  men;  this  is  the  happiest  fiction.  It  was  the  aristocratic 
form  that  God  chose  for  Israel,  till  the  coming  of  king  David.  All 
these  forms,  adds  Calvin,  come  from  God,  and  have  been  instituted  by 
his  supreme  providence.  It  is  a  crime  to  revolt  even  against  the  au- 
thority of  a  despot :  however,  we  must  remember  that  all  magistracy 
owes  faith  and  homage  to  the  holy  word,  and  that  every  citizen  ought 
rather  to  obey  God  than  men. 

"The  church  and  state  have  the  right  to  punish  heretics  :  they  ougnc 
to  combine  to  correct  the  vices  of  society.* 

"The  church  has  no  right  to  wield  the  sword  :t  coercive  measures 
belong  to  the  state,  which  ought  to  resort  to  them  in  behalf  of  the  inter- 
ests of  God.  It  is  by  appropriate  punishment  that  it  anticipates  the 
intervention  of  the  power  of  the  keys.  This  shall  be  rendered  more 
clear.  In  a  well  governed  city,  the  drunkard  is  punished  by  imprison- 
ment, the  libertine  by  more  severe  penalties.  The  law  is  satisfied  : 
but  it  may  happen  that  the  guilty  person,  in  place  of  repenting,  will 
utter  murmurs ;  then  the  church  has  her  chastisements  ready  :  she  de- 
bars the  criminal  from  approaching  the  table  of  communion." 

EXAMINATION. 

Let  us  pause  here  a  moment  to  consider  this  constitution,  imagined 
by  Calvin,  and  which  was  to  take  the  place  of  our  ancient  Catholic 
charter.  We  have  gathered  the  avowal  which  escaped  the  pen  of  his 
able  panegyrist ; — that  the  reformer  was  more  skillful  in  destruction 
than  construction.  J  Moreover,  this  was  the  destiny  experienced  by 
Luther  himself :  he  also  has  been  successful  in  subverting  the  Catholic 
edifice,  and  when  he  has  to  build  up  a  new  house  for  the  Lord,  work- 
men offer  themselves. — -Carlstadt,  Zwingle,  Schwenkfeld, — who  ex- 
claim while  passing  by  : — Take  away  that  stone  which  has  been  repro- 
bated by  God ;  here  is  one  that  is  of  more  value.  Melancthon  has 
something  to  say  like  the  rest,  and  the  work  makes  no  progress,  because 
the  Lord  does  not  build  the  house. 

Like  Luther,  Zwingle,  and  (Ecolampadius,  Calvin  desired  to  ground 
his  doctrine  on  the  inspired  word ;  but  here  were  the  difiiculties.     To 

*  In  corrigeudis  viiiis  mutuae  debent  esse  operee.  Voy.  Inst.,  eh.  XI,  ^^  et  4. 

tNeque  enim  consentaneum  est  ut  qui  monitionibus  nostris  obtemperare 
noluerint,  eos  ad  magistratum  deferamus,  quod  tamen  necesse  foret,  si  in  vi- 
cem  eeclesiae  ille  succederet. 

A  magnificent  mockery  !  as  if  he  had  not  written,  that  the  elders,  the  ex- 
acting portion  of  his  council,  ought  to  require  against  obstinate  sinners  the  se- 
verity  of  the  laws  I 

-j:  Dasz  er  im  Umstarzen  gltickliohep  ist,  als  im  Aufbawen.—Pav^  Henry, 
Calvin?  Leben,  t.  IJ,  p.  Ha, 


310 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


this  question  :  — what  is  the  word  of  God  ?  we  are  aware  that  he  has  his 
response  quite  ready;  it  is  that  which  God  has  revealed  in  the  holy 
hooks.  But  in  what  language  ?  If  he  present  me  his  bible,  in  virtue 
of"  the  principle  of  private  judgment  which  he  has  glorified,  I  have  a 
right  to  control  its  signs;  if  he  endeavour  to  prove  to  me  that  these  signs 
aie  the  pure  reflections  of  the  holy  word,  I  am  allowed  to  dispute  with 
him  regarding  their  grammatical  and  tropological  value  ;  if  he  seek  to 
impose  on  me  his  own  meanings  and  images,  he  exercises  authority,  or 
displays  pride  ;  for  Avho  has  told  him  that  I  am  not  as  well  versed  as 
himself  in  the  oriental  languages  ?  I  know  the  Syriac,  and  he  is 'gno- 
rant  of  it ;  I  am  acquainted  with  the  Hebrew,  which  he  has  studied  but 
imperfectly;  also  with  the  Greek,  of  which  Richard  Simon  maintains 
iha  the  has  but  vulgar  notions.  In  order  to  study  the  scriptures,  I  have 
visited  the  Holy  Land,  which  he  has  never  beheld.  And  why  then 
tshould  I  abase  my  intellect  before  his?  Here,  there  are  but  two  indi- 
vidualities in  presence  of  each  other.  Who  shall  measure  their  value  ? 
If  he  have  prayed,  I  have  prayed  also.  And  how  knows  he  that  heav- 
cn  has  bestowed  more  abundant  lights  on  hrm,  than  on  me  ?  Ever:? 
were  he  more  learned  than  I,  does  God  in  visitins;  his  elect,  take  note 
of  the  degree  of  their  information  ?  If  he  appeal  to  the  clearness  of 
the  scripture  text,  I  will  say  to  him  with  Luther  :  to  understand  the 
.scriptures  one  must  have  lived  Avith  Christ  and  the  apostles.*  And  I 
will  exhibit  to  him  those  confidential  lines,  in  which  the  doctor  whispers 
quite  low  to  his  wife,  that  Philip  Melancthon  has  not  understood  vari- 
ous expressions  of  the  holy  books. f 

But  in  wdiat  language  does  Calvin  speak  to  me  ?  In  an  idiom  which 
grows  old  with  the  reformer. 

Ho  thus  translates  the  first  verse  of  a  psalm  : — Blessed  is  the  man 
that  walketh  not  according  to  the  counsels  of  the  wicked. 

Before  him  another  person  had  said  : — Blessed  is  the  man  who  has 
not  gone  accoiding  to  the  counsels  of  the  wicked. 

Now,  here  are  signs  and  an  idea,  which  do  not  resemble  each  other, 
lu  Calvin's  version,  the  man  marches  and  continues  his  route  in  the  way 
c»f  sin;  in  the  anonymous  version,  the  man  has  paused;  he  has  walked, 
aiul  then  halted. 

Calvin  continues  ; — and  does,  not  seat  himself  on  the  bench  o>f  scof- 
fers. 

The  old  translation  gives  it  :   and  who  is  not  infected  with  pestilence. 

Let  Calvin  now  speak  to  us  of  the  necessity  of  circulating  the  scrip- 
tures in  ^the  vulgar  tongue-?  His  idiom  does  not  blaze  with  a  light 
capable  of  dazzling  our  vision,  since,  to  understand  it,  we  stanid  in  need 
of  a  glossary  of  ancient  terms.  "Strange  pretension,  according  to 
Fitche,  is  that  of  the  reformed  school,  which  wishes  to  close  heave-n 
against  all  those  who  do  not  know  how  to.  read  V'X 

*"  Tiscli-Reden,  p.  4. 

t  M.  Pliilipps  Tiingst  du  srtgen,  dasz  er  seine  Postill  carrijrirf^,  denn  erhat 
niclit  vcrstiniden,  waruinb  dcr  Herr  im  F^vanj^elio  die  Reichthumb  Dornen 
nermt. —  An  seine  IJausfrau,  6  Febre.  1546.  D.  Wette,  t  V,  p.  780. 

:j:  Der  Buch.stibc  Vr'urdc  das    fast    unentbohrliche  Mittel  zu  Sdigkeit;  wad 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIH-  317 

"Poor  souls,  adds  Lessing,  how  I  compassionate  you,  born  as  you 
are  in  a  land,  where  the  Bible  has  not  yet  been  translated  !  And  you^ 
Islanders,  who  have  not  learned  how  to  read,  and  are  christians,  inas- 
much as  you  have  received  baptism,  how  unfortunate  are  you  !  For,  my 
brethren  would  have  me  believe,  that,  in  order  to  be  saved,  it  is  as  neces- 
sary to  know  how  to  read,  as  to  have  been  baptized.  And  when  you 
shall  have  learned  how  to  read,  poor  souls,  all  is  not  yet  told,  you  will 
still  be  under  the  necessity  of  studying  the  Hebrew  to  be  more  sure  of 
your  salvation."* 

In  Germany,  in  our  days,  they  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  are  numerous  passages,  both  in  the  old  and  New  Testaments,  that 
are  incomprehensible,  even  for  the  learned.  Krug  has  developed  this 
opinion  in  the  journal,  The  Minerva,]  and  Muller  has  gone  so  far  as 
10  maintain  that  the  Bible  is  an  evil  present  made  to  the  people,  when,, 
with  it,  there  is  not  also  given  the  intelligence  to  comprehend  it.  J 

But  in  order  that  the  scripture  should  be  the  only  foundation  of  chris- 
tian doctrine,  Calvin  should  at  least  agree  with  his  own  school,  con- 
cerning the  value  of  the  elements,  of  which  the  Bible  is  composed. 
Now,  has  not  each  reformed  church  its  own  bible,  as  well  as  its  own 
catechism  ? 

The  Apocalypse  of  St.  John,  according  to  Bretschneider,  is  neither 
prophetical  nor  apostolical ;  in  it,  is  discovered  no  trace  of  divine  in- 
spiration, § 

De  Wette  and  Vater  maintain  that  the  Pentateuch  is  not  the  work 
of  Moses,  that  it  was  composed  only  a  short  time  previous  to  the  flight 
of  the  people  of  Israel,  and  that  the  history  of  Moses,  down  to  the 
conquest  of  the  promised  land,  has  been  falsified  and  disfigured. 
Gramberg  1|  pretends  to  demonstrate,  after  de  Wette  (Betrage,  z.  Eins. 
ins.  Alt.  Testam.  I.  1,)  that  the  historical  authority  of  the  books  of 
Chronicles  is  very  doubtful.^ 

The  plagues  of  Egypt,  and  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  according  to 
doctor  Leo,  are  poetical  traditions.** 

Carlstadt  maintains  that  Samuel  and  Esdras  are  not  the  authors  of 
the  books  attributed  to  them. ft 

ohne  lesen  zu  konnen,  kann  man  nicht  laenger  fUglich  ein  Christ  seyn. — Fichte, 
Grundzticre  des  Zeitalters.  219, 

*  UnglQckliche!  da  h6rt  Ihr's  ja,  dasz  lesen  kOnnen  so  nothwendig  zur 
Seligkeit  sey,  als  Getauft  seyn!  und  ich  sorge,  Ihr  mlisset  habraeisch  lernen, 
wenn  Ihr  Eurer  Seligkeit  gewisz  seyn  wollet! — Lessing,  Beitraege  zur  Gte* 
schichte  und  der  Literatur,     Si:xth  part. 

t  Feb.  1821,  Luther  went  further,  he  wrote  :  Plures  sudarunt  in  Epistola 
Jacobi  ut  oim  Paulo  c'oncordarent,  sicut  et  Philippus  in  sua  Apologia  tentat, 
sed  minus  feliciter;  sunt  enim  contraria:  fides  justificat,  fides  non  justificat.. 
Qui  ho3c  recte  conjungere  potest,  huic  fatuum  me  nominare  permittam. 

:j:  In  den  Handen  des  Volks  wird  die  Bibel  immer  ein  miszliches  Geschenk 
bleiben,  solan^e  nicht  auch  zugleich  das  rechte  Berstandnisz  verabreicht  wird. 
Mliller,  vorn  Wahren  und  Guten.  Leipzig,  1832. 

k  Bretschneider,  Handbuch  der  Dogmatik,  1. 1,  p.  266. 

II  Die  Kronik  nach  ihrem  sfeschichtlichen  Charakter  und  ihrer  Glaubwftr- 
digkeit  geprQft —Halle,  1823^ 

%  Wegschneider,  Inst,  theol.  Christ.,  p.  1 19. 

**  Leo,  Vorlesungen  ttber  die  Gesehichte  des  ]Udisch.«»  Staates,  1828.. 

tt  Carlstadt,  De  canonicis  scriptor.,  1530^ 
27* 


318  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

The  book  of  Judith,  according  to  Haffner,  is  a  pious  romance ;  the 
good  and  bad  angels  of  the  book  of  Tobit,  are  superstitious  symbols; 
the  Canticle  of  Canticles,  is  a  graceful  poem,  wherein  conjugal  love  is 
represented  in  the  style  of  an  idyl.* 

Listen  to  Bretschneider  :  "  The  book  of  Job  is  but  a  drama :  the 
writer  no  where  says  that  he  is  inspired.  The  chants,  known  under 
the  name  of  Psalms,  are  mere  poetical  productions.  How  are  we  to 
regard  as  inspirations  of  the  spirit  of  God,  the  imprecations  of  David, 
Avhich  are  in  such  manifest  opposition  to  the  command  of  Christ  ?"t 

"  The  prophets  are  the  monks  of  ancient  times,  fanatical  spirits, 
"v\'hose  fantastical  character  is  manifest  in  the  death  of  Elias"J — "  It  is 
not  possible  for  Isaias  to  have  been  the  author  of  the  chapters  from  40 
to6b."§ 

"  Tiie  book  of  the  prophet  Jonas  is  a  beautiful  fable,  quite  in  the 
taste  and  spirit  of  the  ancient  times."  [j 

"  It  is  probable  that  the  doctrine  af  Clirist  has  been  altered  in  the 
New  Testament. "T 

Schulze  and  Schultess  yield  little  faith  to  the  gospel  of  St.  Mathew.** 

"  The  three  gospels,  of  St.  Mathew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke,  have 
been  made  up  from  an  ancient  Aramean  code."tt 

''  The  gospel  of  St.  John  is  indisputably  the  work  of  some  philoso- 
pher of  Alexandria."}t 

Schleiermacher  has  attacked  the  first  epistle  to  Timothy  §  §;  Eichorn^ 
in  his  introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  t.  Ill,  p.  415,  has  assailed 
the  first  and  second  epistles,  as  also  that  to  Titus. 

Doctor  Baumgarten-Crusius,  at  Jena,  in  the  programme  of  christmas 
1828,  establishes  that — the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  the  work  of  a 
philosopher  of  Alexandria,  a  disciple  of  St.  Paul,  and  that  the  false 
epistle  to.  the  Alexandrians  is  nothing  else  than  the  epistle  to  the  He- 
brews.*** 

And  now  let  the  reformation  endeavour  to  found  a  christian  system 
on  a  word,  every  letter  of  which  is  contested  in  its  own  school !  Mui- 
ler  is  right :  what  becomes  of  the  holy  scripture,  which  ought  to  be  the 
rule  of  faith,  if  it  pleases  one,  to  reject  an  epistle  of  St.  Paul,  anothes, 
the  gospel  of  St.  John,  a  third,  St.  Mathew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke?ttt 


*  Haffner,  Einleitungzu  der  neuen,  von  der  Straszburgischen  Bibel-gesell- 
schaft  veranstalteten  Ausgabe  der  heiligen   Schrift,  1819. 

t  Bretschneider,  p.  93.  ifLeo.  loc.  ci(.. 

If  Staehelin,  Einige  Bemerkungen  Qber  lesaias,  40,66.  Theol..  Studien  und 
Kritlk,  1830,  I,  p.  82. 

II  Michaelis,  Uebersetzung  des  alten  Testaments. 

%  Augusti's  theol.  Monatschrift,  No.  9. 

*•  Bretsclineider,  Handbuch,  t,  II,  p.  778,  note. 

tt  Eichhorn,  Bibliothek  der  bibl.  Literatur,  t.  V,  p.  761— 996. 

:}::{:  Staudlin's  Magazin  der  Religionsgeschiclite,  t.  III. 

(j^  Ueber  den  sogenannten  ersten  Brief  des  Paulus  an  den  Timotheus.  Ber- 
lin, 1807. 

***  Lucke,  Uebersicht  der  zur  Hermeneutik  etc.  geh5rigen  Literatur  vom 
Anfange  1828  bis  Mitte  1829.  Theol.  Stud,  und  Krit..  1830.  p.  450,  t.  II. 

ttt  Job.  von  MUller,  Minerva  1809.  July,  p.  76. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  319 

On  the  other  hand,  the  signs,  which  Calvin  indicates  as  marks  by 
which  the  church  is  to  be  recognized,  are  entirely  insufficient.  Ac- 
cording to  the  reformer,  wherever  you  shall  hear  the  pure  word  of 
Christ,  say  without  fear  :   "  This  is  the  church." 

But  what  sect  is  there,  that  does  not  imagine  itself  in  possession  of 
the  word  of  Jesus  !     Ten  years  since,  we  beheld  two  anabaptists  come 
to  Geneva,  whom  they  drove  away,  under  pretext  that  they  were  teach- 
ing  the  doctrines  of  falsehood.*     And  tiie  book  which  these  brought 
with  them  was   Calvin's  bible;  and  to  justify  their  symbol,   they  in- 
voked no  other  word   but  that  enclosed  in  the  holy   book  !     When 
Munzer,  after  having  stained  the  plains  of  Frankenhausen  with  blood, 
w^as  conducted  with  bound  hands,  before  duke  George,  he  was  asked  in 
virtue  of  what  right  he  had  revolted  against  his   masters.     Munzer 
quoted  several  texts  of  the  Bible.     Andreas  Carlstadt,  driven  out  of 
Saxony,  and  reduced  to  vend  pastry  in  a  little  village  for  a  living,  cursed 
his  oppressor  Luther,  who  had  been  unwilling  to  comprehend  the  mean- 
ing  of  the  Greek  touto.     Servetus,  when  dyings  chanted  a  verse  from 
the  psalms.     At  the  conference  of  Marbourg,  the  Sacramentarians  and 
Lutherans  threw  at  the  heads  of  each  other^  texts  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.     Which  of  these  founders  of  sects  represented  the  church? 
To  what  faith  did  the  elect  of  Calvin's  invisible  church  belong,  be- 
fore God  had  rescued  them  from  what  he  terms  the  Roman   idolatry? 
Evidently^  to  the  Catholic  faith,  to  that  choir  of  learned  men,  of  doc- 
tors, of  martyrs,  among  whom  were  St.    Hilary,  St.  Polycarp,  St.  Je- 
rome..     But  Hilary,  Polycarp,  Augustine,  and  Jerome  taught  what  is 
taught  by  Paul  III.,   whom   Calvin  ranks  with  the  reprobate.     The 
same  symbol,  the  same  dogmas,  the  same  faith.     If  God  assume  them 
into  heaven,  he  ought  to  drive  thence  those  fallen  souls,  who  come  into 
this  world  to  teach  a  different  doctrine.     Would  Calvin  desire  to  disin- 
herit  these   Catholic  glories  of  the  beatific  vision,  or  to  place  Wiclef, 
Arius,  and  John  Huss  amongst  the  blessed  ?     But  in  this  case,  it  is  the 
church  of  these  sectaries  that  he  perpetuates.     Then  why  are  his  doc- 
trines  different  from  theirs  ?     Why  does   he  offer  another   symbol  ? 
When  Catharin,  that  old  Catholic  champion,  demanded  of  Luther  :    "If 
thy  church,  as  thou  describest  it,  is  entirely  spiritual,  tell  me  then  by 
what  mark  I  shall  recognize  it."     Luther  responded  :    By  what  mark  ? 
Why,  by  that  which  tl^e  Saxon  church  bears  on  her  brow,  by  baptism 
and  the  bread."     But  the  bread  and  baptism  are  material  symbols,  and 
the  bread  of  Luther  is  not  the  bread  of  Calvin.     And  besides  we  will 
add  :  Who  knows  your  elect  ?     God  only  ;  for,  if  you  name  them,  you 
remove  by  a  stroke  of  your  pen,  one  of  the  conditions  essential  to  your 
church,  viz  :   invisibilit'i, . 

Luther's  priesthood  differs  essentially  from  that  of  Calvin.  Luther 
regards  every  christian  as  a  priest :    "The   Catholic  ordination,  is,  ia 

*  See  chapter  entitled  :  The  Axabaptists. 

■f  Dices  autem  si  ecclesia  tota  est  in  spiritu  et  res  omnino  spiritualis,  nemo 
ergo  nosse  poterit  ubi  sit  uUa  ejus  pars  in  toto  orbe  :  quo  er^o  signo  agnoscam? 
ecclesiam? — Respondeo:  signuni  necessarium  est  quod  et  haberaus  Baptisma, 
ac  panem,  et  omnium  polissimum  Evanofelium. — Luth^  Resp.  ad  lib*.  Am. 
Cath.  an.  1521.  Op.,  t.  II,  fol.  376,,  377.    ^ 


320  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

his  eyes,  but  a  satanic  mummery,  where  a  hog  cuts  the  hair,  and  throws 
the  sacerdotal  robe  over  the  shoulders,  of  a  blockhead."*  Calvin  es- 
teems  the  ministry  a  divine  institution.  He  establishes  a  two-fo-ld  vo- 
cation, interior  and  exterior,  the  combination  of  which  is  indispensable 
as  a  foundation  for  the  sacerdotal  mission.  The  Genevan  school,  so 
brilliantly  represented  to  day  by  M.  Vinet  of  Lausanne,  has  changed 
both  the  terras  and  the  idea  :  It  recognizes  an  immediate  mission,  which 
is  that  given  by  Christ  to  his  apostles,  and  a  mediate  mission,  which  is 
that  given  by  the  apostles  to  their  successors.!  It  may  be  seen  that 
not  only  the  words  have  varied,  but  the  symbol  has  been  changed.  In 
Calvin's  system,  the  interior  mission  has  no  need  of  proof,  it  flo^ws  en- 
tirely from  the  personality  of  the  candidate,  who  establishes  his  voca- 
tion upon  an  internal  grace,  or  on  proofs  which  cannot  be  discussed. 
The  ordinary  mission  or  vocation  therefore  remains. 

Luther  at  first  had  received  the  ordinary  mission  from  his  bishop ; 
but  when  John  de  Lasphe  imposed  hands  on  him,  in  1507,  the  neophyte 
promised  to  teach  what  was  taught  by  the  Catholic  church  :  J  you  know 
whether  or  not  he  has  been  faithful  to  his  oath.  The  commission  was 
then  revocable ;  had  he  been  an  angel  from  heaven,  he  could  neither 
add  to,  nor  change  the  gospel  which  he  was  charged  to  propagate.  § 

Calvin  can  lay  no  claim  to  the  ordinary  mission  which  was  confer- 
red on  Luther ;  for  he  was  not  a  priest :  interior  vocation,  external 
mission,  every  thing  was  assumed  by  him. 

Bossuet  has  not  evolved  the  variety  of  the  reformed  doctrines  con- 
cerning the  institution  of  the  holy  ministry,  with  more  logic,  than  has 
M.  Ernest  Naville,  in  the  theses  which  he  recently  published  at  Geneva. 
He  is  an  independent  thinker,  from  whom  we  delight  to  quote  : 

''The  possession  of  grace  cannot  exist  except  where  there  is  dogmatic 
authority  :  this  authority  the  reformed  ministers  have  attributed  to  them- 
selves, or  at  least  they  have  acted  as  if  they  did  attribute  it  to  themselves. 
Articles  of  faith  have  been  drawn  up,  persecutions  have  been  set  on 
foot  against  those  who  refused  to  subscribe  to  them  :  to  the  scandal  of 
violence  and  injustice,  Protestants  have  added  the  scandal  of  the  most 
flagrant  inconsistency. 

"  In  the  reformed  churches,  to  day,  there  are  no  longer  found  any  en- 
lightened and  impartial  men,  who  do  not  acknowledge,  that,  at  the  very 
moment  men  admit  a  dogmatic  authority  distinct  from  revelation,  they 
ought  to  go  swell  the  ranks  of  the  Catholic  church. 

*'  Moreover,  the  ideas  of  the  reformers,  concerning  the  manner  in 
which  powers  are  conferred  on  the  clergy,  conduct  to  Catholicism.  In 
fact,  how  are  their  powers  conferred  upon  pastors,  if  it  be  denied  that 
it  is  the  choice  of  the  flock  which  confers  these  powers?  By  conse- 
cration, which  is  a  sacrament.  By  whom  is  this  consecration  effected  ? 
By  the  pastors  of  the  church.     By  whom  have  these  pastors  been  con- 

t  An  die  Boehmischen  Brueder. — Koenne  man  doch  jcdcr  Sau  das  Haar  ab^ 
sclieeren  und  einem  jeden  Klotzcein  Gewand  anziehen. — Moehler,  p.  412; 

|Narrateur  religieux,  No.  139. 

]  Reform,  aim. 

y  Sed  licet  nos,  aut  angelus  de  cceloevangelizel  vobis  prseterquam  quod  evaft- 
gylizavimus  vobis,  anthema  sit.  (Gal,  I,  8.) 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK.  321 


seorated?  By  other  pastors.  And  by  whom  were  the  first  reformed 
pastors  consecrated?  Here  is  the  difficulty;  the  only  means  of  solv- 
ing it  is  that  employed  by  Dmiioulin.  He  endeavours  to  establish  the 
succession  of  the  reformed  pastors,  either  through  pastors  of  the  W  al- 
densss  and  Albigenses,  or  through  the  Roman  priests,  and  employs  va- 
rious arguments  to  establish,  that  the  minister,  consecrated  in  the  church 
of  Rome,  remains  legitimately  consecrated  after  passing  into  another 
church.*  After  this  manner,  they  relapse  into  the  doctrine  of  apostolic 
succession,  and  thence  into  Catholicism.  Also,  Calvin  f,  without  en- 
tirely rejecting  the  idea  of  successioin,  as  he  could  not  admit  the  legiti- 
mate vocation  of  the  Roman  priests,  declares  that  this  succession  is 
worth  nothing  except  where  the  true  faith  exists.  In  the  last  analysis, 
it  is  then  the  doctrine  which  distinguishes  the  lawful  pastors.  But 
what  is  the  rule  of  the  doctrines  of  the  church?  The  confessions  of 
faith.  Who  draws  up  the  confessions  of  faith  ?  This  is  done  by  the  pa- 
tars.  Therefore,  it  is  the  doctrine  that  judges  the  pastors,  and  the  pas- 
tors  who  judge  the  doctrine. 

'•  The  Roman  system  is  so  logical  and  connected  in  all  its  parts,  that 
we  must  either  admit  nothing  of  it,  or  admit  all.  Protestants  will  al- 
ways be  vanquished  upon  the  arena  of  principles,  whenever  they  shall 
not  unreservedly  admit  liberty,  with  all  its  consequences. "J 

But  liberty,  with  all  its  consequences,  here  invoked  by  M.  Naville 
as  aid  to  the  reformation  principle,  conducts  to  the  ruin  of  Protestant- 
ism :  no  one  can  build  on  a  negation.  Dumoulin's  idea,  on  the  legiti- 
macy of  vocation  by  succession,  would  be  of  no  use  to  the  Calvinistic 
church,  because  its  founders,  Farel,  Viret,  and  Calvin,  never  had  the 
sacerdotal  authority.  What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  Appeal  from  it  to  inte- 
rior  vocation,  the  argument  of  the  monks,  who  were  taken  by  Berne  from 
the  bar-rooms  to  receive  the  priesthood  ;  and  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  both 
of  whom  pretended  to  have  received  their  ministry  from  God  himself. 
For,  Lather  wrote  from  the  Wartbourg  to  the  elector  Frederick  :  "  I 
have  not  received  my  gospel  from  men,  but  from  heaven  and  from 
Christ  ;"§  and  Calvin  wTOte  to  Sadolet  :  "  The  foundation  of  my  min- 
istry is  the  divine  vocation  :  I  hold  it  from  Christ."  ||  Or  else,  like  the 
libertines,  they  must  deny  that  the  priesthood  is  a  divine  institution,  and 
make  of  it  but  a  human  symbol,  the  dispensation  of  which  belongs  to 
society  ;  and  this  will  be  to  fall  into  Anabaptism,  which  searches  for 
revelation  outside  the  ministry. 

Besides,  the  two  reformers  had  a  foresight  of  the  ruin  of  their  sym- 
bolism. In  order  to  protect  his  against  the  anarchy  of  sects,  Calvin  en- 
deavoured to  place  it  under  the  tutelage  of  the  consistory.  He  was 
unwilling  to  comprehend,  that,  w^iers  unity  exists  not,  it  is  impossible 
to  have  doctrine ;   that,  indeed,  as  remarked  by  Plank,  he  left  churches 

*  De  la  Vocation  dcs  pasteurs,  p.  68. 

tinst,  liv,  IV,  ch,  2, 

%  Theses  publiques  soutenues  d  I'academie  de  Geneve,  Juin,  1839,  ch.  4  ^  3. 

]  Main  EvaniTelium  habe  ich  nicht  von  Menschen,  sondern  allein  vom  Hiin- 
DT^l,  von  Jesu  Christo. 

11  Ministerium  quod  Dei  vocatione  fundatum  ac  sancitnm  fuisse  non  dubito. 
— Ministeriummeum,  quod  quidem  ut  a  Christo  esse  novi. — Op.,  p.  108. 


322  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

behind  him,  but  not  a  church.*  You  will  see  that  God  will  not  allow 
him  the  consolation  to  die  in  peace.  It  will  be  necessary  for  him^  after 
the  example  of  those  who  preceded  him  in  his  fatal  career,  to  witness 
the  downfall  of  his  own  work.  At  first,  it  is  sounded ;  then,  the  examina- 
tion being  finished,  comes  doubt;  afterwards,  negation,  in  its  turn,  erects 
its  crest.  His  teaching  shall  meet  with  blasphemers  in  the  very  bosom 
of  the  reformation.  In  vain  has  he  placed  it  under  the  protection  of 
the  civil  law;  conscience  will  not  yield.  He  is  about  to  wrestle  with 
Gentilis,  with  Westphal,  with  Servetus,  with  a  whole  portion  of  the 
the  Genevese  population.  Heidelberg  will  reject  his  catechism, 
and  reformed  France  his  predestination.  Gentilis  will  soon  suffer  the 
penalty  of  his  confidence  in  Calvin's  word  ;  Bolsec,  on  the  point 
of  triumphing  over  the  implacable  fatalism  of  the  reformer,  will  be 
driven  away  from  Geneva;  and  Castalion,  who,  in  virtue  of  his  science, 
was  living  in  a  college,  on  an  annual  salary  of  450  florins,  will  be 
compelled  to  fly  from  an  inhospitable  land,  where,  to  doubt  of  Calvin's 
infallibility  is  a  crime  punished  by  exile.  But  he  has  beheld  the  re- 
former, the  church,  and  the  ministers  of  Geneva  :  and  from  Bale  he  will 
cry  out  to  us  : — "Proud  men,  puffed  up  with  glory,  and  so  vindictive^ 
that,  with  less  peril,  could  you  offend  princes,  than  irritate  these  felons  ! 
Masters,  consummate  in  calumnies,  in  backbiting,  in  lies,  in  cruelties^ 
in  intolerable  arrogance,  who  term  their  Geneva,!  the  holy  city,  their 
assembly,  Jerusalem  !  Oh  Babylon  !  Babylon  !  who  confiscates  the 
property  of  those  whom  she  judges  to  be  heretics,  and  who  calls  aU 
those  heretics,  whom  she  wishes  to  drive  away,  because  they  do  not  lis- 
ten to  her.  They  have  burned  Servetus,  but  they  have  kept  the  %& 
chain  which  belonged  to  him.  ." 

•  Wir  haben  keine  Kirche,  sondern  uur  Kirchen^— Plank,  Geschichtei  ^  I* 
t  Rescius,  p.  54. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 


THE    LITUKGY. 

I^omages  of  Protestants  to  our  liturgy. — The  Catholic  temple  as  ancient  aS 
Christianity.— Baptism.— What  Calvin  has  made  of  it. — What  it  was  in  the 
primitive  church^-^The  Calvinistic  and  Catholic  Lord's  Supper.— The 
Viaticum  existed  in  antiquity. — Marriage  at  Geneva — Divorce  and  its 
causes. — Calvin  refuses  to  marriage  the  title  of  Sacrament. — Confession.-'-- 
Calvin  at  first  favourable  to  auricular  confession,  which  he  afterwards  abol- 
ishes.— Extreme  Unction,  Sacerdotal  TJNCTioN.^^Avowals  of  some  Protest- 
ants.— Veneration  of  the  Saints. — What  Calvin  thinks  of  Mary.— Con- 
vents.—The  Cross  prostrated  by  the  reformer. — Lamentations  of  Protestant* 
ism.— Chanting.— The  Psalms  of  Marot.— Fatal  influence  of  Calvin  upon 
the  arts. — The  reformer  judged  by  Baudouin,  the  jurist. 

We  must  invite  the  glories  of  the  reformation  to  celebrate  the  poeti- 
cal genius  of  our  worship,  so  unfortunately  misapprehended  by  Calvin; 
our  eulogies  might  be  suspected ;  the  canticles  of  praise  sung  by  our 
adversaries  will  have  more  weight.  Calvin  was  unable  to  love  forms  : 
from  his  Genevese  liturgy,  he  effaced  part  of  them.  He  wanted  an 
adoration  in  spirit*  Let  us  here  listeri  to  the  responses  of  some  of  his 
brethren. 

''  But,  are  not  the  flowers,  the  trees,  the  fruitSj  and  the  whole  garni- 
ture of  the  exterior  world,  the  images  of  God  ?  Who  should  ever  have 
conceived  the  idea  of  breaking  to  pieces  these  marvelous  works,  under 
pretext  of  an  entirely  spiritual  adoration  ?* — To  kneel  before  a  sym- 
bol, and,  in  the  saints  or  the  blessedj  whose  features  are  under  our 
view,  to  admire  the  power  of  grace,  the  treasures  of  divine  bounty,  is 
not  committing  an  act  of  idolatry  :  he  would  be  an  idolator,  who 
should  give  to  emblems  a  power  which  no  church  recognizes  in  them.f 
They  have  talked  to  us  so  much  about  adoration  in  spirit  and  truth,  that 
there  is  no  longer  spirit,  truth,  nor  adoration." 

«« Now,  that  we  have  banished  all  symbolical  ceremonies,  is  the 
Lord's  Supper  more  fervent,  more  pious,  more  spiritual,  than  former- 
lyV't 

"  There  are  christians,  who  will  no  longer  take  the  trouble  to  go  to 
church  to  hear  the  word  of  God,   which  they   find  at  home,  in  sermon 

*  Feszler,  Theresia,  t.  II,  p.  94. 
t  Pustkuclren-Glanzow,  Die  Weiderherstellung. 

X  Dasz  heil.  Abendmahl.  Eine  dogmengeschichtlicbe  Untersuchung,  p. 
i39,  note. 


324 


LIFE    or    JOHJf    CALVIN. 


bookS)  in  journals,  and  in  almanacs."* — '•  To  study  the  nature  of  man, 
and  all  his  spiritual  wants,  is  a  duty  lor  all  those  who  have  charge  of  souls: 
words  and  phrases  are  but  an  open  door  for  escaping  from  responsibility; 
what  matters  it  about  the  origin  of  a  fashion,  if  it  be  efficacious?"! — 
"  Nothing  is  more  common  among  our  theologians  and  our  ministers, 
than  an  anti-symbolical  spirit ;  notliing  more  rare  than  true  Christianity. 
Even  the  cross  has  become  a  sign  of  idolatry,  because  it  is  found  upon 
Catholic  churches  and  chapels.":]: 

"  The  feast  of  All-Saints,  in  the  Catholic  church,  stirs  up  the  con- 
templative sentiment  in  the  very  depths  of  the  heart. "§ — "  What  beau- 
lul  days  are  those  of  the  Roman  Calendar,  where  the  christian  admires 
and  chants- the  millions  of  elect,  whom  God  has  taken  from  this  world 
and  placed  in  his  glory,— and  where  the  church,  in  choir,  prays  with 
her  children  for  the  liberation  of  those  souls  still  sullied  by  the  stain  of 
sin  !"  II — "  Then  the  population  of  the  city  is  seen  silently  moving  to 
the  cemetery,  to  seek  the  tombs  which  cover  it,  lo  pour  forth  prayers  and 
tears,  whilst  the  priest  sprinkles  the  half-uncovered  graves  with  the  holy 
water  of  his  benediction.  On  this  day,  death  is  a  preceptor  :  his  head 
is  crowned  with  flowers,  and  the  blaze  of  lamps  and  tapers  represenus 
the  light  of  eternity." t 

"  Blinded  by  a  sectarian  spirit,  our  reformers  have  destroyed  the  great- 
er part  of  the  beautiful  allegories  of  the  Roman  worship ;  they  falsely 
imagined  that  they  were  making  war  against  supersition.  I  have  never 
found  greater  piety  and  greater  fervour  than  among  Catholics."** — "It 
is  certain,  that  the  mass  commands  attention  and  recollection  ;  and  it 
is  to  be  remarked,  that,  in  the  prayer  books  of  our  brethren,  the  Latin 
prayer,  translated  into  the  vernacular,  can  defy  the  rust,  with  which  time 
consumes  every  living  idiom. "If — *'  The  music  in  their  church,  is  truly 
beautiful !  I  should  not  be  able  to  believe  that  God  rejects  those 
chants,  60  full  of  spiritualism ;  that  cloud  of  incense,  that  chime  of 
bells,  those  vocal  harmonies,  which,  in  our  narrow-minded  prejudice, 
we  dare  despise." J ± — "The  Catholic  temple, — with  its  doors  perpetu- 
ally open,  its  lamps  unceasingly  burning,  its  voices  at  all  hours  making 
appeals,  its  chants,  its  masses,  its  anniversaries, — is  like  a  mother,  whose 
arms  are  ever  open  to  the  fatigued  soul,  which  needs  rest,  to  the  ex- 
hausted soul,  which  is  hungry,  to  the  proscribed  soul,  that  wants  an 
asylum  night  and  day.  It  is  a  fountain  upon  the  pathway  of  life,  around 
which  are  gathered  all  those  who  are  thirsty  and  need  to  be  refresh- 
ed."§§ 

"  When  the  pilgrim,  after  a  long  travel,  fatigued  and  weary,  but  with 
heart  joyous,  and  overflowing  with  love  for  God,  comes  to  kneel  on  the 
steps  of  the  temple,  and  his  song  of  gratitude  rises  to  the  very  throne 

*■  Darmst.  Allj^.  Kirch-Zeit.     1830,  No.  89. 
+  Zimmermann,  Allg.  Zeit.  1830,  No.  181,  p.  1845. 
^  Clausen. 

\  Horst,  Mvsterlosophie. 
I  Feszler,  Thercsia,  t.  II,  p.  110. 
If  Spindler,  Zeitspiegel,  t.  I,  p.  13;  1831. 

♦•  Feszler,  Thercsia,  t.  II,  p    101.  ttWir, 

.  1(.X  Leibnitz,  Syst.  th.,  p.  207. 
n  Isidorus  (Graf  von  Leben),  Lotosblatler,  1817, 1. 1. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  SZO 

of  Him  who  has  sheltered  him  with  His  wing; — when  a  mother  casts 
herself  at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  to  offer  up  her  first-born  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  holy  angels ; — wiien  the  setting  sun  is  dallying  with  the 
stained  glass  of  the  Gothic  window,  and  robes  with  his  rays  the  kneel- 
ing figure  of  some  young  maiden  at  her  prayers ; — when  the  light  from 
the  tapers  of  the  altar  is  struggling  athwart  the  shadows  of  twilight, 
and  the  organ  is  sighing  forth  its  harmonious  melodies, ; — when,  at  eve, 
is  heard  tlie  sound  of  the  Angeliis,  and,  at  day-break,  the  bell  rings  to 
summon  the  monk  to  pray  for  the  living  and  the  dead; — does  not  the 
Catholic  church  then  inform  us,  that  life  ought  to  be  but  one  long  prayer 
to  God;  that  art  and  nature  ought  to  unite  to  elevate  the  heart  of  man 
to  the  adoration  of  the  Sovereign  Master,  and  that  the  temple,  in  which 
so  many  elements  of  prayer,  contemplation,  and  recollection  are  found, 
has  a  right  to  our  reverence  ?"* 

"  Poesy  is  the  very  essence  of  Catholicism,  a  beautiful  diamond 
shining  in  the  light  of  faith."! 

Leibnitz,  Spindler,  Clausen,  Wix,  Fessler !  These  are  noble  names. 
In  Germany,  at  present,  every  thing  which  feels  at  heart  the  least  spark 
of  life,  is  approximating  towards  Catholicism.  The  nudity  of  the  Pro- 
testant religion,  its  temples  despoiled  of  images,  its  sad  and  spiritless 
ceremonies,  its  psalmody  destitute  of  melody,  chill  and  sadden  the 
heart  and  eye.  It  is  now  understood,  that  prayer,  to  revive,  needs  ex- 
ternal stimulous ;  that  the  ignorant  soul,  to  lift  itself  up  to  God,  de- 
mands the  aid  of  material  signs,  and  that  adoration  in  truth,  is  a  mere 
abstraction,  which  every  order  of  intelligence  is  not  adequate  to  com- 
prehend. In  Catholicism,  every  thing  is  interwoven  and  linked  to- 
gether ;  each  ceremony  has  a  spiritual  signification,  and  is  hallowed  by 
tradition.  It  is  under  this  historical  point  of  view,  that  our  liturgy  is 
•admirable  !  Since  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  our  prayer  has  ever  been 
the  same ;  and  even  the  very  form  with  which  it  is  invested,  can  be 
studied  from  century  to  century. 

THE     TEMPLE. 

The  centuriators  of  Magdebourg  have  written  : — That  four  ages  after 
the  Apostles,  the  Catholics  still  had  no  temple. J  But,  to  show  that 
they  wrote  falsely,  behold  a  basilic,  erected  to  God,  in  Neocesarea,  un- 
der the  reign  of  Gordian,  and  the  magnificence  of  which  is  celebrated 
by  St.  Basil.  §  Has  not  Origen  described  the  ravages  committed  in  our 
temples,  by  the  soldiers  of  Maxirainus  ?  In  the  first  age,  when  Clement 
was  Pope,  they  began  to  erect  churches,  which  he  caused  to  be  conse- 
crated by  prayer.  ||  What,  then,  were  those  chapels,  those  oratories, 
those  monasteries,  if  not  houses  of  prayer,  reared  by  our  fathers  ?  The 
first  concern  of  the  reformation,  when  triumphant  at  Geneva,  Avas  to 
prostrate  the  churches  which  fead  been  constructed  there  by  the  piety  of 

*  Clausen  790. 

t  Es  ist  ein  im  Lichte  desGlaubens  spielender  Diamant. 
t  Cent.  2.  §  Greg.  Nic,  in  vitS  Greg, 

jl  Ecclesias  per  congrua  et  utilia  facite  loca,  quee  divinis  precibus  sacrare 
oportet,  et  in  singulis  sacetdotes  divinis  orationibus  dicatos  poni. 

28 


326 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


the  Catholics.  The  cathedral  dedicated  to  St.  Peter,  was  the  only  one 
left  standing,  and  even  over  the  walls  of  that,  the  reformation  caused 
the  trowel  to  be  passed,  in  order  to  render  it  contemptible  in  the  eyes 
of  strangers.  In  the  time  of  Florimond  de  Remond,  could  still  be 
seen  the  stained  glass  of  the  edifice,  ''with  pictured  saints,"  as  he  nar- 
rates in  his  poetic  language.  The  image  of  Christ  had  fallen,  but  that 
of  the  bishop  had  been  spared.  Behind  Calvin's  pulpit,  still  stood  the 
figures  of  the  Apostles,  "in  high  relief,  with  their  names  engraved  upon 
scrolls."* 

In  Germany,  as  in  Switzerland  and  France,  the  reformation  preach- 
ed the  destruction  of  our  temples  :  it  was  happy  when  able  to  point  its 
culverins  against  the  church  of  St.  John  at  Lyons.  After  the  capture 
of  Orleans,  armed  with  a  hammer,  it  mounted  the  spire  of  the  cathe- 
dral, and,  while  striking  the  gilded  metal  with  which  it  was  covered, 
merrily  sanoj : 

*•  Thus  shall  Babylon  be  destroyed." 

To  cause  it  to  release  its  hold,  the  prince  de  Conde  was  forced  to 
point  his  cannon.  Then  how  quickly  does  it  descend;  but  in  the 
evening,  at  the  voice  of  Beza,  its  apostle,  it  returns  with  a  cohort  of 
malefactors,  and  saps  the  foundations  of  the  edifice,  which  totters  and 
"tumbles  to  the  earth."! 

"  Of  what  use,"  said  Calvin,  "are  such  splendid  houses?  it  is  only 
pure  hearts  that  God  requires." 

"  And  it  was  not  at  that  time  only  the  Catholicism  of  France,  Italy, 
Spain,  Germany,  that  it  attacked;  but  the  primitive  Catholicism^ 
which  Lucian,  in  his  day,  pursued  with  his  pagan  irony,  because  the 
new  religion  dwelt  in  buildings  resplendent  with  gold  and  marble.  St. 
Ambrose  desires  the  priest  to  exert  himself  to  make  the  house,  or, 
as  he  terms  it,  the  palace  of  God,  resplendent. J  Constantine  made  it 
his  glory  to  adorn  the  churches  with  rich  tapistry.  The  temples,  which 
he  erected,  at  Constantinople,  Antioch,  Nicomedia,  Jerusalem,  were 
magniiicently  rich  in  decoration,  as  is  related  by  Optatus,  in  his  book 
against  the  I)onatists.§  Behold,  in  St.  Chrysostom,  the  christian  altar 
radiant  with  gold,  the  pavement  and  walls,  with  Mosaics,  the  tapistry, 
with  variegated  colours,  and  the  lamps,  with  carving  and  enchasing  f 

At  Geneva,  ancient  Catholic  customs  could  not  fall  suddenly,  like 
the  walls  of  the  churches  :  often,  a  poor  labourer,  on  entering  the  re- 
formed temple,  forgot  that  he  had  been  forced  to  apostatize,  and  sought 
for  the  holy  water,  or  devoutly  crossed  himself.  But  to  dampen  the 
forehead,  on  entering  the  holy  place,  with  the  water  which  made  us 
children  of  God  in  baptism,  i.s,  as  Calvin  pretends,  "an  act  of  idol- 
atry !" 

At  the  coming  of  the  reformation  in   France,  the  pulpit  belonged  to 

*  Histoiro  dc  la  naissancc,  progres  et  decadence  de  I'heresie  de  ce  si^cle, 
p.  1004. 

t  Florimond  do  Romond,  p,  1004. 

^  Maximo  sacerdotis  hoc  convenlt  oniare  Doi  templum  decore  congruo,  ut 
ctiam  hoc  cultu  aula  domini  resplcndeat.  Lib.  II,  Offic,  cap.  21. 

«  Sozom.,  lib.  IV.  Theod.,  lib.  II,  chap.  27.  Nic,  lib.  IX,  c.  46,  et  lib.  VII, 
c.  49. — Eus,  do  Cesaree,  Vie  de  Const.,  eh.  IV. 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  327 

any  one  who  chose  to  ascend  it.  The  first  comer  took  the  Bible,  read 
some  verses,  and  frequently  also  a  homily  of  Calvin.  Nevertheless, 
this  human  word,  which  the  reformation  had  abused  when  issuing  from 
the  mouth  of  our  doctors,  disgusted  and  shocked  certain  religious  souls, 
and  the  provincial  synod  of  Chatellerault,  in  1597,  forbade  hencefor- 
■ward  the  reading  of  Genevese  interpretations. 

Out  of  hatred  for  Catholic  tradition,  Calvin  banished  the  use  of  the 
surplice,  of  the  stole,  of  the  chasuble,  and  of  all  the  sacerdotal  orna- 
ments. The  minister  who  preached,  was  vested  in  a  morning-gown  or 
a  black  robe.  In  France,  at  first,  the  Calvinists  wore  that  red  robe  of 
the  burgher  fashion,  reaching  half  way  down  the  leg,  with  cut  and  pen- 
dent sleeves,  and  a  mourning  cap.  When  Lafaye  came  to  preach  be- 
ibre  Madam,  the  sister  of  Henry  III.,  he  wore,  with  a  sword  at  his  side, 
a  violet  mantle  and  doublet,  and  breeches  of  yellow  chamois.  The 
minister  of  the  Contondiere  preached  at  the  Isle  Bouchard,  in  Touraine, 
with  a  doublet  of  red  worsted,*  having  at  his  side  sword  and  poniard. 
The  Catholics  asked  the  reformed  preachers  if  this  costume  belonged  to 
the  priests  of  the  primitive  church,  and  was  like  that  which  St.  Den- 
nis describes  :  a  robe  of  linen  around  the  body,  stole  on  the  neck, 
maniple  on  the  arm,  and  chasuble  on  the  back. 

'•  Thus,"  says  St.  Clement,  "the  Apostles  were  vested  ;  they  sacri- 
ficed with  a  splendid  robe  as  do  all  their  successors. — Let  the  priest," 
he  adds,  "take  the  white  robe,  and  being  at  the  altar,  let  him  sign  him- 
self on  the  forehead  with  the  trophy  of  the  cross." 

Lactantius  has  left  us  the  description  of  an  ancient  church  : — In  the 
middle,  at  the  point  best  seen,  arose  the  cross  and  image  of  Christ,  be- 
fore which  christians  kneeled  at  all  hours  of  the  day;  for,  at  every 
hour,  there  are  men  who  need  to  pray,  to  pour  forth  their  tears,  to  so- 
licit consolations,  to  recommend  themselves  to  God,  to  strike  their 
breasts  and  obtain  pardon  for  their  faults.  The  Saviour  has  said  :  My 
house  is  a  house  of  prayer.  Also,  in  the  primitive  church,  they  did  not 
teach  in  the  (emple,  but  in  a  retired  place,  which  we  term  the  school. 
St.  Chrysostom  exclaims  to  him  who  says  :  Shall  I  enter  the  temple  ? 
Are  they  preaching  ? — Enter,  and  come  to  pray,  this  is  a  house  of 
refuge. 

BAPTISM. 

"  The  little  children  of  the  faithful,"  says  Beza,  "have  the  seed  and 
germ  of  faith  before  being  baptized,!  seeing  that  the  Lord  has  sanctified 
lliem  in  the  wombs  of  their  mothers." 

Tertullian,  in  accord  with  the  church,  had  said,  we  become,  and  are 
not  born  christians.J 

Baptism,  in  the  Calvinistic  teaching,  is  but  a  sign  which  serves  to 
distinguish  the  christian,  and  can  be  administered  only  in  the  temple, 
before  the  christian   assembly. §     The  ordinances  are  precise.     The 

♦  Florimond  de  Remond,  p.  1007. 
t  Schlusselb.,  de  Baptismo. 

^  Fiunt,  non  nascuntur  christiani; — anima  fieri,  non  nasci  solet  Christiana. 
Apol.,  cap.  XVII. 
J  Premier  article.  Ordonn.  de  Geneve. 


328  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

child  thus  ran  the  risk  of  dying  without  baptism.  Musculos,  superin- 
tendent of  Berne,  had  prohibited  the  administration  of  baptism  on  any 
other  day  than  Sunday.  Samuel  Hubert,  one  night,  baptized  a  child 
in  danger  of  death  :  he  was  summoned  before  the  senate,  and  accused 
of  revolt  and  heresy  :  Hubert  alledged  the  bodily  and  spiritual  necessi- 
ties of  the  newly  born  babe.  Musculus  maintained  that  the  absence 
of  baptism  does  not  deprive  the  unbaptized  person  of  the  vision  of  God. 
Hubert  refuted  this  proposition,  which  he  taxed  with  impiety.  Beza 
was  called  from  Zurich,  with  certain  Bernese  ministers;  the  question 
was  debated,  and  Hubert  was  condemned  and  deprived  of  his  office.* 

Calvin  maintains,  that,  in  case  of  necessity,  a  laic  cannot  baptize, 
"it  being,"  says  he,  '-'more  expedient  to  allow  ihe  creature  to  die  with- 
out baptism,  than  to  baptize  after  this  sort."t  And  here  again  he  com- 
bats, as  he  has  done  before,  the  doctrinal  tradition  of  our  church. 

In  primitive  Calvinism  the  ceremonies  of  baptism  were  varied  often 
enough.  Sometimes,  the  infant  was  held  in  the  arms  of  the  sponsor, 
sometimes,  as  at  Nerac,  he  reposed  in  the  cradle.  After  some  words, 
rather  in  form  of  a  remonstrance  than  a  prayer,  the  minister  poured 
water  upon  the  visage  of  the  babe,  pronouncing  the  words :  "  I 
baptize  thee,"  &c.  Zwingle  said, — that  to  attribute  some  concealed 
virtue  to  these  v.^ords,  would  be  to  resemble  magicians.  J  In  England 
and  Germany,  they  impress  on  the  forehead  of  the  child  the  sign  of  the 
cross  :  this  sign  of  salvation,  of  which  there  is  question  in  the  Areopa- 
gyte,  in  St.  Augustine,  and  in  St.  Bazil.§ 

'*  1  preserve  baptism,"  said  Calvin,  "but  I  renounce  the  chrism.^' 
You  will  in  vain  seek  in  the  Calvinistic  liturgy  for  the  ceremonies, 
u>edin  the  primitive  church,  and  which  have  an  entirely  spiritual  signi- 
fication  : — The  imposition  of  hands,  which,  like  a  shield,  is  raised  up 
for  the  defence  of  the  child  : — The  renunciation  of  satan,  the  restora- 
tion of  fallen  nature  : — The  salt  which  the  priest  puts  in  his  mouth, 
and  the  taper,  burning,  to  show  that  the  newly  born  has  passed  from 
darkness  into  light : — The  white  robe,  an  emblem  of  his  virginal  puri- 
ty ;  holy  allegories,  which  Calvin,  in  his  narrow,  prosaic  mind,  desired 
to  exclude  from  his  liturgy,  and  which  we  find  in  use  at  the  very  cradl& 
of  our  faith. 

Let  us  listen  to  St.  Dionysius : 

"  When  the  child  is  held  over  the  baptismal  font,  we  make  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  three  several  times,  on  his  forehead,  and  apply  to  him 
the  unction."  II 

And  St.  Augustine  says  : 

"  We  breathe  upon  the  infant,  we  exorcise  him,  in  order  to  break 
(he  power  of  satan.  1 

And  St.  Chrysostom  and  St.  Basil  say : 

"  In  baptism  the  priest  consecrates  the  water  of  purification."** 

*  Resciiis,  Atheismes  du  sacrement  de  penitence. 

t  Epist.  p.  445   cited  by  Flor.  de  Remond.  |  Hosius  in  prologcv. 

If  St-Dion,  de  Baptisnio. — Sanct.  Basil.,  de  Sp.  s.,  ^T.—Aug.  Ep.  U8^ 

II  vSt-Dion.,  c.  I,  Calest.  Hler. 

li"  S.  Aug.,  lib.  I.  Conf.,  cap.  11. 

•*  St-Bas  ,  cap.  27,  de  Spir.  sanct. 


LIFE    Of    JOHN    CALVIN.  329 

And  now,  let  Calvin,  who  has  made  no  study  of  the  origin  of  chris. 
tianity,  rail  as  much  as  he  pleases  at  these  ceremonies,  the  mysterious 
signification  of  which  he  never  wished  to  comprehend  :  what  does  it 
maimer  to  our  church  ?  He  has  confounded  the  two  Senecas,  in  his 
treatise  of  Clemency ;  why  should  he  not  deny  the  antiquity  of  our 
liturgy  ?  Then,  let  him  write  :  "  The  devil,  seeing  that  these  decep- 
tions  have  been  so  gladly  received  by  the  credulity  of  the  world,  was 
emboldened  to  devise  still  grosser  mockeries,  to  wit  :  to  add  the  salt 
and  spittle."* 

Origen  answers  him  :  The  priest  touches  with  his  finger,  wet  with 
saliva,  the  lips,  nose,  and  ears  of  the  infant,  saying  : — Be  opened,  as 
did  the  Saviour,  in  healing  the  man  deaf  and  blind. f 

THE    lord's    supper. 

Of  the  Paschal  communion,  Calvin  has  made  a  precept,  Luther  has 
left  it  a  voluntary  act.J 

In  the  Catholic  church,  the  priest  offers  up  the  sacrifice  every  day, 
for  the  salvation  of  all  those,  who  live  in  a  land  where  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  adored. — At  Geneva,  Calvin  instituted  four  annual  com- 
munions. 

The  people  assemble  in  the  temple,  as  on  preaching  days  :  the  tem- 
ple is  left  without  decoration.  St.  Luke,§  however,  says,  that  the 
Saviour  desired  that  the  cenacle,  in  which  he  was  to  celebrate  the  pasch, 
should  be  ornamented  and  accoutred,  as  the  Genevese  bible  has  translated 
the  Greek  expression.  It  is  this  hall  that  Proclus  calls  the  first  christian 
church.  II  The  sermon  being  concluded,  the  minister  descends  from 
the  pulpit,  and  places  himself  before  a  table  covered  with  a  cloth. 
They  have  cast  aside  the  altar,  called  by  Chrysostom  the  holy  stone^ 
and  by  Optatus  the  seat  of  Christ.  1[  On  the  table  stands  a  basin  filled 
with  morsels  of  bread ;  for,  faithless  to  all  historical  traditions,  Calvin 
has  rejected  the  chalice,  of  which  Tertullian,  Augustine,  and  Optatus 
speak.  The  minister,  assisted  by  the  deacons,  and  w^ithout  having 
washed  his  hands,  as  is  done  in  the  ancient  church,  takes  bread,  breaks 
it,  and  distributes  it  to  the  faithful.  Our  priest,  in  presenting  the  host 
to  us,  says  to  the  communicant  :  Corpus  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi  cus- 
todial animan  tuam  in  vitam  eeternam.  Amen.  (May  the  body  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  preserve  thy  soul  unto  eternal  life.  Amen.)  A 
holy  prayer,  which  was  recited  in  the  catacombs,  and  which  will  be 
repeated  until  the  consummation  of  the  world. 

Is  not  that  a  beautiful  prayer,  which  is  breathed  quite  low  by  the 
priest,  who  is  about  to  receive  communion  :   Domlne,  non  sum  dignuSf 

*  Cal.  liv.  IV,  Inst.  chap.  15. 

t  Orig.  homil.  6  sup.  Ezechiel. 

:}:  Longe  igitur  errant  et  peccant  qiioque  graviter  qui  cogunt  homines  sub 
neccato  mortali  in  paschali  festo  uti,  id  quod  |iactenus  fieri  solitum  est.  Op. 
Luth.,  f.  I,  344. 

^  Luc.  c,  22.  Marc.  14. 

j]  Procl.  eupo  litur.  Geneb.  in  liturg. 

^  Chrysost,  horn.  61.  ad  pop,  Antioch. 

28* 


339  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Lord,  I  am  not  worthy,  as  said  the  Centurion  of  the  gospel,  and  after 
him,  all  the  christians  of  the  primitive  church?*  Why  has  Calvin 
banished  this  sweet  prayer  from  his  liturgy  ?  In  the  Calvinislic  Lord's 
Supper,  he,  who  receives  the  bread,  in  token  of  respect  and  homage, 
kisses  the  hand  of  the  celebrant  that  presents  it,  and  if  some  grandee 
of  the  world  approach  to  commune,  the  minister,  in  testimony  of  vene- 
ration, carries  the  bread  to  his  lips.  Oh!  how  far  more  beautiful  is 
the  Catholic  pasch  !  In  1834,  we  saw  the  Pope  approach  the  holy 
table,  and  receive  the  Immaculate  Host  from  the  hand  of  a  poor  capu- 
chin ;  and  then  it  was  not  the  coarse  garb  which  humbled  itself,  but 
the  tiara.  The  Pope  no  longer  wears  a  crown,  he  is  but  a  miserable 
sinner,  who  kneels  to  beg  for  grace  and  mercy  :  the  capuchin  is  the 
vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  holds  in  his  hand  Him,  before  whom  angels 
and  dominations  tremble. 

THE     VIATICUM. 

But  the  christian  has  fallen  sick,  he  is  suffering  :  and  one  day,  art 
confesses  itself  unable  to  ward  off  death.  Then,  the  sick  man,  warn- 
ed that  his  last  hour  approaches,  asks  for  the  Viaticum.  In  our  coun- 
try  places,  the  bell  rings,  and  soon  appears  a  priest,  preceded  by  a 
choir  boy,  and  bearing  in  his  hand  the  spiritual  manna,  the  last  nourish- 
ment of  the  dying  man.  At  the  sight  of  the  sacred  vessel  which  con- 
tains the  body  of  a  God,  the  villagers  cast  tliemselves  on  their  knees, 
and  pray  for  their  brother.  The  sick  man,  placed  in  a  becoming  posi- 
tion, awaits  with  sweet  impatience  the  visit  of  his  God.  We  ask  all 
those,  who  have  ever  assisted  at  this  communion  before  the  portals  of 
the  tomb,  if  their  heart  has  not  been  moved  and  affected,  when  the 
priest,  after  having,  with  holy  oil,  anointed  the  feet  of  the  sick,  which 
have  been  piously  uncovered  by  the  hands  of  a  child,  presents  him  the 
body  of  a  God  made  man,  repeating  :  Corpus  Domini  nostri  Jesu 
Christi  custodiat  animam  tuam  in  vitam  aeternam  ?  The  ministry  of  the 
priast  is  not  yet  concluded  :  it  remains  for  him,  after  the  dying  person 
shall  have  received  the  supreme  benediction,  to  pronounce  the  last 
adieu  :   Depart,  christian  soul, — profiscicere,  anima  Christiana. 

To  all  souls  that  were  thirsty  or  hungry,  that  suffered,  or  aspired 
after  eternity,  Calvin  at  first  refused  the  body  of  Christ,  as  a  last  Viati- 
cum. Kemnitz,  the  Lutheran,  said  to  the  Calvinisls  :  ''Hard  and  pitiless 
souls,  who  deny  the  healing  body  of  Jesus  Christ ;  St.  Augustine  did 
not  do  like  you;  he  exhorts  the  sick  to  ask  promptly  for  the  sacred 
Viaticum.  Dost  thou  see,  Calvin,  St.  Dionysius  has  decided  that  thy 
sick  are  deprived  of  a  great  good  by  thee,  who  depriveat  them  of  the 
Eucharistic  communion." 

The  reformation  is  incessantly  appealing  to  the  purity  of  the  primi- 
tive  times;  but  this  purity  is  preserved  by  the  Catholic  church.  Does 
not  St.  Clement  tell  us  that  it  was  an  ancient  custom,  to  gather  the 
remains  of  the  bread  of  angels,  to  carry  them  to  those  who  were  dying? 
"  There  should  always  be  Hosts  consecrated,"  says  the  council,  "that  at 

*  Origenes,  hom.  5, 


LIFE    OF    JOHX    CALVIN.  331 

the  first  desire  of  the  sick  person,  the  priest  may  be  prepared  to  give 
him  communion."  Now,  for  twelve  centuries,  has  the  sacred  Host  been 
preserved  in  a  ciborium,  as  at  this  day.* 

Now,  for  eighteen  centuries,  has  tlie  priest  come,  as  he  does  today, 
to  anoint  the  members  of  the  dying  person  with  oil,  according  to  the 
command  of  St.  James. f 

"  Why  should  not  the  holy  unction  of  the  sick  be  preserved  ?  (Jame?, 
V.  14,  15.)  Down  to  the  time  of  the  German  schism,  it  was  in  use 
iH  the  church.  If  it  were  regarded  as  efficacious  formerly,  why  should 
it  have  lost  its  efficacy  ?"J — "  Who,  then,  will  say  that  extreme 
unction  was  not  practised  in  the  primitive  church  ?"§ 

Behold  the  language  of  those  Protestants  who  have  studied  the  origin 
of  our  liturgy;  who  are  acquainted  with  its  history,  and  are  not  afraid 
to  proclaim  the  truth. 

The  language  of  Calvin  is  different,  because  the  Genevan  reformer 
has  read  nothing  but  books  of  theology  ;  because  passion  blinds  him, 
and  it  is  easy  for  him  to  deceive  a  people  who  will  not  dare  reply  to 
him.     He  rails,  in  place  of  debating  or  discussing. 

"  From  whom  have  they  taken  their  unction,"  does  he  ask  of  us  Cath- 
olics ?  •*  They  answer,  that  they  have  derived  it  from  the  son  of  Aaron, 
from  whom  comes  the  commencement  of  their  work.  ...  If  they  so 
much  delight  in  Jewish  ceremonies,  why  do  they  not  still  sacrifice  oxen, 
calves,  and  lambs  ?  They  put  in  operation  spiritual  graces ;  yet  they 
cannot  make  themselves  imitators  of  the  Levites,  without  being  apos- 
fdtes  from  Jesus  Christ,  and  renouncing  the  office  of  pastors. 

"Behold  their  fine  consecrated  oil,  which  imprints  a  character  that 
cannot  be  lost,  which  they  call  indelible,  as  if  oil  could  not  be  taken 
and  cleansed  away  with  powder  and  salt,  or,  if  too  strongly  rubbed  in, 
with  soap.     Their  unction   is   stinking,    since  it  is  not  made  with  salt, 

that  is,  with  the  word  of  God 

"  Oil  is  for  the  belly,  and  the  belly  for  oil,  and  the  Lord  will  destroy 
both.     These  greasers  say  that  the   Holy  Ghost  is  given  in  baptism  for 
innocence,  and  in  confirmation,  for  the  augmentation  of  grace.  ..... 

Sacrilegious  tongue,  darest  thou  compare  with  the  sacrament  of  Christ, 
grease,  infected  with  the  stink  of  thy  breath,  and,  by  the  murmuring  of 
some  words,  invested  with  a  charm  ?"[! 


*■  St-Hier,  lib.  de  Sept.  grad.  6.  Just.  Apoe.  2  de  Consecrn.  dist.  3.  St-Clem. 
et  Aph.,  lib.  IT,  c.  6!.  Greg.  Tur.,  de  Gl.  mart.,  c:ip.  86.  Iren.,  Ep.  ad  Victo- 
rcin,  apud  Euseb.,  lib.  V,  c.  24.  Tertul ,  de  Orat.  et  lib.  11,  ad  Uxorem. 

t  Origen  in  235;  Council  of  Nice  in  325.  Ephrcm,  de  vita  spirituali  ad 
ruonacuin  novitiurn.  In  the  Missal  of  St.  Ambrose  (370)  we  read :  Deus  qei 
studio  salutis  humause  creaturis  tuis  vim  benedictionis  indidisti  etc.,  infunde 
.s'inctificatiouem  tuam  huic  oleo,  ut  ab  his  quae  unxerit  membra  fugatis  in- 
sidiis  adversaria^  potestatis,  per  susceptionem  prcesentis  olei  sancti  spiritus 
gratia  salutaris  debilitationem  expellet,  ct  plenam  conferat  sospitatem. 

t  Hugo  Grotius,  Votum  pro  pace  EccL,  t.  IV,  Op^^  p.  660. 
♦  Mosheim,  Histor.  eccles.,  p.   11. 
II  Inst.,  liv.  IV,  eh.  19. 


332  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


MARRIAGE. 

At  Geneva,  from  the  time  of  Calvin,  it  was  long  the  usage  to  peiTorm 
the  ceremony  of  marriage  only  before  the  sermon  and  prayer,  for  fear 
this  act  of  christian  life  should  be  taken  for  a  sacrament.  According 
to  Calvin,  marriage  is  but  a  civil  contract,  which  religion  is  called  upon 
to  bless.  The  young  man  of  twenty  years  of  age,  and  the  young 
maiden  of  eighteen,  can  get  married  without  the  consent  of  their  pa- 
rents.  "  If  they  do  not  marry  in  six  weeks  after  their  espousals,  the 
consistory  can  constrain  them  to  do  so."* 

Calvin  admitted  several  cases  in  which  marriage  could  be  dissolved  : 
adultery,  the  prolonged  absence  of  the  husband. 

"  Should  a  debauchee  husband  leave  his  wife,"  say  the  ordinances, 
"let  the  wife  wait  till  the  end  of  the  year.  This  over,  if  it  be  known 
that  she  has  need  of  marrying,  she  shall  be  able  to  do  so  after  the  procla- 
mations. And  if  the  husband  return,  his  place  being  taken,  he  shall 
be  punished,  as  it  shall  be  found  reasonable." 

Here  is  the  form  of  procedure  on  this  subject : 

The  wife  appears  before  the  consistory,  and  is  interrogated  by  the 
minister  :  she  must  affirm  that  during  a  year  she  has  had  no  news  of 
her  husband. — They  question  her  concerning  the  gift  of  continence. 
If  she  reply,  that  she  is  afraid  she  may  fall,  they  grant  her  permission 
to  marry  again.  Lindanus  relates,  that,  in  the  space  of  six  months, 
a  certain  man  married  three  times,  his  first  two  wives  having  been  con- 
victed of  adultery. 

The  Genevese  legislation  caused  disorders  amongst  the  populations  of 
Lyons  and  of  Savoy.  Wives  were  seen  flying  to  Geneva,  the 
land  of  liberty  and  privileges,  in  order  to  marry  their  seducers.  Hus- 
bands,  who  were  unable  to  break  their  indissoluble  ties,  took  refuge  in 
Switzerland,  "to  embrace  what  then  was  named,  the  liberty  of  the 
flesh."  Thus  did  the  marquis  de  Vico,  the  seignior  de  Lombres,  the 
count  Julio  Estienne  de  Vicence,  Miss  de  Chelles,  of  Dauphiny,  come 
to  Geneva,  concealing,  under  the  apparent  motive  of  a  change  of  reli- 
gion, their  wish  for  conjugal  emancipation,  which,  in  their  own  country, 
it  would  have  been  impossible  for  them  to  satisfy. 

De  CIair6,  a  gentleman  of  Languedoc,  was  desirous,  after  the  peace 
of  Piedmont,  to  pass  through  Geneva,  being  accompanied  by  M.  de 
Laval,  one  of  his  friends.  They  wished  to  hear  Calvin.  While  casting 
his  eyes  upon  those  who  surrounded  the  pulpit,  De  Clair6  recognized 
his  wife.  The  sermon  being  concluded,  he  seized  her  by  the  arm  ; 
Calvin  hastened  forward  : — Save  me,  cried  the  young  wife  ;  this  is  my 
papist  husband,  who  wants  to  carry  me  away ;  my  God  !  help  me. 
The  matter  was  carried  before  the  consistory,  and  the  husband  condemn- 
ed :  they  oflered  him  his  choice  between  his  wife  and  apostacy  :  he 
preferred  to  abandon  Geneva. f 

"  The  wife  ought  to  follow  her  husband,"  said  Luther,  "even  did 
she  know  that   he   was  the  devil   covered   with   the  skin  of  a  man.."" 

*  Ordonnances  de  Geneve. 

t  Florimond  de  Remond,  p.  1040. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  333 

Like  Calvin,  he  recognized  two  causes  for  the  dissolution  of  marriage  : 
adultery,  and  the  disappearance  of  one  of  the  parties.*  The  impeiial 
constitutions  did  not  allow  the  wife  to  recur  to  second  nuptials,  until 
after  an  absence  of  five  or  seven  years.  But  Luther  became  enraged 
against  those  jurists,  who  tried  to  establish  this  rule  in  the  christian  com- 
munity.— The  imperial  statutes,  said  the  doctor  to  the  jurists,  dull  asses 
as  you  are,  regard  only  persons  engaged  in  war  :  the  universities  which 
have  given  this  decision,  are  like  Justinian,  who,  if  now  living,  would 
amuse  himself  with  governing  Constantinople  according  to  the  Romam 
jaw.f  He  treated  those  husbands,  as  mere  blackguards,  who,  having 
abandoned  their  wives,  and  voluntarily^  absented  themselves  for  a  year, 
returned  again,  and  he  wished  that  their  heads  should  be  amputated. 

Calvin  maintained  that  "no  one  had  perceived  marriage  to  be  a  sacra- 
ment until  the  time  of  Pope  Gregory. "§  The  merest  student  might 
have  quoted  for  him  Zeno, ||  TertuJlianjIF  and  Augustine;**  but  the  re- 
former would  have  shrugged  his  shoulders,  closed  his  book,  and  said  : 
"  In  fine,  we  must  escape  from  their  filth,  yet  T  think  I  have  some- 
what profited  by  maintaining,  in  part,  the  folly  of  these  asses. "ft 

CONFESSION. 

By  abolishing  confession,  Calvin  destroyed  the  intimate  bond,  which, 
in  the  Catholic  communion,  unites  the  priest  and  the  penitent.  In  a 
religion,  where  religious  life  needs  not  exterior  works  in  order  to  be 
reflected  to  the  eyes  of  others,  it  is  very  difificult  for  the  pastor  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  spiritual  wants  of  souls.  He  has  no  right,  like  the 
Catholic  priest,  to  enter  the  dwelling  of  his  parishioner,  and  ask  him 
the  reason  of  the  tears  that  he  sees  him  weeping ;  he  cannot,  without  peril 
of  indiscretion,  interrogate  the  person,  who  is  suffering,  groaning,  mur- 
muring, or  blaspheming.  There  are  chagrins  which  lose  their  poignan- 
cy, when  allowed  to  escape  from  the  heart ;  these  shall  never  belong 
to  him.  Who  would  hazard  confiding  them  to  him,  who  is  but  the 
representative  of  a  human  individuality,  and  who  has  never  made  a 
promise  to  God  to  conceal  them  from  every  other  ear  of  flesh  ?  Nor 
can  the  reformed  minister  ever  aspire  to  the  beautiful  title  which  is 
borne  by  the  Catholic  priest  :  one  who  has  charge  of  souls,  for  none  of 
them  belong  to  him.  The  reformed  church  has  only  the  external  po- 
lice of  conscience  :  the  device,  which  Protestantism  ought  to  assume,  is, 
every  one  for  himself,  God  for  all. 

*■■  Ursach  der  Ehescheidung.  Tisch-Reden,  p.  447. 

t  Tisch-Reden,  p.  447. 

-^  Solche  Buben  haben  gemeiniglich  Zwickmillen,  die  an  einem  andern  Ort 
Weiber  nemen,  nach  zweien  laren  kommen  sie  wieder,  und  wenn  sic  sie 
geschwengert  haben,  lauffen  sie  wieder  weg.  Denen  soil  man  den  Kopf  den» 
Ars  legen. — lb.  p,  447. 

^  Inst.,  liv.IV,  ch.  39,  k  4. 

II  Zeno,  Epist.  ver.  sermo  de  fide,  spe  et  charitate.  He  lived  in  the  third 
century. 

TLib.  II,  ad  uxorem.  cap  3. 

**  Sanct.  Aug,  sermo  40  de  Temp.,  cap.  X:  lib.  de  fide  et  op.,  cap.  7. 

tt  Inst.,  liv.  IV,  ch.  9,  J  37. 


334 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


Calvin  had  well  understood  the  harmony  established  by  Catholicism 
between  the  priest  and  the  penitent,  and  the  isolation,  which  the  aboli- 
tion of  confession  would  occasion  between  the  christian  and  the  reformed 
pastor.  He  at  first  essayed  to  establish  voluntary  confession  ;  but  his 
denomination  rejected  it.  Then,  he  imagined  pastoral  visits,  which 
were  to  be  made  by  the  elders  ;  but  this  was  only  an  inquisition,  mask- 
ed under  the  name  of  spiritual  supervision.  During  the  whole  period 
of  Calvin's  existence,  the  Genevese  community  struggled  against  this 
mode  of  tyranny,  which  made  the  civil  power  acquainted  with  the  secrets 
of  families,  and  the  mysteries  of  households.  Besides,  such  an  in- 
stitution was  in  opposition  to  the  reformation  principle,  which  recog- 
nized religious  independence,  the  inutility  of  good  works,  and  justifica- 
tion by  faith  alone. 

If  it  be  true,  that  Calvin  frequently,  at  Strasbourg,*  manifested 
sympathy  with  the  doctrine  of  auricular  confession,  whence  happens  it 
that  he  effaced  it  from  his  symbolical  book,  at  Geneva  ?  Was  it  not, 
because  he  then  yielded  to  the  interested  instincts  of  the  population, 
just  as  Luther  had  done  at  Wittenberg  ?  At  times,  we  deteet  in  the 
works  of  the  Saxon  reformer,  words  of  eulogy,  regarding  this  regene- 
rative dogma.  "Art  thou  a  christian,"  does  he  say  to  the  German  peas- 
ant, "thou  wilt  yield  neither  to  the  violence  of  Luther,  nor  to  that  of  the 
Pope  ;  but,  bound  by  voluntary  chains,  thou  wilt  come  and  beseech  me 
to  make  thee  partaker  of  this  fountain  of  graces.  If  thou  disdainest  it, 
proud  that  thou  art ;  if  thou  desirest  to  live  as  thou  pleasest,  I  thence 
conclude  that  thou  art  not  a  christian,  and  that  thou  art  unworthy  of 
the  sacraments  ;  for  thou  despisest  what  a  true  christian  ought  not  to  de- 
spise ;  thou  dost  not  merit  to  have  thy  sins  pardoned,  and  thou  provesl 
to  me  that  thou  hast  no  esteem  for  the  gospel.  Yet,  once  more,  let 
there  be  no  coercion  !  If  thou  wert  a  christian,  thou  wouldst  be  quite 
joyous ;  thou  wouldst  travel  a  hundred  miles  to  seek  this  spiritual  reme- 
dy ;  and  yet  it  is  thou,  who  wouldst  do  us  violence.  Our  nature  would 
be  changed  ;  thou  wouldst  march  in  liberty,  and  we  should  crawl  in 
the  chains  of  the  law."t 

The  want  of  this  spiritual  remedy,  spoken  of  by  Luther,  was  felt  in 
the  dissident  denominations.  To  encourage  auricular  confession  the 
church  of  England  decreed  a  canon  which  prohibits  her  ministers  from 
revealing  it.:}:  Wesley,  who  was  acquainted  with  the  miseries  of  the 
soul,  endeavoured  to  institute  confession  in  his  church.  Each  week 
the  parochial  community  is  assembled  in  the  temple,  and  the  minister 
asks  the  christian  the  following  questions:  "what  are  thy  sins  of  habit? 
How  art  thou  tempted?  How  dost  thou  resist  temptation?  Tell  me 
thy  thoughts,  thy  words,  and  thy  actions,  what  thou  believest  defiled 
by  sin  or  not?"§ 

♦  Epist.  Farcllo,  1540. 

f  Bist  du  nun  ein  Christ,  so  darsst  du  weder  meines  Zwanges,  noch  Papsts 
Gebot,  nichtsUberall;  sondern  wirst  dich  wohl  selbst  zwingen  und  mich 
darum  bitten,  dasz  du  solches  mr)gest  theilhaftig  werden. — Vermahnung  zur 
Beichte.  129. 

:j:See  eccles.  Canon  A.  D.  1693,  No.  113. 

J  Southey,  in  the  translation  of  Krummacher,  t.  11,  p.  213. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  335 

But  the  penitent  has  a  reply  quite  ready. — Why  dost  thou  ask  me? 
Who  has  given  thee  the  right  to  scrutinize  my  conscience?  Who  has 
constituted  thee  priest  of  the  Lord?  Canst  thou  bind  and  loose?  What 
will  the  minister  do?  He  must,  if  consistent,  return  to  Catholicism,  or, 
closing  his  eyes,  rush  into  the  midst  of  the  darkness  of  his  pride,  like 
Luther,  who,  after  having  lauded  confession  in  such  magnificent  terms, 
was  obliged  to  say  to  the  people  who  complained:  "  confession  is  not 
of  divine  precept,  but  of  papistical  commandment."*  What  then  was 
he  doing,  when  he  exclaimed  to  the  christian:  "  Thou  hast  renounced 
thy  baptism,  thou  art  not  worthy  of  the  sacraments,  if  thou  comest  not 
to  confess?'' 

Ever  the  same  frightful  instability  of  word  and  doctrines,  of  which 
the  reformation  incessantly  presents  us  the  spectacle!  You  have  just 
heard  Luther,  it  is  now  Calvin's  turn. 

In  a  manuscript  letter  to  Farel,  dated,  Strasbourg,  May,  1540,  he  in- 
clines visibly  for  the  retention  of  auricular  confession,  such  as  it  was 
practiced  in  the  Lutheran  church.  He  speaks  of  penitents  whose  con- 
fession he  receives  before  communion,  in  order,  says  he,  to  restore 
peace  of  soul  to  those  who  desire  to  reconcile  themselves  with  God.f 

And  at  that  very  hour,  they  were  reprinting  his  Institutes,  in  which 
we  read: 

*'  Though  all  the  advocates  and  agents  of  the  Pope,  and  all  the  para- 
sites  whom  he  has  under  pay  should  clamour,  we  hold  this  point  well 
determined,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  not  author  of  that  law,  which  con- 
strains men  to  recount  their  sins."} 

FESTIVALS.       THE    VENERATION    OF    SAINTS. 

The  poetry  of  our  Catholic  festivals  has  perhaps  been  more  magnifi- 
cently chanted  by  the  Protestant  Fessler,§  than  by  Chateaubriand  him- 
self. The  Saxon  church  has  preserved  some  of  these;  Calvin  has 
abolished  almost  all  of  them.  At  his  instigation  the  council  waged 
war  upon  religious  solemnities  as  it  had  against  images.  In  the  re- 
formed calendar,  the  only  day  that  was  left  to  be  solemnized  was  the 
Sunday.  On  his  return  from  Strasbourg,  Calvin  regulated  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  divine  service,  during  which  the  shops  were  all  to  remain 
closed ;  but  when  the  bell  had  sounded  the  mid-day  hour,  the  people 
could  all  return  to  their  occupations.  He  had  preserved  the  solemnity 
of  Christmas,  which  the  council  abolished  in  1551.  Before  the  re- 
formation, the  church  bell,  each  evening,  announced  to  the  inhabitants 
that  the  hour  of  prayer  had  arrived.  At  the  sound  of  the  bell,  the  tra- 
veler paused,  knelt  down  on  the  highway,  and  recommended  himself 
to  God;  the  father  of  a  family  joined  his  hands  and  raised  his  heart  to 
the  Lord ;  the  labourer  paused  from  his  work,  uncovered  his  head,  and 

*  Die  Ohrenbeicht  sel  nicht  geboten  von  Gott,  sondern  vom  Papst. 
fEndlich  damit  die,  welche  durch  einige  Gewissensbeangstigungen  gepei- 
nigt  warden,  Trost  emptangeru — Trans,  ot  M.  Paul  Henry, 
t  Inst.,  liv.  Ill,  ch.  4.  J  7. 
J  Fessler,  Theresia. 


336  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

besought  the  Creator  to  bless  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  This  ringing  of 
bells  is  still  heard  in  Catholic  Switzerland,  at  night-fall,  as  in  the  time 
of  Walter  Furst,  Melcthal,  and  Nicholas  de  Flue,  and  being  repeated 
by  the  echo  of  the  mountains,  it  possesses  an  inexpressible  charm  for 
the  soul.  Reformed  Switzerland  gives  the  name  of  Winkelried  to  one 
of  its  boats,  yet  blushes  to  pray  as  did  this  hero. 

''How  is  it  possible  to  remain  unmoved,  when  in  the  evening  hour, 
the  bell  strilies  the  Ave  Maria,  and  the  Catholic  breathes  his  saluta- 
tion to  the  Virgin?  Our  reformers  did  not  comprehend  the  beauty  of 
prayer  !"  It  is  not  a  priest  of  Zug,  who  has  made  this  remark,  but  a 
minister  of  Berlin,  a  soul  enthusiastic  for  Calvin.* 

Mary,  whom  Byron  sang: 

Ave  Maria,  o'er  the  earth  and  sea, 

That  heavenliest  hour  of  heaven  is  worthiest  thee. 

Don  Juan. 

could  find  no  favour  at  Geneva.  Calvin  abolished  the  worship  of  the 
mother  of  God  as  an  idolatry;  and  yet  this  worship  existed  in  ancient 
times,  when,  according  to  the  reformation,  the  church  was  walking  in  the 
way  of  God.  And  to  justify  this  erasing  of  the  calendar,  Calvin  revives 
that  old  charge  of  fetichism,  brought  against  us  by  different  sectaries 
who  appeared  before  his  time:  as  if  St.  Cyril  had  not  already  answered 
— that  we  do  not  adore  the  saints,  that  we  implore  their  intercession 
with  God;  and  St.  Jerome — that  if  on  this  earth  the  prayer  of  the  just 
ascends  like  an  incense  of  sweet  odour  before  the  throne  of  God,  the 
prayer  of  one  of  the  blessed  is  a  perfume  .still  a  thousand  times  more 
sweet. t  The  reformation  has  not  denied  that  a  sanctified  soul  can  see 
through  space ;  is  it  not  then  cruel  in  Protestantism,  to  prevent  the  or- 
phan from  lifting  up  its  hands  to  Mary,  the  mother  of  all  the  afflicted? 
In  the  war  of  the  three  confederated  cantons  against  the  house  of  Aus- 
tria, Tschudi,  the  historian,  exhibits  to  us  the  heroes  of  Grutli,  after 
having  addressed  their  prayer  to  God,  recommending  themselves  to 
their  good  patron,  and  the  benignant  Virgin.  Therefore  disavow  this 
intercession,  which  was  the  price  of  liberty  to  the  Helvetic  soil.  J 

Luther  designated  Mary  as  the  very  holy,  (Holdselige.)  "Who 
Gould  deny,  says  he,  that  God  operates  great  miracles  at  the  tombs 
of  the  saints  ?  I  therefore  maintain,  with  the  universality  of  the  Catho- 
lic church,  that  the  saints  ought  to  be  invoked  and  honoured.  Let  no 
one  neglect  to  address  himself  to  the  blessed  Virgin,  to  the  angels  and 
to  the  saints,  to  obtain  that  they  should  intercede  for  us  at  the  hour  of 
our  death. "§     And  Calvin  has  acknowledged  that  the  angels  and  saints 

*  Wer  frcut  sich  nicht,  in  catholischen  Landern  am  Abend  das  Gelaute  der 
Glocken  zu  horen,  welches  das  Ave  Maria  verklindigt,  und  zu  sehen.,  wie 
jeder  Christ  seiii  stilles  Gebet  verrichtet — walirend  die  strengen  Reformato- 
ren  mit  jeren  ausgeartcten  Andacht  zugleich  das  Wahre,  Efhabene  nnd 
Sch6ne  derselbenentfernen  muszten  und  keinen  Ersatz  daiQrfinden  konnten. 
—Paul  Henry,  t,  11,  p.  167—168. 

t  St-Jerome  k  Vigilance. 

:j:  In  exposit.  evang.  Dom.  in  Trinit, 

§  Prseparatio  ad  mortem. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVI>f.  337 

constantly  keep  watch  over  us ;  more  than  once,  has  he  taken  them  to 
witness,  as  if  they  heard  and  listened  to  his  voice.*  We  have  beheld 
him  lauding  and  glorifying  that  church,  composed  of  the  elect  of  God, 
the  image  of  which  is  frequently  recalled  in  his  formulary  of  faitli. 
How  then  are  we  to  explain  the  nudity  of  the  Calvinistic  temple,  from 
which  every  symbol  is  excluded;  the  sterility  of  that  informal  calendar^ 
in  which  you  neither  find  the  name  of  the  queen  of  angels,  whom  he 
called  the  glorious  Virgin,  quite  full  of  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;t 
nor  the  names  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  whom  he  has  lauded  as 
great  servants  of  God  ?  Upon  a  study  of  the  Genevese  liturgy,  we  dis- 
cover in  it  a  twofold  principle;  hatred  of  Catholic  tradition  and  empti- 
ness of  heart:  all  the  errors  of  Calvin  are  stamped  with  thisdouble  sign. 
In  him,  there  was  neither  love  nor  poesy. 

THE  CONVENTS. 

When  Calvin  came  to  Geneva  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
religious  movement,  the  convents  had  already  fallen.  With  an  ineffa- 
ble charm  of  feeling,  sister  Joanna  de  Jussie  has  described  to  us  the 
fall  of  those  houses  of  prayer,  which  not  only  offered  refuge  to  anchorets, 
but  often  also  to  artists  and  popular  heroes.  Calvin,  in  imitation  of 
the  reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century,  has  calumniated  the  convents; 
he  has  dared  write: — "  I  say  one  thing,  out  of  ten  cloisters,  scarcely  will 
one  be  found,  which  is  not  rather  a  brothel  than  a  domicile  of  chastity. "± 
Now,  to  speak  here  only  of  Geneva,  the  testimony  of  the  reformed 
writers  is  unanimous  to  convict  him  of  falsehood.  He  well  knew  also, 
that,  during  the  middle  ages,  the  monasteries  had  been  the  asylum  of 
the  sciences ;  that  the  glories  of  Protestantism — Luther,  Melancthon, 
Bucer,  BuUinger — had  there  imbibed  their  taste  for  human  learning. 
*' The  monks,"  says  the  Protestant  historian  Mallet,  "  by  diffusing 
a  taste  for  letters,  softened  the  manners  of  the  people,  and  opposed 
their  influence  to  the  despotism  of  the  nobles,  who  knew  no  other  occu- 
pation than  those  pertaining  to  war.  The  people  wanted  no  other 
judges.  There  was  an  old  proverb  which  said:  "  [t  is  better  to  be  un- 
der a  bishop's  crozier  than  a  king's  sceptre. "§  Calvin  had  not  yet 
worn  out  his  life  in  wordy  contests,  for  he  would  have  understood,  that 
the  soul  frequently  stands  in  need  of  withdrawing  from  the  agitations 
of  active  life  in  order  to  seek  the  Lord  in  solitude.  Melancthon,  weari- 
ed with  the  tumults  ef  a  fleeting  Avorld,  before  his  death  longed  after 
that  sweet  solitude,  where  God  unveils  himself  to  his  elect.  The  An- 
glican bishop,  Leighton,  numbers  the  destruction  of  convents  among 
the  complaints,  which  humanity  may  make  against  the  reformation,  i| 

*  Coram  summo  judice  angelos  omnes  habeam  testes,  per  me  non  stetisse 
quominus  sedatos  absque  ulla  noxa  progressus  ageret  Christiregnum. 

t  Nunc  referlur  insigne  et  memorabile  sanctae  Virginis  canticum  ex  quo 
dare  apparet  quanta  spiri'tus  gratia  excelluerit. — Calv.  harm.  Evangel.  Ed, 
Ber.  1833,  p.  19et28. 

tinst.,  lib.  IV,  ch.  13,  i  15. 

)  Histoire  de  la  Suisse,  1. 1,  p.  105. 

)|  Life  of  Wesley,  by  Soathey,  t.  I,  p.  274. 

.29 


338  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


THE    CROSS. 


"  Faith,"  wrote  Heinroth,  "is  the  wing  which  elevates  the  creature 
towards  God.     Miracle  is  the  wing,  on  which  God  descends  and  com- 
municates himself  to  the  creature.*     How  was  it,  that,  in  the  midst  of 
those  splendours  of  light,  shade,  verdure  and  vegetation,  which  on  a 
summer's  day  Geneva  spreads  out  to  the  view,  Calvin  could  establish 
as  a  rule — that  every  thing  which  addresses  the  imagination  should  be 
bsftiished  from  the  divine  service  ?     But  if  the  soul  be  affected  by  the  ' 
spectacle  of  the  prodigies  of  creation,  why  should  the  pomps  of  our  wor- 
ship, the  voice  of  our  levites,  the  chants  of  our  priests,  the  tones  of  our 
organs,  the  sweet  fragrance  of  our  incense,  distract  the  thought  from  the 
contemplation  of  God  ?     When  the  poet  desires  to  revive  in  the  heart 
of  Margaret  the  sensation  of  the  infinite,  he  causes  a  choir  of  young 
maidens  to  chant  in  the  far  distance.     Calvin  has  despoiled  the  Lord's 
house ;  the  eye  in  vain  seeks  in  it  for  the  image  of  the  saviour,  or  of 
the  patron  saint  of  the  city:  it  does  not  even  find  there  the  glorious  em- 
blem of  christian  faith,  that  cross,  upon  which  the  mystery  of  our  re- 
demption was  accomplished.     Formerly,  before  the  epoch  of  the  refor- 
mation, the  cross,  like  a  luminous  beacon,  arose  above  the  summits  of 
our  sacred  edifices;  the  belated  traveler,  who  beheld  it  from  afar,  hast- 
ened his  pace,  while  commending  himself  to  the  Man-God,  who  had 
tinged  him  with  his  blood;  he  hailed  it  when  starting  forth,  with  his 
matin  prayers,  and  had  he  lost  his  way,  or  become  faint  from  hunger 
or  cold,  his  heart  revived  on  seeing  it  above  the  poor  man's  humble 
cabin.    He  knocked,  certain  that  the  door  would  open,  and  a  christian  ap- 
pear to  say  to  him  :   enter  brother,  thou  art  hungry,  I  will  give  thee 
bread;  thou  art  thirsty,  I  will  give  thee  drink;  thou  art  cold,  I  will 
warm  thee. 

In  our  writers  of  the  middle  ages,  are  found  ineffable  poetic  scenes^ 
where  the  power  of  the  images  strikes  even  the  most  worldly  imagina- 
tions. 

One  day,  Erasmus  was  rambling  over  the  mountains  of  the  Jura;  he 
was  surprised  by  a  fearful  tempest.  On  lifting  up  his  eyes,  he  beheld 
a  cross  engraved  on  the  face  of  a  rock  surrounded  with  this  text  in  the 
form  of  a  halo  :  Sperat  anima  mea  in  Domino ;  My  soul  hopeth  in 
the  Lord.  The  rock,  half  broken,  presented  an  enormous  cleft  in  which 
the  philosopher  found  refuge.  The  storm  having  abated,  he  resumed 
his  way  to  Bale  ;  but,  he  says,  he  had  forgotten  his  philosophical  spec- 
ulations, and  Luther,  and  all  the  turmoils  of  life  :  his  thought  fixed 
itself  upon  the  sign,  which  had  delivered  the  world  from  the  darkness 
of  paganism. 

Old  Tschudi,  in  his  history  of  Switzerland,  has  a  beautiful  passage, 
surpassing  anything  that  could  be  imagined  by  the  painter  Steuben,  or 
the  musician  Rossini :  it  is  that,  in  which  he  portrays  the  three  libera- 
tors, swearing  upon  their  swords,  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  to 
deliver  their  country  from  the  yoke  of  Gessler. 

♦  Heinroth,  s.  Schriften. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  339 

Calvin  has  excluded  from  his  church  every  kind  of  emblem  and  im. 
age.  How  is  the  asylum  of  prayer  to  be  known  ?  he  closes  his  temple 
during  the  whole  week,  and  opens  it  only  when  the  pastor  is  to  make 
his  appearance.  Hence,  that  pious  custom  of  the  people  to  visit  the 
house  of  God,  after  the  hours  of  labour,  to  offer  him  their  sufferings, 
chagrins  and  tears,  is  entirely  abondoned. 

He  had  never  perused  these  beautiful  lines  of  Thomas  a  Kempis  : 

"  A  certain  person,  who,  after  wavering  between  hope  and  fear,  had 
fallen  into  great  sadness,  saw  a  church,  and  having  entered  it,  he  pros- 
trated himself  before  the  altar,  murmuring  :  Ah!  did  I  but  know  that 
I  should  persevere! — And  presently  he  heard  within  himself  an  an- 
swer from  God  :  And  if  thou  didst  know  this,  what  luouldst  thou  do  ? 
Do  now,  what  thou  wouldst  then  do,  and  the  peace  of  heaven  will  de- 
scend into  thy  heart.*'* 

The  unhappy  man  was  consoled. 

If  the  reformer  had  been  acquainted  with  the  book  of  imitation, 
would  he  have  kept  the  doors  of  the  church  closed  ? 

Thanks  be  to  God,  the  reformation  in  our  day  no  longer  banishes 
images  :  it  would  wish  to  restore  that  cross,  which  was  broken  to  pieces 
by  the  hammers  of  its  apostles,  and,  at  times,  hymns  escape  from  it  which 
we  are  delighted  to  collect. 

Listen  then ! 

"  The  time  is  not  far  distant,  when,  under  a  new  breathing  which 
shall  revive  Protestant  sentiment,  the  cross,  that  glorious  symbol,  shall 
be  again  erected,  not  only  on  the  summit  of  the  christian  temple,  but 
also  on  the  mountain's  peak,  where  the  traveler  will  be  able  to  hail  it 
from  afar,and  on  the  wayside,  where  the  poor  villager  will  come  to 
kneel  and  invoke  it.  And  why  then,  when  all  creation  so  gloriously 
sings  the  power  of  God,  should  not  the  cross  appear  to  us  to  speak  to 
us  of  his  love  and  of  our  redemption  ?  He,  who  has  only  looked  upon 
nature  in  her  magnificence,  might  be  led  to  imagine  the  earth,  which 
he  traverses,  a  true  paradise,  and  forget  that  the  physical  world  will 
share  the  destiny  of  its  inhabitants  ;  whilst  upon  the  cross  the  eye  reads 
in  words  of  fire  the  long  sufferings  of  man,  his  fall,  his  redemption,  his 
salvation  purchased  at  the  price  of  all  the  blood  of  Christ  !"t 

May  God  bless  and  enlighten  him  who  has  penned  these  lines  ! 

THE    CHANT. 

In  Calvin's  liturgy  the  pastor  commences  by  imploring  pardon  for 
his  faults,  and  recites  aloud  the  following  confession  : 

"  We  invoke  our  good  God  and  father,  supplicating  him  that  he 
would  please  turn  away  his  face  from  so  many  offenses  by  which  we 
cease  not  to  provoke  his  wrath  against  us ;  and,  inasmuch  as  we  are 
unworthy  to  appear  before  his  majesty,  that  he  would  please  look  at  us 
in  the  face  of  his  well  beloved  son,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  accepting 
the  merits  of  his  death  and  passion  as  a  recompense  for  our  sins ;  that, 

•  Lib.  I,  ch.  25,  i  2. 

t  Paul  Henry,  Calvin's  Leben.  t.  II,  p.  158,  159. 


340 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


by  this  means,  we  may  be  acceptable  to  him,  and  that  he  would  deign 
illuminate  us  by  his  Spirit  to  a  true  understanding  of  his  word,  give  ixs 
the  grace  to  receive  it  with  true  fear  and  humility,  that  we  may  be 
thereby  tauRjht  to  place  our  trust  in  him,  to  serve  and  honour  in  order 
to  glorify  his  holy  name  through  our  whole  life,  to  render  him  the  love 
and  obedience  which  faithful  servants  owe  to  their  masters,  children  to 
their  fathers,  since  it  has  been  his  pleasure  to  call  us  into  the  number 
of  his  servants  and  children  ;  and  we  pray  to  him,  as  our  good  master 
has  taught  us  to  pray,  saying  :   Our  Father.* 

Then  the  singing  of  psalms  commences ;  afterwards  comes  the  ser- 
mon, which  Calvin  caused  to  be  preceded  by  a  prayer  thus  conceived  : 

''  We  invoke  our  good  God  and  father,  supplicating  him,  that  as 
all  plenitude  of  wisdom  and  light  is  in  him,  he  would  deign  illumine 
ns  by  his  Holy  Spirit  in  a  true  understanding  of  his  word,  give  us  the 
grace  to  receive  it  with  true  fear  and  humility,  that  we  may  be  taught 
by  it,  fully  to  place  our  trust  in  him  alone,  to  serve  and  honour  as  is 
meet  to  glorify  his  holy  name  during  oue  whole  life,  and  to  edify  our 
neighbour  by  good  examples,  to  render  him  the  love  and  fear  which 
faithful  servants  owe  to  their  masters  and  children  to  their  fathers,  since 
he  has  been  pleased  to  receive  us  into  the  number  of  his  servants  and 
children ;  and  we  pray  to  him  as  our  good  master  teaches  us  to  do  : 
Our  Father." 

After  the  sermon  come  prayer,  the  formulary  of  faith,  and  the  bless- 
ing  of  the  assistants.  At  the  instruction,  Calvin  extended  his  hands^ 
saying  :  "  May  the  grace  of  God  the  Fath^K,  the  peace  of  our  L&rd  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit  dwell  eternally  with 
you."  At  the  communion  he  said:  "The  Lord  bless  and  preserve 
you— May  the  Lord  make  his  countenance  shine  upon  you  and  pros- 
per you — May  the  Lord  again  turn  his  face  upon  you  and  maintain  you 
in  good  prosperity." 

"  Care  should  be  taken  not  to  allow  the  ears  to  be  more  attentive  to 
the  harmony  of  the  chant,  than  the  mind  to  the  spiritual  sense  of  the 
words.  Chants  and  melodies,  which  are  composed  solely  to  please  the 
ears,  as  are  the  airs  and  glees  of  the  papistry,  and  all  that  is  termed 
broken  music,  artificial  airs,  and  tunes  with  four  parts,  are  in  no 
wise  suitable  to  the  majesty  of  the  church,  and  caanot  be  executed 
without  greatly  displeasing  God."t  In  pursuance  of  this  esthetic  no- 
tion, Calvin  banished  the  use  of  the  Latin  chant  from  his  new  liturgy. 
Fioin  that  day,  the  soul,  which  from  the  very  cradle  was  addressed  by 
the  accords  of  the  primitive  church,  no  longer  listened  to  those  hymns, 
those  proses,  those  lamentations,  treasures  of  poetry,  the  influence  of 
which  could  not  be  comprehended  by  one  organized  like  the  re- 
former. 

Erasmus,  who  in  Germany  had  assisted  at  the  disorganization  of  the 
national  worship,  regretted  that  Luthxr  had  abolished  that  Stabat  Ma- 
fer,  which  affects  the  hearer  even  to  tears,  that  Te  Deum  Landamus^ 
which  inspires  him  like  a  hymn  of  war,  that  Range  Lingua,  the  sol> 

*  This  is  the  prayer  addressed  to  God  by  Beza  at  tlie  conference  of  Pcissy^, 
+  Inst.,  liv.  Ill,  ch,  20,  §  32, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  341 

emn  harmony  of  which  seems  to  paint  before  the  eye  the  mystery  which 
it  celebrates,  and  those  lamentations  of  the  holy  week,  in  which  the 
prophet  forces  sighs  of  grief  from  the  soul.  In  Saxony,  Luther  had 
found  in  christian  families,  a  host  of  canticles  with  simple  words, 
which  the  people  sang  morning  and  evening,  or  on  the  eves  of  the  sol- 
emn festivals  of  the  church,  and  the  old  airs  of  which  he  preserved. 
The  Saxon  puritans  would  have  been  glad  to  destroy  those  Catholic 
melodies,  as  they  did  our  crosses,  our  statues,  and  images ;  but  happily, 
Luther  would  not  listen  to  them. — I  do  not  think,  he  said,  that  the  gos- 
pel is  the  enemy  of  art :  I  wish  to  preserve  the  relics  of  it,  and  especial- 
ly music,  which  ought  to  remain  in  the  service  of  him  who  has  created 
and  given  it.^  He  composed  some  canticles  which  soon  became  popu- 
lar, and  among  them,  the  EirLfesie  Burg,  still  heard  in  Germany,  and 
which  he  entoned  on  his  entrance  into  Worais.  But  we  are  not  to 
forget  that  Catholicism  had  anticipated  him,  and  that  long  before  his 
time,  the  young  girl,  on  the  eve  of  Christmas,  sang  this  canticle,  quite 
fragrant  with  poesy  : 

Ein  Kindlein  so  lobelich 
1st  uns  geboren  worden.  t 

The  German  language  is  admirably  adapted  for  melodious  or 
dramatic  expression.  The  rhythm  of  Luther  was  noble,  grave,  easily 
retained,  and  potent  to  affect  the  ear.  Meyerbeer,  in  his  Huguenots, 
has  borrowed  from  the  Saxon  a  musical  phrase  of  great  beauty.  Cal- 
vin imagined  himself  able  to  imitate  the  monk  of  Wittenberg,  not 
dreaming  of  the  inferiority  of  the  language  which  he  spoke,  and  which 
soon  was  to  experience  the  fate  of  the  Latin,  and  even  still  worse,  at 
length  to  be  no  longer  comprehensible  to  the  highest  intellects. 

i\larot,  at  the  instance  of  the  theologian  Vatable,  had  translated  some 
of  the  psalms  into  the  vernacular.  The  work  of  the  valet  de  chambre 
of  Francis  L  met  with  great  success.  Beza,  in  his  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, relates  to  us  the  effect,  which  this  musical  novelty  produced  on 
those  who  for  the  first  time  heard  it. 

''  It  happened  that  certain  persons  being  at  Pre  aux  Clercs,  a  public 
place  of  the  University,  commenced  singing  psalms  :  this  being  heard, 
B.  great  number  of  those  who  Avere  promenading  or  amusing  themselves 
in  different  games,  were  attracted  by  this  music,  some  from  its  novelty, 
others,  to  sing  with  those  who  had  commenced.  This  was  continued 
during  some  days,  in  a  very  large  company,  where  was  found  the  king 
of  iSavarre,  with  many  seigniors  and  gentlemen,  as  well  of  France  as 
of  the  other  countries,  being  there,  and  taking  the  lead  in  singing;  and 
though  in  large  crowds  confusion  enters  easily,  yet  there  were  such  ac- 
cord and  such  reverence  that  each  of  the  assistants  was  enraptured ; 
and  tliose  who  could  not  sing,  and  even  the  most  ignorant,  mounted  the 

*  Auch  bin  ich  nicht  der  Meinnng,  dasz  dutch  Evangelium  sollten  alle 
KQnste  zu  Boden  geschlagen  werden,  und  vergehen,  sondern  ich  wollte  alle 
Ktinste,  sonderlich  die  Musica  gerne  sehen  im  Dienste  Das  der  sie  gegeben 
und  erschaffen  hat. — Preface  des  cantiqucs  spirituels. 

t  The  Saxon   school   itself  admit?,    that  Catholic  canticles   in    the   vulgar 
tongue  existed  previously  to  the  reformation.    See  the  Gesangbuch,  printed  at 
Leipsic  in  1707,  p.  36. 
29* 


342  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVII?. 

walls  and  other  places  around  to  hear  this  singing,  rendering  testimony 
that  it  was  wrong  that  so  good  a  thing  should  be  prohibited.''* 

Calvin  caused  William  Franc,  f  who  dwelt  at  Lausanne,  and  Gou- 
dimel,  who  lived  at  Lyons,  to  set  the  psalms  of  Marot  to  music.  Gou- 
dimel  was  a  Protestant,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  of  St..  Barthol- 
omew, was  thrown  into  the  Rhone. J  He  was  not  .destitute  of 
talent ;  his  melodious  phrase  is  simple  and  noble,  but  witliout  glow. 
After  three  centuries,  Luther's  choral,  Ein'  feste  Burg,  is  still  young, 
Avhilst  the  musical  style  of  Goudimel  is  worn  out,  as  are  the  words 
which  inspired  it. 

Moreover,  Calvin  shaded  the  error  of  the  gravest  minds  af  that  epoch, 
of  Beza  and  Pasquier,  who  imagined  that  the  language  of  Marot  would 
undergo  but  slight  modifications.  Unfortunately,  everything,  even 
down  to  the  very  form  discovered  by  Protestantism,  has  found  its  end; 
whilst  our  ancient  Catholic  airs  are  still  to-day  in  use,  and  excite  the 
admiration  of  every  one  with  the  soul  of  an  artist.  Glorious  fortune  of 
our  church,  who  confers  immortality  on  every  thing  that  she  enlivens 
with  her  breath  !  Beza,  before  his  death,  was  forced  to  retouch  Ma- 
rot's  verses.  At  each  half  century,  a  chosen  Protestant  hand  essays  to 
rejuvenize  av/ord  extinct  forever ;  but  the  dead  return  not  as  in  Bur- 
ger's ballad.  Revised,  modernized,  restored,  Marot's  work  can  be 
compared  to  nothing  better  than  to  that  statue  of  Glaucus,  which  beaten 
by  the  waves,  'by  tempests,  and  by  passing  centuxies,  at  length  ceased 
to  possess  the  human  form.  § 

The  Sorbonne,  termed  by  Luther,  "  the  mother  and  nurse  of  sacred 
learning,"  had  condemned  Marot's  work.  The  court  ladies,  who, 
while  rising  in  the  morning,  amused  themselves  with  singing  a  psalm 
to  some  Poitou  air,  complained  to  Francis  L  who  interceded  for  the 
poet.  But  the  Sorbonne  remained  ixexorable.  Marot  was  wrong  not 
to  have  oftener  taken  the  advice  of  Vatable.  The  poet  caused  the 
Royal  Prophet  to  sing  thus: 


♦Hist,  ecclcs.,  t  I,  p.  141,  142. 

t  "  Since  they  are  completing  the  psalms  of  David,  and  as  it  is  very  necessary 
to  compose  a  pleasing  chant  for  them,  ordained  that  M.  Guill,  who  is  well  able 
to  rehearse  the  children,  instruct  them  one  hour  each  day.  Reg.  16th  April, 
1543. — "The  psalms  of  David  are  printed  with  the  prayers  of  the  church,  but 
because  in  these  there  is  mention  of  the  Angelical  Salutation,  resolved  that  it  be 
expunged;"  June,  16. 

Reives  carcere  educti  ac  sicis  jugulati  in  Rhodanum  projiciuntur :  eandem 
fortunam  expertus  est  Claudius  Gaudimelus  excellens  nostra  estate  musicus. — 
Thuan.,  1.  52,  p.  1084. 

§  In  the  seventeenth  century  the  version  of  Marot  and  of  Beza  was  revised 
by  Conrartand  la  Bastide.  Marot  translated  fifty  psalms — Beza  the  remaining 
luindred,  at  Calvin's  entreaty.  Pasquier  appropriately  remarks  of  Beza's  work  : 
"The  translation  of  David's  psalms  manifests  what  he  could  still  do,  though 
he  has  not  been  so  fortunate  as  Marot  in  his  fifty."  It  seems  that  at  first  Cal- 
vin had  the  intention  to  translate  the  royal  prophet  inverse,  judging  from 
what  he  wrote  ta  Farel  in  1539.  Ed.  Amst.  p.  258.  Psalmos  ideo  miseramus 
flt  prius  cantarentur  apud  vos.  Statuimus  enim  publicare.  Quia  magis  arri- 
Jebat  melodia  Germanica,  coactus  sum  experiri  quid  carmine  valerem.  Ita 
Psalmi  duo  46  et  20  prima  sunt  mea  tirocinia,  alios  postea  attexui.  Thi.s 
work  was  not  continued.  The  first  edition  of  the  psalms  in  verse  appeared 
in  1561. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  343 

Qui  au  conseil  des  malins  n'a  este 
Qui  n'est  au  trac  de  pescheurs  arreste. 

We  prefer  the  Latin  of  the  Vulgate.  Beaius  vir  qui  iion  abiit  in 
consilium  impioruvi.  Marot  mistook  the  signification  of  the  word 
consilium.  Vatable  would  have  told  him  that  the  analogous  word  in 
Grreek  Boule,  and  the  Hebrew  synonyme  ghelsah,  never,  in  the  sacred 
language,  have  any  other  meaning  than  assembly  or  meeting. 

He  has  spun  out  into  six  verses  these  simple  words  of  the  psalmist  : 
Quoniam  novit  Dominus  viam  justorum. 

Car  TEternel  les  justes  cognoit  bien, 

Et  est  soigneux  et  d'eux  et  de  leur  bien: 

Pourtant  auront  felicite  qui  dure, 

Et  pour  aUtant  qu'il  n'a  ni  soing,  ni  cure 

Des  mal  vivans,  le  chemin  qu'ils  tiendront, 

Eqx  etleurs  faicts  en  ruine  viendront. 

Vatable,  Marot's  good  angel,  was  then  asleep.  The  poet  here  in- 
sults the  Divinity,  who  causes  his  sun  to  shine  upon  the  just  and  the 
unjust.  Viret,  who  knew  very  little  Greek,  complained  to  Beza  of  this 
poetic  license,  and  Beza  printed  ; 

Quant  aux  meschans  qui  ii'ont  ni  soing  ni  cure 
De  s'amender,  le  cliemin  qu'ils  tiendront, 
Eux  et  leurs  faicts  en  ruine  viendront. 

In  the  eighth  psalm,  the  valet  of  Francis  I.  caused  the  Hebrew  poet 
to  say,  speaking  of  Christ : 

Tu  I'as  fait  tel  que  plus  il  ne  lui  reste 
Fors  estre  Dieu. 

Certain  Catholic  doctors,  for  whom  Calvin  felt  such  great  pity,  hav- 
ing taken  exception  to  this,  Beza  effaced  the  two  verses,  and  the 
people  of  Geneva  sang  : 

Tu  I'as  fait  tel  que  plus  il  ne  lui  reste 
Fors  d'estre  un  ange,  * 

Calvin  had  still  less  mercy  on  poor  Marot,  who,  detected  in  adultery, 
received;  says  Cayer,  "the  lash  through  the  thoroughfaies  of  the  city  of 
Geneva,  and  was  thus  made  walk  in  statu."  j 

At  the  moment  the  reformation  broke  out  in  Switzerland,  Geneva 
was  commencing  her  intellectual  travail.  Like  Florence  and  Rome, 
she  had  to  cultivate  the  art  of  painting  before  applying  herself  to  poetry 
and  letters.  Rome,  Florence,  Ferrara,  placed  in  her  temples  some  of  the 
beautiful  inspirations  of  the  great  masters,  which  the  bishops  were  de- 
lighted to  exhibit  to  public  view.  The  contemplation  of  these  had  not 
been  sterile  ;  but  Farel  appeared,  and  all  these  images  fell,  mutilated, 

*  In  tlie  Calvinistic  temples  they  for  a  long  time'sang  these  verses  of  Marot  •; 

•  De  bord  en  bord,  pleine  tasse  me  donne, 

Et  moi  je  suis  un  grand  butor, 
Et  moi  je  suis  une  chouette. 

t  Cayer,  Form,,  fol.  47. 


344  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

broken,  burned  by  certain  iconoclasts,  incapable  of  appreciating  tbeis^ 
moral  or  artistic  influence.  Calvin  completed  the  work  commenced 
by  Farel.  The  Italian  families,  so  passionately  fond  of  form,  were 
compelled  to  deliver  up  to  the  consistory  the  paintings  which  they  had 
made  companions  of  their  exile,  and  the  reformed  temples  presented  to 
the  view  but  bare  walls,  which  had  been  whitened  with  lime,  for  the 
purpose  of  eifacing  every  trace  of  material  representations.  Geneva  had 
to  remain  a  stranger  to  the  spiritual  impulse,  which  was  moving  all  cities 
to  the  study  of  the  arts  and  sciences  :  Calvin  had  checked  the  flight  of 
mind.  At  this  hour,  you  would  in  vain  seek,  for  one  poetic  spark  : 
mind  slavishly  obeys  the  inspiration  of  the  master,  and  for  its  only 
nourishment  receives  a  sterile  exegesis.  Before  it,  are  the  most  beauti- 
ful sun  which  God  has  ever  caused  to  shine  upon  his  creation,  and  the 
finest  flowers  with  which  he  had  decorated  the  eden  of  our  first  parents ; 
and  if  it  attempt  to  reproduce  upon  the  canvas  these  miraculous  images, 
a  liand  is  stretched  forth  to  seize  them  and  tear  them  to  pieces  as  papis- 
tical inspirations.  Calvin  has  stripped  the  christian  temple  after  the 
fashion  of  Attila.  He  has  driven  from  it  the  Christ,  the  madonnas,  the 
angels  and  the  saints ;  on  the  altar,  he  has  left  nothing  but  a  stone,  in 
the  sanctuary,  nothing  but  wooden  benches.  He  has  forbidden  the 
christian  to  impress  upon  the  canvas  or  the  marble  the  great  scenes  of 
our  regeneration.  Man  must  condemn  himself  to  live  only  by  the 
spirit,  as  if  God  had  not  also  given  him  the  five  senses. 

The  reformation  is  well  aware,  that  if  we  should  ascend  to  the  origin 
of  its  liturgical  disputes  with  our  church,  we  should  find  it  vanquished 
upon  all  the  arenas  of  science,  of  languages,  of  history,  of  sacred  and 
profane  traditions.  We,  Catholics,  alone  have  forgotten  those  noble  in- 
telligences whom  God  raised  up  to  defend  authority.  Who,  to-day,  in 
our  school,  is  aware  of  the  great  eclat  which  the  jurist  Baudouin  (Bal- 
duinus)  shed  upon  the  controversy  concerning  tradition  ?  Calvin,  witli 
effrontery,  had  denied  that  our  ceremonies  of  baptism,  of  extreme  unc- 
tion,  of  the  mass,  of  communion,  could  be  defended  by  the  testimony  of 
primitive  times.  We  should  see  with  what  disdainful  superiority  Bau- 
douin gives  scientific  lessons  to  the  Genevese  reformer  !  Let  us  quote 
at  least  a  few  lines  of  his  admirable  pleading. 

Calvin  had  made  sport  of  this  formula  :  ahrenuntio  satance,  I  re- 
nounce satan,  the  Latin  of  which  amused  him  even  to  tears. 

"  But  do  not  laugh  so  much,  Baudouin  here  says  to  him  :  this  is  a 
term  frequently  employed  by  the  Roman  jurists  :  at  every  instant  will 
vou  find  it  in  their  books  :  Renuntiare  sponsalibus  vel  nuptiis ;  in 
the  Pandects:  Renuntiata  affinitas.  Now,  the  christians  have  made 
use  of  this  ancient  formula  to  repudiate  the  slavery  of  satan,  to  which 
original  sin  had  chained  us.  Bucer,  thy  friend,  has  retained  this  ex- 
pression. St.  Ambrose,  explaining  the  passage  of  St.  Paul,  regarding 
baptism,  c.  2,  ad  Col.  says  that  the  apostle  here  recommends  us  to  per- 
severe in  the  renunciation  of  satan  and  his  pomps.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  he  alluded  to  a  formula  of  language  in  use  from  the  times  of  the 
apostles. 

«'  In  truth,  I  know  not  why  thou  so  often  makest  sport  of  the  chrism 
with  which  thou  wast  anointed  in  thy  baptism,  as  I  also  have  been» 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


345 


But  this  concerns  me  not;  assail  Jerome,  Dionysius,  TertuUian,  Cyp- 
rian, Basil,  Optatus,  Augustine;  Dost  thou  understand?  attack  the 
universal  church,  which  accuses  thee  for  having  abolished  a  ceremony 
as  ancient  as  Christianity." 

And  then  Baudouin  overwhelms  his  adversary  with  waves  of  Greek 
and  Latin  quotations.  He  proves  to  him  that  he  is  ignorant  of  all  the 
most  common  notions  of  the  Roman  law,  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  lit- 
urgy, of  hermeneutics,  and  of  the  primitive  history  of  our  christian  annals, 
or  that  knowingly  he  has  deceived  his  readers,  in  denying  the  antiquity 
of  the  Catholic  ceremonies.  The  whole  of  this  discussion  in  Baudouin, 
is  a  model  of  truth,  logic,  and  perspicuity.  After  having  perused  it, 
we  comprehend  the  beautiful  eulogium  which  Melancthon  addressed  to 
the  jurist ; 

"  Hail  doctor  of  law  and  jurisprudence,  who  hast  not  only  studied 
civil  laws,  but  hast  made  thyself  familiar  with  that  doctrine,  by  the  aid 
of  which  the  Deity  communicates  himself  to  humanity  !"  * 

*■■  Te  igitur  juris  et  justitise  doctorem  scio  non  tantum  forenses  leges,  sed 
etiam  earn  doctrinain  cognoscere  qua  sese  Deus  humanis  mentibus  communi- 
cat.^Fr.  Balduini  Resp,  altera  ad  Joannem  Calvinum,  Parisiis,  1562,  p.  144, 

Time  obliterates  the  memory  of  a  host  of  writings,  of  which  it  is  the  histori- 
an's duty  to  inform  those  who  are  desirous  of  defending  the  truth.  There  is  a 
book  of  controversy  which  caused  a  great  sensation  when  it  appeared,  and 
deserved  all  the  glory  it  obtained  in  the  sixteenth  century.  We  speak  of  the 
treatise  of  Demochares :  "De  veritate  christi,  necnon  corporis  et  sanguinis 
Christi  in  missee  sacrificio,  adversus  hoereticos,  assertio,  in  12,  Parisiis,  1572." 
The  author  proves  the  tradition  of  the  Catholic  liturgy  by  the  collected  testis 
►  monies  of  St.  Dionysius  and  of  all  the  fathers,  councils,  and  doctois,  down  to  the 
sixteenth  century^ 


CHAPTER    XXXlll. 

THE    CONFESSION    OF    FAITH. 

Calvin  in  opposition  to  his  own  doctrines  regarding  private  judgment. — ^He- 
imposes  a  confession  of  faith  upon  Geneva. — What  the  reformation,  in  our 
day,  thinks  of  the  formularies,  or  symbolical  books. — A  session  in  the  great 
council  of  Lausanne, — Reactionary  movement  of  different  reformed  church- 
es against  the  confessions  of  faith. — Prophetic  threats  of  Hammerschmidt. 

There  can  be  no  ecclesiastical  government  without  unity.  Calvin 
had  comprehended  this  great  law  of  every  christian  society^,  a?nd  he  had 
thought  to  introduce  it  into  his  new  church ;  but,  to  ground  it,  he  had 
to  sacrifice  the  religious  liberties  of  Geneva.  His  tribunal  of  censure,, 
his  consistory,  his  religious  police,  his  liturgical  forms  imposed  on  the 
Genevese  community,  are  so  many  attempts  upon  individual  con- 
science. 

On  his  appearance  in  the  theological  world,  we  behold  him  publish^t 
ing,  under  the  name  of  Institutes,  another  gospel,  from  which,  after- 
wards, he  extracts  the  legislation  which  governs  his  christian  republic. 
In  1536,  he  caused  his  formulary  of  faith  to  be  subscribed  at  Geneva,^ 
at  a  later  period,  in  a  letter  to  Somerset,  he  declares  that  a  church 
cannot  exist  without  a  catechism,  and  he  writes  a  symbolical  book  for 
the  use  of  the  reformed  communion.  And,  from  1541  to  1543,  he 
completes  his  work,  which  he  places  under  the  protection  of  a  confes- 
sion of  faith,  to  which  each  member  of  his  church  is  obliged  to  sweair,. 
under  penalty  of  chastisements  in  this  life  and  in  the  next.  Soul  and' 
body, — every  thing  is  bowed  down  under  his  despotism.  "The  organi- 
zation given  to  the  Genevese  clergy  by  the  ordinances  of  Calvin,"  says. 
M.  de  Fazy,  "was  far  from  corresponding  with  the  true  spirit  of  Pro- 
testantism, which,  out  of  each  conscience  making  a  temple  into  which 
divine  revelation  may  descend,  should  have  included  a  popular  element 
representing  the  consciences  of  all.""*  Certain  persons  of  the  senate 
and  not  of  the  councils,  had  in  vain  attempted  to  protest  against  the 
dangerous  innovations  which  so  evidently  threatened  freedom  of  thought,, 
but  their  voices  were  stifled.  To  combat  his  adversaries,  Calvin, 
exulting  in  his  triumph,  had  the  pulpit,  books,  and  the  consistory.  Each 
of  his  ordinances  was  immediately  converted  into  a  law  by  the  civil 
power,  and  each  law  became  a  dogma,  in  the  formulary  of  faiths  which 
was  imposed  on  the  whole  commune. 

*  Essai  d'un  Precis  de  I'histoire  de  Geneve,  t.  I,  p.  260. 


I!FE   fF   JOnS   CALVIN*  347 

When  he  began  the  construction  of  his  church,  the  reformation  bad 
'dready  scattered  broad-cast  among  the  christian  people,  a  host  of  sym- 
bols, which  often  expired  even  without  a  struggle  or  a  pang.  Zwingle, 
in  his  mountains,  had  concocted  a  confession  of  faith,  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  overspread  with  his  rays,  and  which  did  not  even  live  as  long 
as  the  prince  to  whom  it  had  been  dedicated.  Melancthon  had  drawn 
up  his  symbol  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  poet  pursuing  a  rebellious  rhyme  ; 
erasing,  correcting,  eifacing,  pruning,  and  adding  to  a  work,  which, 
at  every  phase  of  the  painful  travail,  was  always  represented  as  having 
been  touched  by  the  tip  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  wing.  Myconius  prepared 
the  first  Helvetic  confession,  a  creation,  even  still  more  obscure  than  iis 
author.  Gryneus  and  Bullinger  succeeded  to  invest  their  confession 
with  a  symbolical  authority,  which  lived  through  a  few  years.  That  of 
Calvin  was  destined  to  be  still  more  fortunate. 

But  to-day  all  these  symbols,  animated  by  the  breath  of  human  lips, 
have  fallen  to  rise  no  more.  What  Eliseus  shall  spread  himself  over 
the  lifeless  form  of  the  Augsbourg  confession,  to  recall  it  to  life  ?  Who 
shall  collect  the  dry  bones  of  the  Helvetic  formularies  ?  Where  shall  the 
remains  of  that  confession  be  Found  to  which  Calvin  made  the  Genevese 
pledge  their  oaths  ?  All  these  formularies  had  been  composed  to  es- 
tablish religious  unity ;  all,  if  you  shall  credit  the  writers  who  had  m- 
voked  the  Holy  Ghost  as  their  coadjutor,  were  destined  to  live  eternally, 
and  to  govern  the  christian  society  until  the  consummation  of  ages ; 
and  all  are  worn  out,  fallen  into  decrepitude,  worm-eaten.  A  new  era 
has  dawned  upon  the  reformation,  which  now  proclaims  the  inutility 
and  emptiness  of  confessions  of  faith. 

Come  to  Lausanne,  and  you  shall  be  present  at  a  session  of  the  great 
council,  in  which  a  question  vital  to  Protestantism  is  to  be  agitated  : 
that,  which  regards  the  preservation  or  suppression  of  formularies. 

The  Minister  Rond * 

— '*  What  will  become  of  the  liberty  of  private  judgment,  that  very 
precious  right  bequeathed  by  the  reformation  ?  But,  it  is  precisely  be- 
cause of  this  liberty  of  private  judgment,  that  a  formulary  of  belief  is 
necessary,  that  the  church  may  be  able  to  make  known  to  those  who 
wish  to  be  teachers,  what  is  the  doctrine  which  she  professes,  and  which 
she  desires  to  have  preached. 

To  pretend  that  in  a  church  there  should  be  nothing  fixed,  nothing 
recognized  ;  that  each  one  may  believe  and  teach  after  his  own  notions, 
is  to  maintain  an  impossibility,  a  chimera  ;  as  well  say  that  a  govern- 
ment can  subsist  without  laws,  without  a  constitution ;  that  each  citi- 
zen may  view  the  law  as  he  pleases,  and  constitute  himself  judge  of  the 
degree  of  obedience  that  he  owes  to  his  country.  Take  away  its  con- 
stitution from  a  country,  and  you  will  have  war  and  anarchy ;  suppress 
the  confession  of  faith,  and  you  will  soon  behold  such  dissensions, 
scandals  and  divisions,  as  your  civil   laws  will  in  vain  labour  to  put 

♦  Consult:  La  Religion  du  cceur,  par  M.  I'Abbe  de  Baudry,  Lausanne,  1840, 
1  vol.  in  12mo.  p.  320-352,  where  the  question  regarding  confessions  of  faith 
is  admirably  discussed.  It  is  a  controversial  work,  written  with  good  faith 
and  ability,  and  which  we  could  not  too  highly  recommend. 


"348  LiFfc  OF  roiiN  calvin. 

liown.  Anarchy  or  tyranny,  one  or  the  other,  must  be  the  result  of  such 
a  measure. 

The  Professor  Chapfuis. — The  church  has  not  the  right  to  impose 
a  confession  of  faith  upon  this  or  that  individual  christian.  If  she 
should  take  upon  her  conscience  a  power  of  this  nature,  it  would  be  an 
usurpation,  and  the  most  monstrous  of  all  usurpations. 

The  Minister  Golliez.— Can  the  church  subsist  without  a  con- 
fession of  faith  ?  It  is  the  interior  or  spiritual  tie  which  forms  the 
church.  This  consists  of  unity  of  sentiment  and  thought,  concerning 
the  dogmas  of  faith.  If  the  church  have  no  confession  of  faith,  who 
^hall  determine  the  fundamental  points  of  christian  doctrine. 

Jayet,  the  Advocate. — A  confession  of  faith  !  But  I  do  not  con- 
ceive the  possibility  of  a  confession  of  faith,  without  infallibility.  If 
the  divine  word  itself  present  some  obscurity,  it  can  only  be  interpreted 
by  human  voices.  We  are  told,  it  is  true,  that  God  has  employed  hu- 
man means,  in  order  to  reveal  himself  to  us ;  but  let  us  not  forget  that 
those  human  voices,  which  have  transmitted  the  word  of  God  to  us, 
possessed  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  do  not  conceive  how  the  in- 
spired language  can  be  interpreted  by  voices  which  are  not  inspired. 

M.  Gorrevon  de  Martines. — I  behold  in  the  church  the  assembly 
of  those  persons  who  follow  the  same  religious  banner.  That  these 
persons  may  know  what  they  have  embraced,  it  is  necessary  to  teach  it 
to  them .  For  this,  pastors  are  appointed.  Is  the  mass  of  the  people  in  a 
condition  to  use  the  liberty  of  private  judgment?  Not  the  least  in  the 
world.  This  portion  of  the  church  must  have  pastors,  the  flock  must  have 
shepherds.  To  cut  the  matter  short :  believe  not  that  you  can  arrive  at 
universal  instruction,  by  means  of  your  renovated  academy,  your  gym- 
nasium, and  your  medium  schools.  There  must  be  pastors  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  the  man  who  cannot  divine  it  for  himself.  The  work- 
man, engaged  at  his  labour,  has  no  time  for  self-instruction.  There 
must  be  pastors,  to  give  him  religious  instruction  on  Sundays.  There 
must  be  a  rule,  to  determine,  for  these  pastors  of  the  church,  upon  what 
points  they  should  insist  in  their  preaching. 

M.  D£  LA  Harpe. — Confessions  of  faith  are  contrary  to  the  princi- 
ple of  the  reformation.  The  principle  of  the  reformation  is  liberty, 
the  right  to  choose,  the  right  to  place  the  authority  of  the  Bible  above 
the  authority  of  men.  This  has  been  admitted,  and  yet  it  is  insisted 
that  the  confession  of  faith  does  not  affect  the  principle,  since  the  con- 
fession is  only  for  the  teachers,  and  not  for  the  flock  ;  but  the  pastors 
must  necessarily  endeavour  to  communicate  the  doctrines  to  the  persons 
whom  they  are  appointed  to  instruct.  The  flock  cannot  resist ;  if  it 
resist,  it  is  accused  of  unbelief,  and  almost  of  impiety.  When  a  re- 
ligion is  just  beginning  to  establish  itself,  the  people  are  told  that  they 
shall  reap  all  the  advantages  thereof;  they  are  made  an  integral  part  of 
the  newly  born  society ;  but  once  it  is  well  established,  the  people  are 
no  longer  consulted.  Calvin  arrived  at  Geneva  in  1535.  In  that 
place,  there  were  a  great  many  persons  who  did  not  approve  his  views^ 
and  woe  to  the  one  that  resisted  him.  A  Spaniard,  who  had  written  a 
book  on  the  Trinity,  escapes  from  his  enemies  in  France,  he  comes  to 
Geneva ;  the  implacable  Calvin  discovers  him,  and  has  him  executed. 


llfE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  349 

Another  has  his  head  amputated  on  the  block,  for  having  spoken  evilly 
of  the  reformer.  A  schoolmaster  is  displaced  from  his  post,  for  having 
spoken  a  word  against  Calvin's  ordinances;  a  poor  woman,  for  having 
expressed  her  opinion,  that  it  was  unjust  to  execute  Servetus,  is  driven 
from  the  city.  Behold  the  way  in  which  the  new  christians  sow  the  seed 
of  evangelical  truth  in  the  minds  of  men.  To  the  grand  chamberlain 
of  the  court  of  Navarre,  Calvin  wrote  :  *'  Spare  no  pains  to  free  the 
country  of  those  rascals,  who  excite  the  people  against  us.  Such  mon- 
sters ought  to  be  executed  like  the  Spaniard  Michael  Servetus.  Fear 
not,  that  in  future  any  one  will  take  it  in  his  head  to  imitate  him.'' 

M.  Druey. — A  confession  of  faith  is  a  pope. 

M.  Jaccard. — The  confession  of  faith  is  the  yoke  of  authority 
trammeling  thought.  Almost  as  well  have  the  councils  and  the  infal». 
libility  of  the  Pope. 

The  great  council  voted  for  the  abolition  of  the  confession  of  faith. 

And  one  of  the  members,  M.  Berger,  exclaimed  :  It  is  anarchy, 
which  you  have  just  established  by  decree,  and  there  is  but  one  step 
from  anarchy  to  the  abolition  of  the  national  church ! 

But  in  the  reactionary  impulse  against  human  symbolism,  Lausanne 
had  been  anticipated.  In  Switzerland,  with  the  exception  of  Berne, 
the  preachers  no  longer  took  the  oath  of  Zurich, — to  preach  only  the 
word  of  God  contained  in  the  New  Testament.* 

The  venerable  company  of  Geneva  had  already,  long  since,  dispens- 
ed its  evangelical  ministers  from  the  necessity  of  being  acquainted  with 
the  various  reformed  confessions  of  faith. t 

In  Brunswick,  two  candidates  having  refused  to  swear  to  the  symbol- 
ical books,  the  ecclesiastical  council  decided,  that  henceforward,  aspi- 
rants to  the  ministry  should  be  freed  from  all  doctrinal  coercion.  J 

Most  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  Anhalt-Benburg,  enlightened  men,  have 
thrown  aside  the  confessions  of  faith  established  by  the  reformation, 
and  admit  but  the  one  book  only,  the  gospel.  § 

The  anti-symbolical  spirit  of  the  German  reformed  church  prevailed 
in  the  union  established  in  1817,  which  absorbed  almost  the  entire  Lu- 
theran church,  and  which  admitted  the  unlimited  principle  of  liberty  of 
teaching.  In  the  first  official  acts  of  the  union  of  the  Duchy  of  Nassau, 
drawn  up  by  the  synod  of  Idstein,  in  1817,  no  mention  is  made  of  symbols 
of  faith ;  in  the  protocol  of  union  for  the  County  of  Mark,  there  is  the 
same  omission.  The  general  synod  of  Kaiserslautern,  in  the  act  of  1818, 
recognized  no  rule  of  faith  but  the  holy  scriptures.  It  is  well  known 
with  what  immoveable  firmness  the  first  and  second  synods,  of  1821 
and  1825,  maintained  their  first  resolution,  in  spite  of  the  menacing 
obserA'ations  of  the  consistory  of  Munich. 

The  act  of  union  of  the  principality  of  Saxe-Cobourg  Lichtenberg, 
drawn  up  by  the  synod  of  Baumholder,  in  1820,  and  approved  by  the 
state,  admits  no  other  symbolical  book  but  the  Bible. 

*  Regist.  du  synode,  1803,  p.  13. 

t  Baselerwissenschaft.  Zeitschrift,  1815. 

t  Christ.  Freimuth,  in  der  A.  K.-Z.  1832,  p.  385,  n.  48, 

♦  lb.,  1830,  n.  199. 

30 


350 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


The  synod  of  Carlsruhe,  of  1824,  also,  admits  no  symbolical  book 
except  the  scriptures,  as  of  reformed  authority  in  dogma.  Rhenish 
Hessia,  the  commune  of  Unterwalden,  and  that  of  Hildburghausen, 
have  adopted  the  principle  of  the  union. 

On  beholding  this  repudiation  of  symbolical  books,  some  noble  souls, 
strongly  attached  to  the  reformation,  were  sensibly  affected,  and  could 
not  dissemble  their  sorrow  and  fears.  Hammerschmidt  made  the  air 
resound  with  prophetic  menaces. 

— "  So,  then,  you  no  longer  admit  any  thing  of  the  symbolical  books, 
but  the  spirit  which  gave  them  birth  :  the  liberty  of  investigation. 
You  acknowledge  Christ  and  the  gospel,  but  who  assures  me  of  this? 
Why  do  you  conceal  all  this  ?  Innovators  that  you  are,  do  you  not  per- 
ceive what  a  dissolvent  you  are  throwing  into  the  christian  community? 
In  place  of  a  society,  united  in  its  faith  and  its  love  to  Christ,  you  are 
about  producing  a  crowd  of  sects,  which  will  devour  each  other."* 

Hammerschmidt  is  right.  But  why,  with  his  lofty  understanding, 
has  he  voluntarily  closed  his  eyes  to  the  light?  That  sun  of  error, 
which  blinds  the  rationalist,  in  turn,  blinds  him  also.  Anarchy,  disso- 
lution, tyranny ;  all  the  elements  of  disorder  or  of  despotism,  are  in- 
cluded in  this  grand  principle  of  free  investigation.  You  give  wings  to 
my  reason,  and  when  she  begins  to  spread  them,  to  soar  away  from 
earth,  you  seek  to  cut  them  off":  you  have  liberated  me  from  the  yoke 
of  the  papism,  and  with  your  own  hands  you  fashion  -payer  popes,  as 
you  term  them  yourselves,  and  to  which  you  give  the  name  of  confes- 
sions. Then  you  tell  me  : — "  War  upon  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
our  confession  is  war  upon  the  Bible. "f  But  this  is  a  cry  of  distress, 
which  you  utter.  I  shall  not  search  long  for  a  reply  to  you  :  I  will 
say  with  Paalzow  :  Partisans  of  symbolical  books,  who  declaim  against 
authority,  you  have  made  with  your  own  hands  a  paper  pope,  more  in- 
tolerant than  the  pope  of  bone  and  flesh  that  reigns  at  Rome ;  J  or  with 
Ludke  : — "  Your  symbolical  books  are  an  iron  yoke  imposed  on  the 
necks  of  christians. "§ 

''  I  believe  in  fortunate  men,"  said  Napoleon  :  he  would  have  placed 
little  faith  in  the  reformers.  Contemplate  the  lot  of  all  the  truths 
which  they  have  announced. 

Luther  discovered  impanation,  and  serf-will. 

— Serf- will  and  impanation  sleep  with  him  in  the  tomb  of  Witten- 
berg. 

Zwingle  dreamed  of  a  Lord's  Supper  entirely  figurative. 

— His  trope  was  slain  at  the  battle  of  Cappel. 

Calvin  imagined  a  free  necessity,  a  predestination  quite  aristocratic, 
a  Lord's  Supper,  which  is  neither  figure  nor  reality. 

His  theological  system  has  lived  but  a  few  years. 

Zwingle  drew  up  a  confession  of  faith,  which  was  cast  into  the  shade 
by  the  Augsbourg  confession  of  Luther  and  Melancthon. 


♦Hammerschmidt,  Allg.  Kirch.  Zeit.,  p.  13G5,  1369,  1372. 
t  Homiletisch.  litur!risch.  CoriespondenzbL  1830,  n.  30. 
\  Paalzow,  Synesius,    p.  192. 
§Ladkc,  Vom  falsclien  Religionseifer.  1767. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  361 

The  confessions  of  faith,  by  Farel  and  Calvin,  by  Gryneus,  by  Bul- 
iinger  and  Musculus,  could  not  stand  the  test  of  free  examination. 

The  liberty  of  investigation,  at  length,  has  ended  in  anarchy  of  doc- 
trine ;   it  has  generated  a  thousand  sects  in  the  United  States. 

Anarchy  has  invoked  an  abyss,  of  which  Strauss  is  the  new  monarch. 
Eichhorn  and  Paulus  had  swayed  the  sceptre  before  him. 

The  reformation  cannot  even  select  the  precipice  of  its  ruin  :  its 
own  doctors  have  drawn  up  the  sentence  which  condemns  it.  Catholics 
have  no  part  to  perform  but  that  of  recording  clerks. 

Therefore,  when  it  makes  an  attempt  upon  the  miprescriptible  right 
of  thought,  Schulz  says  to  it  : 

— '*  Daughter  of  liberty,  take  care  of  what  thou  art  doing  :  if,  by 
the  aid  of  thy  confessions  of  faith,  thou  darest  arrest  the  flight  of  mind, 
thou  ceasest  to  be  thyself,  thou  fallest  into  authority,  thou  art  lost."* 

On  the  other  hand,  should  the  reformation  leave  thought  free  to  in- 
dulge its  caprices,  Thiess  cries  out  to  it : 

— •'<  Be  thou  cursed,  impure  Protestantism,  in  the  name  of  Christ; 
for  satan  has  not  prepared  a  more  deadly  poison  than  rationalism,"! 

At  Geneva,  the  reformation,  before  reaching  rationalism,  was  doom- 
ed to  pass  through  the  ordeal  of  despotism. 

Calvin's  consistory,  his  clerical  system,  his  ecclesiastical  constitu- 
tion, his  confession  of  faith,  his  symbolical  books,  are  so  many 
outrages  upon  the  liberties  of  his  new  country.  And  his  religious 
legislation  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  greatest  chastisement  that  God 
could  inflict  upon  apostacy,  and  the  most  frightful  monument  of  the 
reformer's  theocracy. 

Let  us  pause  a  moment,  to  contemplate  its  spirit. 

♦  Schulz,  was  heiszt  Glaube,  und  wer  sind  die  Unglaubigen?  1830,  p.  43. 
+  Prediger  Thiesz,  Moses,  Eine   Sammlung  christlicher  Predigten,  1828.' 
Erste  Rede. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV.        .^ 

CALVIN  THE  THEOCRAT. 1541 1543. 

The  theocracy  of  Calvin. — His  legislative  code  is  w^ritten  with  blood  and  witf^. 
fire. — Penal  laws  against  the  heretic, — Examples  of  punishment  inflicted  by 
the  legislator  — The  torture. — CoUadon. — The  sorcerers. — Calvin's  proceed- 
ings against  them. — How  much  greater  was  the  mildness  of  the  Catholic 
church  at  Geneva. 

Acts  and  thoughts, — every  thing  in  Calvin,  displays  the  character  of 
the  theocrat. 

*'  The  priest,  when  marching  in  the  light  of  the  word  eternal,  is,  in 
his  eyes,  the  most  magnificent  image  of  the  Divinity.  Let  others  glory 
in  their  power,  that  of  the  priest  surpasses  all  dominations.  It  is  his  mis- 
sion, to  subjugate  every  thing  that  lives  to  the  yoke  of  this  word;  he  breaks 
to  pieces  the  strong,  he  raises  up  the  feeble,  he  extends  the  kingdom  of 
God,  he  overturns  that  of  satan.  It  is  his  office  to  conduct  the  sheep  to» 
the  pastures,  to  drive  away  the  wolves,  to  instruct  docile  souls,  to  chas- 
tise the  incredulous ;  let  him,  then,  have  a  crown,  a  sword,  or  a  pasto- 
ral staff;  and,  if  need  there  be,  invoke  fire  from  heaven,  and  hurl  thun- 
derbolts in  the  name  of  Jehovah.  The  priest  or  pastor  is  as  indispensa- 
ble to  the  christian  society,  as  light  or  heat  to  the  physical  world."* 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  priest  "to  combat  the  more  zealously,  because 
his  exertions  are  watched  by  that  great  Judge  of  the  lists,  who  sits  on 
high,  in  heaven.  And  that  holy  and  sacred  host  of  angels  promise  him 
their  favour,  and  point  out  to  him  the  way  he  should  pursue."! 

It  is  manifest  that  Calvin's  minister  is  not  the  angel  descended  from 
heaven,  "who,  with  honey,  assuages  the  wounds  of  the  sinner."  His 
sacerdotal  type  is  neither  Fenelon  nor  Vincent  of  Paul.  He  has  met 
with  it,  he  tells  us,  in  Israel,  in  the  person  of  Moses.  He  forgets  that 
Christ  came  into  the  world  to  abolish  the  Jewish  law.  One  would  sup- 
pose that  he  had  ascended  another  Sinai,  and  brought  down  from  his 
mountain  a  code,  promulgated  amid  lightnings  and  thunder.  He  deah 
with  Geneva,  as  Moses  did  with  the  unbelieving  people.  Behold  the 
words  which  he  has  inscribed  upon  his  tables  of  the  covenant ;  "  Who- 
ever outrages  the  glory  of  God  ought  to  perish  by  the  sword/'*     His 


*  Inst.  cit.  par  Bretschneider  j  Calvin  et  I'Eglise  de  Geneve,  p.  8. 
"t  Clairo  exposition  contrc  Heshusius.  Op.,  p.  1953. 

♦  Der  Schander  der  Ehre  Gottes  rausz  mit  dem  Schwerde  gerichtet  werden. 
—Paul  Henry,  p.  57»  t.  II. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  353 

historian,  in  order  to  justify  him,  represents  him  to  us  as  if  impelled  by 
the  finger  of  God,  and  obeying,  like  Luther's  horse,  the  spirit  which 
guides  and  directs  him.*  But  this  God  exists  elsewhere  than  in  heaven, 
he  dwells  in  a  human  brain,  where  hatred,  pride,  and  love  of  power 
are  fermenting  :  from  this  focus  all  liis  inspirations  are  derived.  The 
minister,  in  order  to  oppress  the  people,  here  vests  himself  with  the 
mantle  of  Elias.  The  historians,  who  plead  excuse  for  such  frequent 
employment  of  fire  and  the  sword  in  the  Galvinistic  legislation,  while 
making  the  fiery  tongues  of  the  Apostles  descend  upon  the  head  of  their 
legislator,  do  not  then  any  longer  remember  that  the  student  of  Orleans, 
often,  in  France,  raised  his  voice  to  blast  the  judges  of  his  brethren  ! 
And,  when  at  Geneva,  his  eye  remains  motionless  at  the  sight  of  the 
executioner,  they  say  that  God  has  closed  and  dried  the  lid,  and  stayed 
the  tears  which  were  ready  to  flow  !  Calvin  himself  wanted  to  play 
the  part  of  the  prophet,  and  to  cause  an  impression  that  he  dwelt  in  the 
thought  and  counsels  of  the  Omnipotent.  His  spirit  has  lived  after 
him.  In  1582,  the  authorities  asked  the  ministers  whether,  with  jus- 
tice, they  could  undertake  war  against  Savoy,  and  the  ministers,  still 
quite  full  of  Calvin,  answered  :  You  have  been  guided  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  who,  in  causing  you  to  consult  us  on  a  case  of  this  nature,  regard- 
ing conscience,  has  pointed  out  to  you  the  true  path.f 

So,  then,  in  this  theocratical  system,  the  priest  must  intervene,  in  all 
political  questions,  because  his  voice  is  the  voice  of  God  himself.  Al- 
ready, in  the  year  1555,  when  some  soldiers  were  on  the  point  of  start- 
ing from  Geneva  for  the  defence  of  their  country,  Calvin  had  these  three 
letters,  1.  H.  I.,  engraved  on  their  flags,  to  the  end  that  they  might 
understand,  that  above  all  things,  they  were  children  of  the  church.  He 
had  so  skillfully  combined  the  two  elements,  the  religious  and  the  polit- 
ical element,  that  the  commune  was  as  greatly  troubled  by  the  apparition 
of  a  heresy,  as  by  the  appearance  of  a  standard  of  Savoy  upon  the  Gene- 
vese  territory.  The  people  had  to  take  part  in  every  crusade  set  on 
foot,  in  the  name  of  the  consistory,  against  a  seditious  or  impious  book  ; 
and  whoever  opened  such  book  was  punished,  now  by  the  prison,  again 
by  fines,  and  sometimes,  if  his  curiosity  assumed  the  form  of  revolt 
against  the  Calvinistic  symbol,  by  death  itself.  The  reforaier's  pen 
Avas  by  turns  dipped  in  fire  and  blood. ±  His  name  is  not  inscribed  at 
the  head  of  the  legislative  code  of  15^3,  which,  however,  is  entirely 
the  product  of  his  inspiration.  At  Strasbourg,  from  a  prophetic  anti- 
cipation of  his  recall,  he  had  studied  carefully  the  customs,  franchises, 
and  ancient  edicts  of  the  republic.  He  formed  of  them  a  collection,  to 
which  he  added  a  great  number  of  new  edicts,  where  his  hand  mani- 
fests itself  like  the  lava  of  the  volcano.  As  long  as  Calvin  lived,  no 
one  dared  touch  this  Draconian  work.  To  aid  him  in  his  labour,  they 
had  given  him  the  syndic  Roset,  an   apostate,  who  had  become  rich  by 

*  Er  aber  fiihlte  sich  von  Gott  angetrieben,  so  zu  handeln,  dies  geht  aus 
alien  Aeusserungen  des  gevvissenhaften  Mannes  hervor. — Id. 

t  P.  Henry,  t.  II,  p.  58,  note, 

|Seine  Gesetze  waren  nicht  nur  mit  Blut  geschrieben,  wie  des  Atlienien- 
sers  Draco,  sondern  mit  einem  gluhenden  Griffel, — Paul  Henry,  t.  II,  p.  78. 

30^ 


354  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

purchasing  at  a  trifling  price  tlie  confiscated  property  of  Catholics,* 
and,  at  a  later  period,  the  syndic  la  Rive,  and  some  other  councilmen, 
and  also  they  exempted  him  from  the  duty  of  preaching  on  Sundays,  f 
Having  completed  the  work,    he  received  a  tun  of  old  wine  from  the 

hospital.J 

"  Then,"  remarks  M.  Thourel,§  "  Geneva  found  herself  under  the 
dominion  of  an  almost  new  legislation,  in  which  three  different  ele- 
ments were  easily  distinguished  :  the  ancient  constitutions  of  the  coun- 
try, the  reformation  principles,  and,  as  regarded  civil  edicts,  the  com- 
mon law  of  the  province  of  Berry,  which  Colladon  had  introduced  into 
the  constitution."  Colladon  was  a  learned  jurist,  but  a  man  destitute 
of  the  bowels  of  mercy,  who  had  come  to  Geneva  in  order  to  embrace 
thereformation.il 

In  perusing  this  politico-religious  code,  one  imagines  himself  reading 
fragments  of  the  laws  of  some  savage  tribe,  discovered  after  the  lapse  of 
several  thousand  years.  Idolatry  and  blasphemy  are  capital  crimes, 
punished  by  death.  There  is  but  one  word  heard  or  read  :  Death. — 
Death  to  every  one  guilty  of  high  treason  against  God. — Death  to  every 
one  guilty  of  high  treason  against  the  state. — Death  to  the  son  that 
strikes  or  curses  his  father. — Death  to  the  adulterer. — Death  to  heretics. 
And,  with  sanguinary  irony,  the  name  of  God  incessantly  drops  from 
the  lips  of  the  legislator.  It  is  ever  that  same  coldly  cruel  soul,  which, 
at  a  later  period,  will  exhort  the  princes  of  England  to  put  the  Catho^ 
lies  to  deaths 

During  the  space  of  twenty  years,  commencing  from  the  date  of  Cal- 
vin's recall,  the  history  of  Geneva  is  a  burgher  drama,  in  which  pity, 
dread,  terror,  indignation  and  tears,  by  turns,  appear  to  seize  upon  the 
soul.  At  each  step,  we  encounter  chains,  thongs,  a  stake,  pincers, 
melted  pitch,  fire  and  sulphur.  And  throughout  the  whole,  there  is 
blood.  One  imagines  himself  in  that  doleful  city  of  Dante,  where 
sighs,  groans  and  lamentations  continually  resound. 

Quivi  sospiri,  pianti,  et  aiti  guai 
Risonavan  I'aer  senza  stelle. 

After  the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  at  length  a  cry  of  reprobatiort 
bursts  forth  from  a  Genevese  breast,  and  in  a  waiting,  printed  at  Gene- 
va, by  a  Protestant,  we  can  read  this  energetic  sentence  : 

*'  Calvin  overturned  every  thing  that  was  good  or  honorable  to  hu- 

'•GalifTe,  t.  I,  p.  347. 

t  Registres  de  Gotha  ct  de  Gcnevo,  3  drscembre  1543. 

%  Registres  de  la  ville,  16novombre  1542. 

*  Thourel,  Hist,  de  Geneve,  t.  II,  p.  261. 

j  Colladon,  doctor  of  laws,  born  in  Berry.  "In  1575,  the  rights  of  citizen- 
ship were  conferred  on  him  in  order  to  strengthen  the  party  of  honest  men 
against  the  libertines.  (See  chapters  entitled  :  The  Libertines  and  Michael 
Servetus).  Colladon  was  a  great  jurist;  the  council  profited  by  his  knowl- 
edge, in  all  difficult  business,  and  rendered  justice  to  his  deserts  by  charging 
him  with  the  digest  of  our  political  and  civil  acts.  This  is  undoubtedly  the 
reason  why  they  have  such  great  correspondence  with  the  customs  af  Berryo'* 
— Senebier,  Hist,  litt,  de  Geneve,  t.  I,  p.  343. 

%  Calv,  Ep.  «7. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  366 

manity  in  the  reformation  of  the  Genevese,  and  established  the  reign 
of  the  most  ferocious  intolerance,  of  the  most  gross  superstitions,  of  the 
most  impious  dogmas.  He  at  first  attained  his  end  by  cunning,  then 
by  force,  menacing  the  council  with  an  insurrection,  and  the  vengeance 
of  all  the  satellites  by  whom  he  was  surrounded,  when  the  magistrates 
wished  to  cause  the  laws  to  prevail  over  his  usurped  authority.  Let 
them,  then,  admire  him  as  an  adroit,  profound  man,  after  the  order  of  all 
those  petty  tyrants,  who  have  enslaved  republics  in  so  many  diflferent 
countries  ;  this  must  be  allowed  to  feeble  minds.  Blood  was  necessary 
for  that  soul  of  mud.''* 

And  we  must  conduct  the  reader  through  blood  and  filth. 

At  times,  one  believes  himself  at  Constantinople.  At  Geneva,  they 
threw  adulterous  women  into  the  Rhone  :  and  the  difterence  was,  that 
at  Constantinople  the  executioner  sewed  his  victims  in  a  sack,  to  hide 
them  from  the  light.  At  Geneva,  they  threw  them  into  the  river  with 
their  eyes  open. 

Here  is  a  process  which  commences  like  a  fairy  tale,  and  terminates 
like  a  decree  af  Tiberius,  dated  from  Ischia. 

"  There  was  a  rich  burgher  named  Henry  Philip  le  Neveu,  who,  for 
fifteen  years,  kept  a  figure  painted  upon  glass,  which  he  called  his  fa- 
miliar demon.  Now,  when  he  desired  to  know  what  his  wife  was  do- 
ing, he  approximated  his  ear,  and  the  indiscreet  image  told  him,  in  a  whis- 
per, something  which  it  would  have  been  much  better  for  him  not  to 
have  asked.  The  husband  afterwards  went  to  relate  to  any  person  that 
was  willing  to  listen,  how,  at  his  lodgings,  he  had  an  image  on  glass 
which  spoke,  and  a  wife  who  would  be  very  glad  to  make  it  keep  si- 
lence. Well,  le  Neveu  babbled  so  much  that  the  council  caused  him 
to  be  arrested." 

The  image  was  silenced,  and  so  was  le  Neveu  :  they  had  cast  one  of 
them  into  the  Rhone  and  hung  the  other. 

Spon,  that  wise  historian,  says,  very  seriously  : 

"  In  the  year  1560,  the  Genevese  made  two  examples  of  justice 
which  savoured  of  the  severity  of  ancient  Rome. 

*•  A  citizen  having  been  condemned  to  the  lash  by  the  small  council, 
for  the  crime  of  adultery,  appealed  from  its  sentence  to  the  Two  Hun- 
dred. His  case  was  reconsidered,  and  the  council,  knowing  that  he  had 
before  committed  the  offence,  and  been  again  caught  therein,  condemn. 
mI  him  to  death,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  criminal,  who  com- 
plained that  they  did  him  a  wrong,  to  punish  him  w'ith  the  highest  de- 
gree of  punishment.  Some  time  after,  for  the  same  crime,  a  banker 
was  executed,  w^ho  died  with  great  repentance,  blessing  God  that  jus- 
tice was  so  rigorously  observed."! 

There  were  children  publicly  scourged,  and  hung,  for  having  called 
their  mother  she-devil  and  thief.  When  the  child  had  not  attained  the 
age  of  reason,  they  hung  him  up  by  the  arm-pits,  to  manifest  that  he 
deserved  death. J 

*  Galiffc,  Notices  genealogigues,  t.  Ill,  p.  21. 

t  Spon.  History  of  Geneva,  in  4to.,  t.  I,  305. 

X  Picoi.,  History  of  Geneva,  in  8vo.,  t.  II,  p.  264. 


356  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Calvin  felt  that  the  word,  which  had  invested  him  with  royalty,  might 
also  deprive  him  of  it ;  he  therefore  sets  to  work  to  brand  the  forehead 
of  every  intelligence  sufficiently  bold  to  question  his  mission,  to  discuss 
his  theological  doctrines,  or  to  refuse  his  symbol  of  faith.  Then  Bolsec, 
who  denied  his  predestination,  was  driven  away  from  the  republic ; 
Gentilis,  who  rejected  the  Calvinistic  quarternity,  was  condemned  to 
take  the  rounds  through  the  city,  with  a  halter  on  his  neck  ;*  Castalion, 
who  considered  the  Canticle  of  Canticles  as  apocryphal,  though  once 
the  table  companion  of  Calvin,  was  driven  from  Geneva,  without  a 
morsel  of  bread  to  put  in  his  mouth;  and  Servetus,  who  had  made 
sport  of  the  Institutes,  was  burned  alive.  When  Farel  made  his  first 
appearance  at  Geneva,  w^e  remember  that  he  had  asked  permission  to 
dispute ;  that,  in  spite  of  the  orders  of  the  magistrates,  he  had  mounted 
the  pulpit,  and  preached  his  God  to  the  astonished  multitude.  Woe 
now,  to  the  man  who  should  say  that  he  is  impelled  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  preach  a  word  different  from  that  of  Calvin ;  the  hierophant  is 
there,  ready  to  sieze  the  audacious  man,  and  he  will  put  him  in  irons 
or  cast  him  into  the  fire,  if  he  consent  not  to  retract.  CoUadon  will 
put  him  to  the  torture,  and  give  him,  as  he  did  Goulaz,  "a  strappado 
with  the  rope,  if  he  will  not  confess;  and  order  him  to  be  shorn  for 
using  enchantments;  and  have  him  proceeded  against  by  all  manner 
of  justice,  till  the  pure  truth  be  known, f  and,"  adds  M.  Galiffe,  "after 
the  confession  shall  have  been  obtained,  subject  him  anew  to  the  tor- 
ture, to  the  end  that  something  else  may  be  learned. "J 

Sometimes  a  wretch,  worn  out  by  sufferings,  after  having  in  vain 
cried  for  mercy  to  CoUadon  and  his  acolyte,  the  executioner,  who,  on 
the  next  day,  were  to  resume  their  office,  addressed  himself  to  God,  im- 
ploring Ijjm  to  terminate  his  life  ;  but  soon  he  learned  that  God  had  not 
heard  him;  then  he  fell  into  despair,  and  requested  to  see  Calvin. 
And  Calvin  entered  the  dungeon,  and  wrote  to  Bullinger  :  "  I  am  able 
to  assure  you  that  they  have  acted  very  humanely  towards  the  guilty  ; 
they  hoist  him  up  on  the  stake,  and  cause  him  to  lose  the  earth  by  sus- 
pending him  from  the  two  arms."  § 

We  shall  shortly  behold  a  Spaniard,  guilty  of  blasphemies  against 
the  Trinity  uttered  in  France,  ask  of  Calvin,  not  some  bread  and 
water,  but  a  shirt,  as  a  change  for  the  one  on  his  body,  and  which  the 
vermin  are  devouring,  and  Calvin  will  ansAver :   No.|| 

Most  of  the  patients  subjected  to  the  torture,  "on  recommendation  of 
M.  CoUadon,"  as  we  read  in  the  registers  of  the  city,  acknowledged 
the  real  or  false  crimes,  of  which  they  were  accused,  and  passed  from 
the  fiery  chamber  to  their  punishment.  But  justice  liad  not  finish- 
ed with  them  :  she  often  seized  upon  the  headless  trunk,  and  suspended 
it  at  Champel,  and  nailed  up  the  head  on  the  highway.  At  times,  but 
rarely,  she  took  a  notion  to  be  merciful,  and  her  pity  causes  horror. 
John  Roset,  under  the  violence  of  his  tortures,  acknowledged  the  adul- 

♦See  chapter  entitled  :   Litekary  Friendships. 

t  22  Janvier  1543.     Reg.  de  la  ville. 

:j:Not.  Geneol.  Article  CoUadon,  p.  566,  t.  11. 

i)  A.  Bullinger. — Manusc.  gen. 

11  See  chapter  entitled :  Servetus. 


LIFE    or    JOHM    GALVIU.  367 

tery  of  which  he  was  accused ;  one  of  the  judges  experienced  some  re- 
morse of  conscience,  and  obtained  a  commutation  of  punishment.  The 
decree  ran  :  John  Roset  has  merited  death  with  the  halter  ;  the  council 
shows  him  favour.  He  shall  be  scourged  through  the  city,  have  his 
feet  chained  with  an  iron  chain,  and  be  put  in  prison  for  ten  years  ; 
afterwards,  be  perpetually  banished  from  the  city,  under  penalty  of 
two  hundred  florins  or  crowns  fine,  for  which  he  shall  give  security.* 

These  torments  and  punishments  had  affected  all  hearts  at  Geneva ; 
but  they  wiped  away  their  tears ;  for,  had  they  wept,  they  would  have 
been  denounced  to  Calvin.  Some  verses  were  put  into  circulation, 
in  which  the  judges  and  executioner  were  devoted  to  the  wrath  of  God. 
The  police  seized  upon  them,  and  noted  in  them  several  infernal  here- 
sies. Three  citizens,  suspected  of  occupying  themselves  with  religious 
poetry,  were  cast  into  prison.  CoUadon,  who  had  tortured  them,  ac- 
cording  to  his  custom,  concluded  that  they  should  suffer  "the  pain  of 
death."  But  the  poets  did  not  die  ;  they  were  condemned  to  make  the 
aniende  honorable,  with  torch  in  hand,  and  to  cast  their  heterodox  in^ 
spirations  into  the  flames. 

CoUadon,  who  did  not  believe  that  God,  in  his  mercy,  wished  to  save 
sinners,  treated  his  prisoners  as  so  many  damned  souls.  If  they  refused 
to  confess  their  crime,  he  said  :  the  finger  of  satan  is  here  ;  and  he  had 
the  criminal  shorn,  and  again  subjected  him  to  the  torture,  persuaded 
that  the  devil  was  concealed  in  the  hair  of  the  sufterer. 

Do  not  fear  that  Calvin  will  cry  mercy,  in  behalf  of  the  victim.  If 
he  descend  into  the  lion's  den,  called  the  question  chamber,  it  is  not  in- 
order  to  say  to  the  executioner :  enough  !  but  coldly  to  write  to  Bullin- 
ger  :  *'  I  should  never  have  done,  were  I  to  refute  all  the  idle  stories 
which  are  circulated  in  my  regard.  .  .  .  They  say  that  unhappy  per- 
sons have  been  forced  to  confess,  under  the  torture,  crimes,  which,  af- 
terwards, they  disavowed.  There  are  four  of  them,  it  is  true,  who,  at 
the  moment  of  dying,  changed  some  trifling  things  in  their  first  avowals; 
but  that  torments  constrained  them  to  lie  to  God,  this  is  not  so."  Do 
you  recognize  the  student  of  Noyon,  who,  by  the  dead  body  of  his  child, 
wrote  to  his  friend  : — Do  come,  we  shall  chat  together? 

The  whole  study  of  the  man,  who  calls  himself  minister  of  a  God 
of  mercy,  is  to  invent  new  crimes,  in  order  undoubtedly,  to  resemble 
that  being,  whom  he  presents  to  us  in  his  book  of  predestination,  impell- 
ing his  creatures  to  evil,  and  afterwards  smiting  them,  in  order  to  dis- 
play his  justice.  The  councils  themselves,  the  pliant  instruments  of 
Calvin,  grew  weary  of  beholding  blood  flow  ;  they  dreaded  lest  it  should 
cry  to  God;  and,  on  the  15th  of  November,  1560,  they  decided  that 
the  new  decrees,  ''regarding  debauchery,  adultery,  blasphemy,  and  con- 
tempt of  God,"  added  to  his  Draconian  code,  ''seemed  to  some  per- 
sons to  be  too  severe,  and  ought  to  be  revised  and  moderated,  and  after- 
wards be  in  general  presented."  The  civil  power  was  visited  by  a 
good  thought,  of  which  it  should  be  proud  ;  but  it  dreaded  to  proclaim 
it,  for  fear  of  offending  Calvin,  and  attributed  it  to  *'same  persons,"  as 
if  it  was  afraid  to  accept  the  responsibility. 

♦  Registres  de  la  ville» 


358  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Ah  !  the  reformation  is  at  least  just  for  once ;  to-day  it  dares  bran:d 
Calvin,  and  laud  the  Catholicism  of  ancient  Geneva,  **where  the  laws 
were  so  mild,  the  creeds  which  dishonored  other  countries  less  sought 
after,  torture  scarcely  ever  applied,  the  confiscation  of  property  abolish- 
ed; where  you  will  find  none  of  those  monstrous  prosecutions  for  opin- 
ions, or  of  those  frightful  punishments  inflicted  on  unhappy  persons, 
suspected  of  dealings  with  the  devil."* 

At  Geneva,  previously  to  the  reformation,  sorcery  was  not  punished 
by  death;  the  sorcerer  was  prosecuted  before  the  tribunal,  and  banished 
from  the  city.  In  1503,  the  council  declared  to  a  certain  magician 
that,  if  he  did  not  leave  the  canton,  they  would  drive  him  away  with 
blows  of  the  cudgel. f  Calvin  instituted  punishment  by  fire  against 
sorcery ;  he  stigmatized  it  as  the  highest  degree  of  treason  against  God. 
In  the  space  of  sixty  years,  as  shown  by  the  registers  of  the  city,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  individuals  were  burned  for  the  crime  of  magic.  "We 
do  not  understand,"  says  a  minister  of  Berlin,  "how  it  was,  that  Calvin, 
who  had  such  an  affectionate  heart,  and  also  Beza,  have  not  protested 
against  a  legislation  so  cruel  ?"J  And  some  lines  farther  on,  this  same 
historian  tells  us,  that  Calvin's  laws  "are  not  written  with  blood,  like 
those  of  Draco,  but  with  a  red-hot  iron." 

In  this  legislation,  there  are  not  only  blood  and  fire,  but  all  things 
else  that  can  assist  the  executioner  in  the  discharge  of  his  office. 

It  was  the  duty  of  the  elders,  as  we  have  seen,  to  visit  their  parish- 
ioners, to  receive  their  confessions  of  faith,  to  permit  them  to  partake 
of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Each  citizen,  that  failed  to  commune  during  a 
year,  was  exiled  from  the  territory.  In  1564,  Claude  du  Rocher  and 
his  son  were  obliged  to  offer  the  amende  honorable,  at  St.  Gervais,  be- 
cause, on  Pentecost  day,  instead  of  listening  to  the  sermon,  they  went 
to  drink  and  amuse  themselves ;  and  George  Druson,  pastor  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Moens,  was  deposed,  both  for  his  avarice,  and  for  his  bad  man- 
ner of  preaching.  Some  of  these  elders,  real  spies  of  the  consistory, 
at  length  began  to  blush  at  the  task  which  Calvin  had  imposed  on 
them,  and  withdrew,  "loving  rather,"  says  Cayer,  "to  see  persons  go 
and  voluntarily  confess  to  the  priest,  than  to  be  spying  and  eves-drop- 
ping at  doors,  in  order  to  denounce  some  word,  spoken  possibly  under 
irritation,  by  a  husband  to  his  wife,  or  before  every  body.  For  all  this 
is  related  to  the  consistory,  so  that  it  is  a  real  Spanish  inquisition. "§ 

Cayer  adds,  thai  "these  elders  were  wont  to  inquire  into  every  par- 
ticularity which  they  could  imagine,  even  as  to  the  beds." 

An  ecclesiastical  ordinance  imports  "that  no  one  shall  remain  three 
entire  days  in  bed,  without  giving  notice  to  the  minister  of  his  quarter, 
that  those  consolations  and  admonitions  may  be  obtained,  which  are 
then  more  than  ever  necessary."  The  refractory  patient  who  recover- 
ed his  health,  and  also  his   nurses,    in  case  of  disobedience,  were  repri- 

*  J.  Fazy,  p.  185,  t,  I.  t  Picot.,  270,  t.  II. ., 

\  Auffallend  ist  es  in  der  That,  dasz  Calvin,   der  gutherzig,  freundlich  unii 
zartfiihlend  war,  ebenso  auch  Beza,   sich   noch  nicht  so  weit  durchgearbeite't 
hatten,  urn  gegen  jene  strengen  Gesetze  zu   protestiren.— Paul  Henry,  t.  U» 
p.  75. 
k  Picot,  t.  II,  p.  273. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  35& 

manded,  and  subjected  to  fine.  The  sermons  were  frequent,  and  it 
was  necessary  to  assist  at  them,  under  penalty  of  corporal  punishment. 
Three  children,  who  had  left  preaching  to  go  and  eat  cakes,  were 
scourged  publicly. 

Calvin,  Abel  Poupin,  Michael  Cop,  treated  the  libertines,  in  other 
words,  the  liberals  of  the  epoch,  "as  villains,  scoundrels,  rascals,  dogs; 
their  wives  and  sisters  as ;  the  emperor,  their  sovereign,  as  ver- 
min ;  their  father  and  mother,  as  agents  of  satan."*  "Whilst  Calvin, 
with  the  tongue  of  a  trooper,  was  insulting  his  enemies,  the  peasants," 
adds  the  same  writer,  "were  not  allowed  to  speak  impolitely  to  their 
oxen.  A  farmer,  who  had  sworn  at  his  oxen  in  the  plough,  because 
they  would  not  puli,  was  immediately  dragged  into  the  city,  by  two 
refugees,  who,  concealed  behind  a  hedge,  had  overheard  him."t 

The  city  was  thronged  with  spies,  who  denounced  to  the  consistory 
the  blasphemies,  impious  words,  and  libertine  expressions  which  they 
had  heard.  One  day,  a  mason,  who  fell  down  exhausted,  exclaimed  : 
Let  the  work  and  the  master  go  to  the  devil !  He  was  summoned  be- 
fore the  consistory,  and  condemned  to  the  dungeon  for  three  days4 

Calvin  had  numbered  among  sins  of  blasphemy,  all  railleries  against 
the  French  refugees,  whom  he  wished  to  be  regarded  as  martyrs  of  the 
gospel. 

Games,  of  cards,  dice,  and  nine-pins  were  prohibited  :  the  iron  collar 
was  put  upon  the  gamester  by  profession.  The  consistory  made  crimes 
out  of  the  most  innocent  amusements,  and  interdicted  certain  young 
persons  from  the  Lord's  Supper,  for  having,  on  the  Epiphany,  drawn 
lots  in  the  game  of  the  kings. 

The  council  excommunicated  a  young  girl,  who,  one  evening  had 
disguised  herself  in  male  attire,  as  also  her  mother,  for  having  al- 
lowed her  to  do  this.  It  exiled  a  woman  for  having  sung  profane  songs 
to  the  tune  of  a  psalm  ;  imprisoned  a  man,  with  whom  the  tales  of 
Poggio  were  discovered;  condemned  Amadis  de  Gaul,  "because  many 
read  this  work,  although  in  it  there  is  nothing  but  dissolute  and  wicked 
things  :"  and  at  a  later  period,  threw  Henry  Estienne  into  prison,  "for 
having  printed  a  book  full  of  things  scandalous,  and  unworthy  of  a 
christian,  and  for  having  been  wanting  in  respect  to  M.  de  Beza,  who 
reproached  him  for  the  abuse  he  made  of  his  talents,  and  for  his  bad 
reputation,  being  commonly  termed  the  Pantagruel  of  Geneva,  and  the 
prince  of  atheists ;  finally,  for  having  said,  that,  to  please  the  consisto- 
ry,  a  person  should  be  a  hypocrite. "§ 

Calvin  finally  ended  by  refusing  a  serious  struggle  with  ideas  too 
hostile  to  his  doctrines.  When  Servetus  had  been  burned,  some  Pro- 
testants secretly  printed  a  book  "regarding  the  non-combustion  of  here- 
tics :  De  non  comburendis  hcBreticis."  He  had  just  published  a  pam- 
phlet concerning  the  necessity  of  killing  blasphemers  with  the  sword 
or  fire,  among  whom  he  placed  the  papist,  in  the  first  rank.  To  please 
God,  he  would  have  thrown  his  benefactor,    the  abbe  d'Hangest,  into 

*  Galiffe,  Preface,  p.  xix,   t.  I. 
t  lb.,  p.  XXV,  xxvi. 
I  Registres,  13  mars  1559. 
4  Registres,  13  mai  1580. 


360  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

the  flames.  This  book,  then,  had  agitated  the  theological  world;  and, 
you  will  admit,  that  the  question  was  of  sufficiently  grave  importance, 
where  the  life  ot*  a  man  was  at  stake.  Calvin  treats  it  with  a  proud 
disdain,  as  if  it  meriled  no  concern. 

"  I  will  say  to  you,  in  one  word,  that  their  arguments  agree  together 
like  cats  and  dogs,  as  their  own  books  manifest.  Except,  that  on  one 
thing  they  have  conspired  together,  that  heretics  ought  not  to  be  punish- 
ed ;  and  this,  in  ordtir  that  they  may  vomit  forth  whatsoever  pleases 
them  ;  for  such  people  would  be  glad  there  was  no  law  or  restraint  in 
the  world.  Behold,  why  they  have  concocted  this  fine  book  :  De  non 
comburendis  hareticis,  in  which  they  have  falsified  the  names  of  as 
many  cities  as  persons ;  not  for  other  cause,  than  that  said  book  is 
crammed  full  of  insupportable  blasphemies,  and  they  go  so  far  as  to 
say,  that  if  Jesus  Christ  wished  all  to  be  punished  who  shall  have  blas- 
phemed, he  would  be  a  second  idol  of  Moloch.  I  let  rest,  their  beau- 
tiful  maxim,  that  every  contrary  dispute  should  be  tolerated,  because 
there  is  nothing  determined  and  certain,  but  that  the  scripture  is  a  nose 
of  wax."* 

In  1538,  as  we  must  remember,  a  preacher  presented  himself  to  Lau- 
sanne, at  that  time  Catholic,  and  said  to  the  canons  of  the  cathedral: — 
I  wish  a  discussion.  The  canons  answered  : — In  whose  name  do  you 
come  ?  The  preacher  said  : — hi  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Gbsst . — The  canons,  subject  to  the  authority  of 
the  bishop,  told  him  : — We  will  consider.  The  minister  flew  into  a 
passion,  and  pretended  that  Christ,  whose  kingdom  had  been  founded 
by  the  word,  ought  to  be  glorified  by  the  word,  and  that  it  was  necessa- 
ry to  allow  every  oral  debate.  This  minister  was  Farel,  who  wanted 
to  argue  concerning  the  Trinity,  baptism,  and  the  Eucharistic  sacra- 
ment. In  1555,  Calvin,  the  theocrat,  scarcely  deigns  to  enter  the  lists 
with  those  who  offer  him  a  theological  combat. f 

•  Manus.  de  Geneve,  20  fdvrier.  1555. 

t  With  regard  to  the  dogmatic  influence  of  Calvin,  the  reader  may  consult 
the  little  work  of  M.  John  Gaberel :  Calvin  at  Geneva,  p.  78-79,  and  concem- 
ing  his  theocratical  ideas,  the  Christian  Institutes,  1.  3,  ch.  4,  \  14. — L.  4,  ch, 
3,  §  4.— L.  2,  ch,  8,  ^  46,  etc. 


CHAPTER    XXXVe 

THE  POLITICAL   STRUGGLE,— 1543— 1547. 

THE   LIBERTIXES.      THE   PAMPHLETS.      THE    REFUGEES,      THE    INFORMERS, 


THE     LIBESTIN^S. 

Calvin,  master  of  Geneva,  first  makes  war  upon  freedom  of  intellect.— The 
patriots  chastised. -*=CaIvin  struggling  with  the  Libertines. — What  we  are  to 
understand  by  this  denomination. — The  philosophic  system  attributed  to 
them  by  the  reformer. — It  is  almost  entirely  extracted  from  Servetus. — No 
trace  of  it  is  found  in  the  history  of  the  Libertines. — Open  war  declared 
against  them  by  Calvin. 

When  the  reformation  had  succeeded  to  expel  1  Catholicism  from 
Saxony,  it  imagined  that  the  hour  of  repose  had  arrived,  and  for  a  mo- 
ment it  lulled  itself  to  sleep  in  its  triumph.  When  the  tempest  was 
menacing  the  church  that  he  had  just  founded,  Luther,  at  the  Wart- 
bourg,  was  amusing  himself  with  hunting  the  birds  of  heaven.  Eman- 
<;ipated  thought,  seated  amid  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  religion,  undertook 
to  scrutinize  the  mission  of  the  man,  who  had  scattered  these  ruins 
around  him,  and  it  discovered  that  the  Saxon  evangelist  had  revealed 
only  imperfect  truths  to  the  world.  In  the  very  same  book  which  Lu- 
ther  had  cast  it  for  food,  it  read  the  signs  of  the  speedy  fall  of  the  word 
of  Wittenberg.  Then  appeared  Anabaptism,  which,  in  virtue  of  the 
Protestant  principle,  came  to  demand  protection  for  its  word.  But 
Luther,  without  permission  of  the  elector,  broke  through  his  bounds, 
left  his  Patmos,  descended  from  the  airy  region  of  the  birds,  and  mount- 
ed the  pulpit,  to  hurl  his  thunders  at  the  new  prophets.  The  Anabap- 
tists, routed  and  dispersed,  rallied  on  a  foreign  territory,  which  they 
filled  with  trouble,  as  Luther  had  Saxony.  Some  of  them,  in  their 
flight,  came  even  to  Geneva.  In  the  first  portion  of  this  history,  we 
have  seen  how  they  were  driven  away.  They  were  not  even  allowed 
to  defend  their  doctrines.* 

In  the  face  of  these  souls,  so  greedy  of  novelties,  tormented  with 
such  curious  desires,  and  so  inquisitive  after  new  truths,  Luther  had,  as 

*  See  chapter  entitled :  The  Anabaptists.  Camerarius,  in  his  life  of  Me- 
lancthon,  speaking  of  these  heretics,  says:  "Non  habeo  pro  certo  dicere,  ubi 
locorum  et  quibus  maxime  auctoribus  secta  ista  furiosa  exorta  sit.  Hospinian, 
in  his  history  of  the  Sacramentarians,  is  more  candid.  He  acknowledges 
that  this  sect  was  the  offspring  of  Luther. 

31 


362 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVINo 


a  reproach,  cast  the  epithet,  Schwaermer,  which,  in  the  Teutonic  lan- 
guage, signifies  :  men  of  trouble  and  disorder,  who  lose  themselves  m 
mists ;  adventurous  spirits,  who  believe  in  the  existence  of  no  world 
that  ibey  have  not  discovered;  intellects  steeped  in  pride.  Anabaptists, 
and  iconoclasts.  Hence,  with  the  brand  upon  their  foreheads,  these  inno- 
vators were  tormented  by  the  civil  power,  and  excommunicated  by  the 
church,  wherever  they  appeared. 

Calvin,  also,  had  ransacked  the  French  language,  for  an  expression 
calculated  to  brand  his  political  or  religious  adversaries,  and  had  found 
that  of  Libertine,  an  ancient  term,  which,  with  its  twofold  significa- 
lion,  sometimes  designated  the  being  that  moves  along  with  the  head 
bowed  down  to  earth,  and  sometimes  the  being  that  boldly  gazes  upon 
the  heavens,  in  order  to  mock  at  Him  who  dwells  there  :  the  brute^ 
and  the  demon. 

We  have  contemplated  the  struggle  of  the  Genevese  against  the 
house  of  Savoy,  the  destinies  of  which  were  by  no  means  so  interwoven 
with  those  of  the  episcopacy,  that  it  was  necessary  to  sacrifice  the  priest- 
liood  in  order  to  save  the  national  franchises.  Geneva  might  have 
preserved  the  bond  of  spiritual  unity,  even  after  the  fall  of  the  dukes; 
but  the  people,  bewildered  by  the  predications  of  French  apostates, 
beheld  in  the  episcopacy  a  faction,  hostile  to  the  rights  of  the  commune. 
In  breaking  to  pieces  the  crozier,  which  had  so  effectually  protected 
them,  they  imagined  that  they  were  saving  their  liberties.  This  was 
an  ingratitude  which  merited  chastisement,  and  Calvin  was  the  man 
chosen  by  God  to  inflict  it. 

The  fir^i  act  of  a  despotism,  which,  to  consolidate  its  power,  was  not 
even  to  recoil  from  bloodshed,  was  the  creation  of  a  tribunal  of  morals; 
a  living  inquisition,  in  which  individual  conscience  is  at  the  mercy  of 
certain  informers,  decorated  with  the  name  of  elders,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  discharge  the  office  of  the  daughters  of  Lot  before  the  consistory. 
Under  the  episcopal  administration,  interior  faith  had  never  been  dis- 
quieted; and  the  priest  at  the  altar,  did  not,  like  Calvin,  designate  with 
his  finger,  the  christian  not  worthy  of  approaching  the  sacraments. 

Calvin,  from  the  pulpit,  pursued  his  enemies  by  mockery,  irony,  or 
insult ;  in  the  council,  by  excommunication  ;*  out  of  the  temple,  by  the 
aid  of  valets,  who  played  the  part  of  decoy  agents.  The  Genevan  was 
condemned  to  be  present  at  the  preaching  of  the  ministers,  and  to  listen 
to  their  tirades  against  the  papacy.  If  he  wished  not  to  be  damned,  be 
liad  to  believe  in  Calvin's  providence,  that  cruel  mother,  who  gives  birth 
to  her  children  in  order  to  doom  them  to  the  punishment  of  fire.  Ha 
could  no  longer  possess  images,  without  incurring  the  penalty  of  idola- 
try. The  number  of  dishes  at  his  meals  was  fixed,  the  form  of  his 
shoes  prescribed,  and  also  the  head-dress  of  his  wife.  He  was  not  al. 
lowed  to  dance  in  the  long  evenings  of  winter,  to  drink  wines  that 
were  too  spirituous,  to  play  at  cards,  or  to  clothe  himself  in  too  gay  a 
fashion.     In  the  temple,  he  was  compelled  to  keep  his  eye  cast  down, 

*  The  consistory  had  the  right  only  to  reprimgnd  ;  that  of  excommunication 
was  reserved  to  the  council.  Registers  of  the  state  council  of  the  republic, 
1543,  19th  March.  At  a  later  period,  the  consistory  done  had  the  right  to 
excommunicate. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIX.  363^ 

and  be  careful  not  to  give  rein  to  his  mirthful  nature,  when  Poupin 
preached,  or  Calvin  lavished  the  names  of  scoundrels  before  his  audi- 
tors. If  he  said  raca  to  a  French  refugee,  he  was  called  before  the 
consistory  to  be  reprimanded;  for  the  refugee,  under  Calvin's  wing, 
had  become  a  man  of  God.  Confession  had  been  abolished  ;  but  he 
was  obliged,  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  to  receive  an  inquisitor,  whose 
office  it  was  to  denounce  to  the  tribunal  of  morals,  every  murmur  against 
Calvin,  every  secreting  of  images  or  papistical  books,  all  too  noisy 
clattering  of  glasses,  all  profane  songs. 

Open  the  state  registers,  and  you  will  read  ; 

''Prohibition  made  to  men  to  dance  with  women,  to  wear  embroider-, 
ed  stockings,  or  flowered  breeches." — Registers,  1552,  14th  July. 

•'  Sponsors  must  not  retire  till  after  the  baptism  and  the  sermon,  un- 
der penalty  of  five  sols  fine;  on  the  occasion  of  the  sponsorship,  they 
can  go  to  no  other  expense,  under  penalty  of  paying  double  the  amount 
to  the  hospital."     September  30th,  1550. 

"  Three  companions,  tanners,  put  for  three  days  in  prison  on  water, 
for  having,  at  breakfast,  eaten  three  dozen  meat  pies  (pates):  which  is  a 
great  dissoluteness."     13th  February,  1558. 

In  order  to  deceive  Calvin's  inquisitorial  eye,  Geneva  made  herself  a 
caviller.  During  the  whole  life  of  the  reformer,  you  will  not  perceive 
one  ray  of  light  illumine  this  unhappy  city.  When  all  the  cities  of 
Germany  and  Italy  were  awaked  by  the  concerts  of  the  muses,  Geneva 
remained  plunged  in  a  scholastic  darkness,  of  which  they  would  have 
made  sport  at  Cologne. 

During  revolutions,  there  are  some  who  allow  themselves  to  be  borne 
along  upon  any  current  which  God  invests  with  force  enough  to  carry 
them,  never  troubling  themselves  about  the  rocks  against  which  they 
may  be  dashed  to  pieces,  nor  about  the  port  at  which  they  may  be  land- 
ed :  the  future  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  and  it  is  no  concern  of  theirs. 
When  despotism  appears,  such  organizations  become  the  property  of 
the  person  that  has  energy  enough  to  make  himself  feared  :  their  God 
is  necessity.  But  ever,  by  the  side  of  these  degenerate  individuals,  are 
placed,  for  the  honor  of  humanity,  spirits  which  make  no  compromise 
even  with  force ;  who  may  be  killed,  but  not  subdued,  and  who,  like 
the  ancient  gladiators,  die  with  their  eyes  looking  up  to  heaven.  The 
libertines  belonged  to  this  class  of  privileged  beings,  whom  the  histo- 
rian is  delighted  to  encounter,  in  order  to  give  dramatic  interest  to  his  re- 
cital. It  is  less  our  task  to  vindicate  their  memory,  than  to  manifest  with 
what  energy  they  combated  for  Genevese  liberties  :  the  real  girondists  of 
the  reformation,  who,  like  those  of  the  convention,  nearly  all  paid  the 
price  of  deceptive  illusions,  with  their  blood  or  with  exile.  Their  strug- 
gle with  Calvin  was  not  only  protracted,  but  pregnant  with  lessons 
which  should  not  be  allowed  to  perish. 

We  have  seen  that  the  first  care  of  the  exile,  after  his  return  from 
banishment,  was  to  chain  and  shackle  conscience.  He  desired  first  to 
make  himself  master  of  the  intellect;  the  soul  subjugated,  there  re- 
mains only  the  body,  which,  then,  can  easily  be  conquered.  Had  he, 
like  an  ordinary  despot,  made  his  first  assault  upon  material  organi- 
zation, he  would  have  failed:  for  the  sword  of  the  libertines  had  achiev- 


364 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


ed  SO  many  heroic  deeds,  that  the  contest  might  have  been  uncertain. 
Luther,  before  arraying  the  Saxon  population  against  the  peasants  of 
Thuringia,  essayed  to  injure  their  cause  at  the  tribunal  of  God.  He  rep- 
resented these  rustics  as  so  many  degraded  beings,  who  had  vowed  them- 
selves to  satan.  His  voice  aroused  from  their  lethargy  the  prince  electors, 
who  seized  their  arms,  and  drenched  the  plains  of  Franconia  with  ple- 
beian blood.  The  subdued  revolt  was  branded  with  the  guilt  of  blas- 
phemy. And  then  was  heard  a  voice,  exclaiming  :  "  Give  straw  to 
the  peasants."     It  was  the  voice  of  doctor  Martin.* 

Calvin  proceeded  after  the  same  sort  against  the  libertines,  and  be- 
gan  by  calumniating  them  in  their  private  life. 

If  we  listen  to  him,  *'  A  sect  has  been  established  at  Geneva  more 
immoral  than  all  those  that  have  desolated  the  church  of  Christ."t  Its 
grand  chimera  is  liberty,  not  a  liberty  according  to  God,  but  one  entire- 
ly worldly,  revolt  against  law  erected  into  a  system  :  carnal  souls,  de- 
sirous to  pass  for  pure  essences,  and  whose  speech  affects  the  very  form 
of  clouds  and  dreams;  Cerdonites,  who  admit  a  twofold  principle,  and 
deny  the  resurrection ;  disguised  Marcionites,  Gnostics,  and  Maniche- 
ans,  who,  out  of  shreds  and  patches  stolen  from  the  ancient  heresies^ 
have  fashioned  a  symbol;  mocking  spirits,  who  laugh  at  every  thing, 
call  St.  Luke  "a  broken  pot,  St.  Peter  a  renouncer  of  God,  St.  Johii 
a  wanton  stripling,  and  St.  Mathew  a  usurer."  Study  their  doctrines, 
and  you  will  find  no  breath  of  life  in  them;  they  are  like  old  women,, 
discoursing  about  the  courses  of  the  planets,  and  desirous  to  regulate 
the  march  of  the  sun.  "  Duplicity  of  speech  is  their  article  of  faith  : 
they  wish  to  bamboozle  the  world  with  absurd  and  dangerous  follies. 
To  hear  them  speak,  or  rather,  mutter,  is  like  listening  to  the  German 
chant  :  as  if  the  tongue  had  not  been  created  by  God  to  express  thought; 
as  if  it  were  not  perverting  God's  order,  to  beat  the  air  with  confused 
sounds,  which  no  one  could  understand,  or  to  circulate  their  ambiguities- 
with  the  ale-can,,  for  the  purpose  of  setting  their  auditors  to  dreaming. 
To  treat  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  the  scripture  is  our  rule  ;  the  Lord  ac- 
commodates himself  to  ouE  littleness,  like  a  nurse  prattling  with  her 
child." 

Libertinism,  seeking  to  elevate  itself  to  the  purest  spiritualism,  now, 
floats  away  in  space,  where  no  human  eye  can  follow  it,  again,  plunges, 
into  the  deepest  mire  of  impurity.  Its  dogma  is,  that  "in  God  there  is 
one  Spirit,  which  lives  in  all  his  creatures,  that  every  thing  created 
comes  from  God,  and  is  God  himself"  The  devil,  in  the  notion  of  the 
libertines,  is  the  world  and  sin  :  therefore,,  there  is  no  demoniacal  or 
angelical  individuality.  Also,  evil  is  only  a  mere  negation  ;  the  hu- 
man soul,  a  portion  of  matter  or  of  the  world,  is  mortal  and  perishable.. 
There  is  but  one  spirit,  that  which  fills  matter ;  alone,  active,  living, 
prolific  ;  that,  which  necessarily  existed  from  all  eternity,  and,  in  itself, 
contains  every  cause  and  effect.  There  exists  no  other  being,  but  God 
only  ;  there  is  no  human  morality,   no  justice,  no.  society ;  hence  ffow 

♦See  Luther's  life, — chapter  entitled  :  The  Peasants. 

t  In  quibus  veteresomnes  q,uantumvis  portentosqe  reuavatse  suat  hg^reses.-**- 
Beza,  Vita  Calvini, 


Lir^  OF    JOHN    CALVTN.  365 

these  theorems ;  God  and  the  devil  are  one  and  the  same  entity  :  con- 
science is  a  vain  word,  sin,  an  absurdity  :  every  thing  is  in  God,  every 
thing  is  God.  In  this  fantastical  system,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  revela- 
tion or  Christianity;  Christ  is  no  other  than  this  spirit  infused  into  us  and 
the  creation ;  "  wtiat  he  has  suffered  is  but  a  fable,  or  morality  acted,  in 
order  to  figure  to  us  the  mystery  of  our  salvation."  Christ  is  in  them, 
they  are  Christ,  and  can  no  longer  suffer,  because  every  thing  is  accom- 
plished. The  resurrection  of  the  soul  by  faith,  is  a  mere  nonsense. 
Man  here  is  in  a  state  of  primitive  innocence,  and  cannot  sin.  For 
these  sectaries  there  exist  no  human  laws ;  each  member  of  civil  socie- 
ty need  obey  no  other  inspiration  except  that  of  the  spirit.  Marriage, 
being  but  a  carnal  bond,  can  be  broken,  united,  multiplied,  at  will ; 
there  is  but  one  entirely  mystic  union, — that  of  the  spirit.  All  the 
goods  of  this  earth  ought  to  be  possessed  in  common.  Liberty  will  al- 
low no  other  limits.  There  will  be  no  resurrection  of  matter,  the  spirit 
is  absorbed  in  God. 

Here  we  have  a  philosophic  system  precisely  defined  ;  but  where  has 
Calvin  discovered  it  ?     None   of  the   libertines,  whom  he  so  zealously 
pursued,  has  left  a  written  confession.     If  you  follow  them  to  the  con- 
sistory, you  will  never  hear  them   make  a  profession  of  faith.     When 
banished  from  Geneva,  they  form   alliance   with  no  sect,  and  no  where 
endeavour  to  propagate   their   symbol;  when  they  die  on  the  scaffold, 
they  invoke  the  name   of  liberty,  this   is   their  last   cry.     Schrceckh, 
Planck,  and  Paul  Henry  have   been  unable,  in  the  numerous  prosecu- 
tions of  the  libertines  which  they  have   examined,  to  find  a  single  reli- 
gious thought  regarding  dogma.     More   fortunate   than  they,  we  have 
discovered  this  pantheistic  symbol  in  the  works  of  Servetus,  and  it  was 
thence  Calvin  drew  it,  in  order   to   attribute  it  to  the  libertines.     The 
same  God,  the  same  nature,  the  same  universal  spirit,  diffused  through 
plants,    the   air,    water,  and  all   organized   nature ;  God  made  man, 
man   made    God;  good   and  evil,   devil   and  angel,   spirit  and  body, 
constituting  but   one   substance   with   various  attributes   or   modes  of 
existence.     In  order  thus  to  invest   thought   with  a  sensible  form,  one 
must  have  an  intellect   accustomed  to   sport   with   philosophical   ab- 
stractions.    Now,  at  Geneva,  there   was   no   one  among  the  libertines 
who  had  devoted  his  life  to  such  speculations.      Long  since,  the  liber- 
tine who  should  have  invented  this  system,  would  have  shown  himself; 
we  should  have  seen  him,  at  the  moment  of  the  reformation,  disputing 
with  the  Catholic  priest.     But  no  one  except   Farel  makes  a  figure  in 
theological  discussions.     Thus,  it  was  in  the  book  of  a  man,  whom  he 
was  to  consign  to  the  flames,  that  Calvin,  in  order  to  blast  the  character 
of  his  enemies,  sought  for  a  system  of  which  they  had  not  the  slightest 
notion.*     If  it  be  pretended  that  he  has  merely  reduced  to  a  general  for- 
mulary the  principles,  Avhich,   in   his   civil  or  religious  administration, 
he  found  spread  around  him  ;  we   shall    ask   hov/  such  doctrines  were 
kept  hid  so  long  from  public   view  ?     If  they  existed  previously  to  the 
reformation,  let  them  put  us  upon   their   track,    let  them  show  us  their 
genesis.     After  our  eye  shall  have   contemplated  this,  still  other  ques. 

♦  See  chapter  entitled :  Michael  Servetus. 

31* 


366  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN, 

tiona  will  remain.  How  happened  it,  that  this  Catholic  priest,  whont 
you  represent  as  so  intolerant,  never  prosecuted  ideas  so  hostile  to  social 
order  ?  But  the  Catholic  priest  is  guilty  neither  of  intolerance  nor 
apathy.  If  these  speculations  have  not  been  invented  by  Calvin,  they 
are  the  ofifspring  of  the  piinciple  of  the  reformation.  As  Erasmus  has  call- 
ed upon  Luther  to  be  answerable  for  the  follies  of  Carlstadt,  we  have  the 
right  to  make  Calvin  responsible  for  these  monstrous  fancies ;  whether 
they  be  considered  as  a  simple  accident  in  the  religious  life  of  the  Gene- 
vese  population,  reduced  to  a  system  by  the  reformer ;  ox  referred  to  as 
an  organized  revolt  against  the  christian  society. 

But  whom  will  they  induce  to  believe  that  persons,  whose  chief 
crime  is  a  refusal  to  believe  in  Calvin's  infallibility,  represent  Cerdon, 
Manes,  or  Marcion  ?  that  ladies  who  persist  in  wearing  shoes  after  the 
fashion  of  Berne,  are  lovers  of  their  own  bodies  ?  that  the  Genevese 
youth,  who  amuses  himself  at  supper  with  laughing  at  the  figure  of 
Calvin,  is  a  heretic,  preaching  the  doctrine  of  a  community  of  goods  ? 
that  the  merchants  of  the  Moulard,  who  so  sincerely  hate  the  French 
refugee,  are  pantheists  ?  that  labourers,  who  know  not  how  to  read,  are 
believers  in  a  God,  that  is  at  the  same  time  man,  plant,  flower,  angel, 
and  demon  ? 

The  libertines  may  possibly  have  carried  to  excess  the  sentiment  of 
free-will ;  irritated  by  the  violence  of  Calvin,  they  may  have  organized 
against  him  a  systematic  opposition ;  and  to  overthrow  the  minister  and 
the  tribune,  they  may  have'  exaggerated  the  democratic  and  religious 
principle.  But  who  will  believe  that  a  faction  sought  to  obtain  power 
by  libertinism  and  hypocrisy  ?  Born  in  a  monarchical  country,  Calvin 
did  not  understand  the  Genevese  people.  He  had  spent  the  first  years 
of  his  life  at  Paris,  under  a  government,  the  feudal  forms  of  which  had 
seduced  his  very  practical  spirit.  Having  rejected  divine  right  as  a 
source  of  power,  he  believed,  as  remarked  by  an  historian,*  in  absolute 
doctrines,  the  empire  of  which  none  but  chosen  intellects  had  the  voca- 
tion to  establish.  In  this  system,  although  truth  is  supposed  to  belong- 
to  the  community,  the  manifestation  of  the  principle  belongs  only  to  a 
small  number  of  beings,  the  envoys  of  God.  Such  is  the  theory  which 
he  desired  to  reduce  to  practice  at  Geneva.  We  have  already  seen  how 
incorrect  it  was  to  call  Luther  the  representative  of  civil  liberty  :  Cal- 
vin is  still  a  greater  despot  than  the  Saxon  monk.  Both,  after  having 
emancipated  the  human  mind,  repented  of  their  work,  and  sought  to 
withdraw  the  gift,  which,  under  an  impulse  of  egotism,  they  had  bestow- 
ed upon  man.  Their  doctrines  regarding  grace  and  justification  are 
thoroughly  aristocratic.  What  is  Luther's  God,  who  impells  man  to 
crime ;  or  Calvin's  God^  who  predestines  him  to  hell  from  all  eternity? 
Blind  gods,  made  after  the  image  and  likeness  of  the  reformers.  What 
is  to  be  said  of  that  heaven,  of  that  abode  constructed  by  John  of 
Noyon,  towards  which  the  soul  in  vain  endeavours  to  lift  itself  on  the 
wings  of  prayer,  of  mediation,  or  of  good  works,  as  if  salvation  were 
not  offered  to  all,  and  depended  not  on  their  free  choice. 

t  Jamas  Fazy,  Essai  d'un  precis  de  I'histoire  de  la  repub-lique  de  Geneve, 
t.  I,  p.  274. 


LIFI    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  367 

Nor  did  Calvin  seem  to  comprehend  that  every  revolution  is  a  pro- 
gress for  good  or  bad.  When  he  had  started  revolt  upon  its  march,  he  con- 
ceived a  strange  idea ;  he  wished  to  replunge  into  servitude  the  people 
whom  he  had  emancipated ;  to  repress  the  spirit  of  investigation  which 
he  had  developed  ;  to  create  a  theocracy  on  the  ruins  of  the  sacerdotal 
empire;  to  give  a  symbolical  book  to  a  nation  which,  without  exami- 
nation, had  rejected  the  catechism  of  the  Catholic  church.  How  shall 
the  child  of  Geneva,  with  his  hot  blood,  clothe  himself  with  the  warm 
under-jacket  of  the  son  of  the  north,  and  voluntarily  subject  himself  to 
that  Spartan  puritanism,  the  austerities  of  which  were  purposely  ex- 
aggerated by  the  reformer,  in  order  to  influence  the  neighbouring  popu- 
lations, by  the  example  of  a  city,  which,  without  a  murmur,  accepts  all 
the  rules  of  cenobitical  life  ? 

In  order  to  struggle  against  the  exigences  of  the  people,  there  was 
needed  a  privileged  organization,  which  was  destitute  of  fear  in  the  face 
of  danger,  without  pity  for  humanity,  without  concern  for  human  life, 
liberty  and  conscience ;  one,  that,  in  case  of  need,  could  transform 
every  religious  thought,  which  was  too  bold,  into  a  blasphemy,  every 
murmur  into  open  rebellion,  every  free  speech  into  an  outrage  upon 
morals;  a  magistrate,  who,  as  means  of  punishment,  had  at  his  service, 
reprimands,  excommunication,  exile,  the  prison,  and  death.  Now, 
Calvin  was  the  only  man  adequate  to  play  such  a  part. 

Luther  would  not  have  had  the  perseverance  necessary  to  fill  it; 
sooner  or  later,  he  would  have  come  into  collision  with  the  popular 
wrath,  and  been  broken  to  pieces.  With  his  ardent  instincts,  he  would 
have  allowed  his  soul  to  be  read  ;  a  man  of  the  south,  under  a  northern 
envelope,  he  is  armed  with  the  lion's  claw  or  tooth ;  Calvin,  hides  un- 
der the  skin,  and  distills  the  venom,  of  the  serpent. 

At  the  very  threshold  of  this  dramatic  struggle,  we  must  bear  in  mind 
the  springs,  which,  at  Geneva,  set  in  motion  the  republican  element  : 

The  general  council,  in  which  the  people  elected  their  sj^dics; 

The  syndics,  who  chose  the  members  of  the  council  of  tlie  Fifty,  or 
the  small  council ; 

The  Two  Hundred,  who  had  a  right  of  exclusion  in  the  council  of 
the  Twenty-five,  or  the  strict  council,  a  fraction  of  the  council  of  the 
Fifty.* 

Now,  outside  these  powers,  Calvin  created  one,  designed,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  pastoral  organization  which  he  gave  it,  to  absorb  all  the 
rest.  We  have  seen  of  what  elements  he  had  formed  it :  it  was  a  theo- 
cracy, in  which  every  inferior  intellect  was  to  obey  the  powerful  spirit 
that  set  it  to  work.  His  consistory  is  far  more  despotically  organized 
than  the  police  of  Madrid.  If  necessary,  Calvin  could  dispense  with 
the  employment  of  concealed  informers  in  order  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  secrets  of  families;  he  has  spies  openly  recognized,  who,  in 
virtue  of  a  law  of  the  state,  can,  once  a  week,  introduce  themselves 
into  the  most  mysterious  sanctuary,  in  order  afterwards  to  give  an  ac- 
count,  to  the  tribunal,  of  every  thing  that   their  eyes  or  ears  shall  have 

♦  J.  Fazy,  Essai  d'un  precis  de  I'histoire  de  la  republique  de  Geneve, 
t.  I,  p.  216. 


368  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

perceived  or  divined.  These  informers  do  not,  as  at  Madrid  and  Ven- 
ice, swear  upon  the  cross  to  speak  tlie  truth.  The  denunciation  made, 
they  do  not  depart;  but  they  go  and  take  their  seat  among  the  judges, 
in  face  of  the  criminal  whom  they  have  denounced.  Their  name  is  not 
a  disgrace,  it  is  taken  from  the  New  Testament ;  the  Apostle  St.  Paui 
has  baptized  them  with  the  title  of  elders.  The  fines,  which  the  victim 
is  condemned  to  pay,  serve  to  pay  for  each  vacation  of  the  tribunal. 
Search  as  much  as  you  please,  and  you  will  never  come  across  a  nation 
which  has  thus  delivered  up  its  liberties  to  a  stranger.  In  this  sacerdo- 
tal government,  every  thing  is  extraordinary;  especially  strange  is  the 
figure  of  the  hieropliant,  who,  in  his  cold  impassibility,  is  like  the 
Egyptian  priest ;  for  the  ironical  smile  that  plays  round  his  lips,  like 
the  Roman  soothsayer ;  and  for  an  indescribable  mingling  of  cruelty 
and  mockery,  like  the  political  inquisitor  of  Venice.  During  these 
times  of  calamity,  when  every  thing  in  the  city  seems  smitten  by  the 
hand  of  death,  the  consistory  alone  lives  and  moves.  With  difficulty 
can  it  endure  the  labour  of  hearing  those  denunciations  which  weekly 
are  spread  before  it  by  the  elders.  During  a  single  year,  more  than 
two  hundred  cases,  instituted  for  blasphemies,  calumnies,  libertine 
speeches,  outrages  on  morals,  outrages  upon  Calvin,  offences  against  the 
ministers,  observations  against  the  F'rench  refugees,  were  brought  before 
the  council  at  the  instance  of  the  consistory. 

Among  the  regulations  which  Calvin  causes  to  be  received,  there  is 
one  which  strikes  with  interdict  the  taverns,  where  the  people,  even 
under  the  rule  of  the  bishops,  had  been  accustomed  to  assemble  to  dis- 
cuss matters  of  business.  No  asylum  is  left,  where  they  can  meet  to- 
gether, to  draw  closer  the  bonds  of  a  common  brotherhood,  or  protest 
against  oppression.  They  had  silently  to  swallow  the  outrage  offered 
to  all  their  instincts.  Did  they  attempt  some  timid  laughs,  some  tepid 
mockeries,  some  inoflensive  allusions,  punishment  followed  immediate- 
ly. The  amende  honorable,  proclaimed  aloud,  beneath  the  open  sun- 
light, made  the  name  of  the  criminal  a  bye-word  through  the  city  ;  and 
on  the  following  Sunday,  the  minister  from  his  pulpit,  in  God's  name, 
smote  the  unliappy  wretch,  who  had  already  been  branded  by  the  hand 
of  human  justice. 

The  libertines  did  not  become  discouraged  ;  but  the  struggle  was  un- 
equal ;  they  could  not  assemble  together  in  order  to  concert  their  mea- 
sures of  attack.  If,  on  a  feast  day,  they  met  each  other  at  table,  they 
bad  to  look  round  them  with  caution  ;  for  often,  the  host  was  a  man 
sold  to  the  police  of  the  reformer.  The  right  of  excommunication,  at 
first  left  to  the  council,  afterwards  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  pastors;* 
this  w^as  lor  Calvin  a  great  victory. 

At  this  epoch,  but  one  means  of  success  remained  for  the  patriots  : 
this  was,  by  their  influence  in  the  council,  to  procure  one  of  those 
grand  assizes,  where  the  people  in  general  assembly  might  renew  the 
representative  element.  But  the  reformer  had  foreseen  every  thing  ; 
and  as  he  had  erected  a  sacerdotal  power,  independent  of  the  constiiiv 
tional  authorities,  he  wished,  by  an  introduction   of  foreign  influences, 

*  Gaberel,  Calvin  k  Gendve,  p.  98. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  369 

to  corrupt  the  popular  element,  and,  in  the  general  council,  to  create 
for  himself  a  majority,  like  that  which  he  possessed  already  in  the  infe- 
rior  councils.  With  adroit  perseverance,  he  will  endeavour  to  execute 
this  design. 


THE     PAMPHLETS. 

Calvin  preaches  revolution  by  means  of  his  pamphlets. — The  Nicodemites. — 
Political  character  of  the  Excusatio  ad  Fseudo-Nlcodemitas.* — Case  of  con- 
science variously  resolved  by  the  Protestant  churches. — Literary  form  of 
Calvin's  libel  against  the  Nicodemites. — Letter  to  Luther. — Melancthon  re- 
tains it. — Calvin's  anger  against  Luther. — Sadolet  an  idolater. 

Calvin  wanted  to  constitute  Geneva  a  focus  of  propagandism.  On 
his  return  from  Strasbourg,  he  began  to  celebrate  the  faith  of  all  those 
fanatics,  who,  at  Paris,  Lyons,  and  in  some  other  of  the  larger  cities  of 
the  kingdom,  demanded  liberty  of  conscience,  while  pillaging  our 
churches,  laying  waste  our  monasteries,  and  killing  our  priests.  If 
some  of  these  seditious  persons  fell  by  the  sword,  Calvin,  Beza,  or 
Crespin  had  a  crown  ready  prepared  for  the  brow  of  the  martyr.  The 
reformation  was  bold  enough  to  give  lessons  to  the  civil  power,  and 
with  the  Bible  in  hand,  it  maintained  that  the  magistrate  had  no 
right  to  punish  the  obstinate  heretic  with  death.  All  the  sectaries  were 
encouraged  by  this  doctrine.  We  should  see  in  Calvin's  letters  with 
what  ardour  he  urges  persons  to  rebellion,  by  the  promise  of  celestial 
rewards.  What  a  picture  does  he  present  of  the  constancy  of  those 
souls  blinded  by  his  writings,  who  rush  upon  death  without  having 
comprehended  a  single  item  of  the  Genevese  symbol !  He  wished  to 
have  it  believed  that  Henry  [I.,  was  another  Domitian,  and  the  king- 
dom of  France,  a  vast  funeral  pile  into  which  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
were  cast,  as  at  Rome  under  the  emperors. 

"  Behold  the  flames  of  persecution  enkindled  in  France  !  Let  us 
pray  for  our  brethren."  Immediately  he  transforms  the  Parisians  into 
a  race  of  cannibals,  who  chant  their  savage  songs  around  the  stake. 
"The  Frenchman,  says  he,  is  a  furious  fool ;  f  He  must  needs  behold 
with  his  own  eyes  the  punishment  of  two  of  our  brethren ;  may  God 

*  Calvin's  first  treatise  against  the  Nicodemites,  or  indifferentists,  was  pub- 
lished 1544.  His  letter  to  the  faithful  of  Rouen,  is  a  reply  to  the  production 
of  a  Franciscan  in  favour  of  the  libertines.  Farel  was  desirous  of  assisting 
his  compatriot  in  this  struggle,  and,  in  1550,  published  a  pamphlet  under  the 
title:  "The  sword  of  the  true  word  unsheathed  against  the  shield  of  defence^ 
of  which  a  Franciscan  wanted  to  avail  himself  to  approve  his  false  and  damna- 
ble  opinions."  Geneva:  printed  by  John  Gerard,  the  same  who  had  printed 
the  Excusatio  ad  Nlcodemitas. 

t  Dira  nunc  in  ilia  regione  persecutio  ardet;  quare  pios  fratres  precibus  nos- 
trisjuvemus.  Gallus  nihilominus  insanit.  Ipse  cum  nuper  duo  exurerentur, 
spectator  esse  voluit.  Dominus  tarn  atrocem  ferociam  compescat  virtute  sua. 
— MSS.  Gen.  Jul.  1543.  Farello. 


370 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVINo 


appease  his  rage  !  "  Would  you  not  say  that  it  is  a  nation  seeking  to 
wage  the  battle  of  the  giants  against  the  God  of  heaven  ?  And  marve. 
lous  constancy  of  our  brethren  !  A  thing  unheard  of,  and  yet  of  which 
the  king  has  just  been  witness  !  A  christian  exposed  himself  to  martyr- 
dom, in  order  to  be  able  to  cast  three  words  of  Christ  into  the  face  of  the 
prince,  who  was  contemplating  the  scene  of  fire."*  On  that  very  day, 
he  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  an  unworthy  son  and  citizen,  he  invoked  the 
divine  wrath  upon  his  country  and  his  king.  And  observe  how  great 
his  injustice  and  ingratitude !  By  an  edict  of  that  year,  the  king,  or- 
dered  the  magistrates  "to  investigate  crimes  of  heresy,  and  afterwards  to 
send  those  found  guilty,  to  the  episcopal  tribunal,"  which  could  not,  as  is 
well  known,  impose  a  more  severe  penalty  than  that  of  perpetualim- 
prisonment.  It  is  thus  that  Calvin  at  the  same  time  corrupts  oral  tradi^ 
lion  and  the  living  testimony  of  contemporary  history. 

In  France,  his  writings  excited  the  people  to  revolt.  That  new 
symbol,  whence  confession  and  good  works  were  banished,  as  papisti- 
cal superstitions,  met  with  success  at  court.  The  great  seigniors,  in 
adopting  it,  began,  by  dismissing  their  confessors  and  almoners  :  a 
double  gain  for  conscience  and  the  purse.  Ladies,  burdened  with 
debts  of  honour,  v/ere  the  most  enthusiastic  missionaries  of  the  reforma- 
tion. Among  the  courtiers,  there  were  some  who  found  means  to  re- 
tain their  posts  and  renounce  their  faith.  These  carnal  men  assisted 
at  mass,  knelt  down,  bowed  their  heads  at  the  elevation,  sang  at  vespers 
and  assisted  at  the  sermon.  Having  returned  to  their  lodgings,  they 
read  a  chapter  from  the  Bible  in  French,  chanted  with  their  mistresses 
one  of  Marot's  psalms,  ate  meat  on  days  of  abstinence,  made  sport  of 
the  anti-Christ  or  the  Pope  at  table,  never  went  to  confession,  and 
believed  in  the  efficacy  of  faith  without  works.  These  were  politi- 
cal Protestants,  or  Nicodemites  as  they  were  called  by  Beza  and  Cai- 
vin.f 

"  A  question  then"  says  Beza  "began  to  be  agitated  among  certain 
persons  of  qualility  who  were  acquainted  with  the  truth  at  Paris,  for 
this  cause,  that  Calvin,  knowing  how  many  there  were  who  flattered 
themselves  in  their  infirmities,  even  so  far  as  to  defile  themselves  in  the 
abominations  of  popery,  had  chided  them  with  a  spirit  somewhat  too 
bitter  for  their  taste.  Some  therefore,  who  have  since  been  called  Ni- 
codemites,  maintained  that  they  could  go  to  mass  provided  the  heart 
consented  not,  and  observing,  I  know  not  what  other  conditions ;  others, 
on  the  contrary,  contended  that  it  was  necessary  to  serve  God  with 
heart  and  body,  and  preserve  oneself  from  defilement.  This  dispute 
was  the  occasion  of  a  man  being  sent  express,  not  only  to  Geneva,  but 
to  Strasbourg,  and  even  into  Saxony,  and  all  the  answers  were  after- 
wards printed  together.     Now,  although  in  these  the  Germans  accorded 

*  Gallus  itainsanit  ut  dicasvelle  cum  Deo  gigantum  instar  confllgere;  mira 
interim  martyrum  constantia.  Quod  regi  nunquam  acciderat,  quidam  sponte 
in  sacrificium  se  destinavit,  ut  saltem  libero  tria  verba  pro  Christo  proferret 
apud  eum,  cum  ad  spectanda  incendia  properaret. — MSS.  Zurich,  15  Aug. 
BuUingero. 

t  In  eodem  ordine  collocabo  molles  aulicos  et  domicellas:  proinde  nesciant 
quid  sit  audire  verbum  asperius. — Exsusatio  ad  Nicodemitas,  p,  71, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  371 

something  more  than  the  rest,  it  was  nevertheless  with  common  accord 
decreed  that  no  one  can  serve  two  masters.  This  closed  the  mouths  of 
all  those  who  sought  to  cover  themselves  with  a  wet  sack  ;  and  this 
difference  proved  the  cause  of  a  great  good,  many  having  resolved  to 
devote  themselves  entirely  to  God,  who  before  lolled  in  pollution."* 

Calvin's  two  works  :  De  mlandis  superstitionibus,  and  Excusatio 
ad  Pseudo-Nicodemitas,  are  not  so  much  controversial  works,  as  po- 
litical pamphlets,  designed  to  urge  the  populations  which  had  abandon- 
ed Catholicism,  to  martyrdom,  if  they  had  courage  sufficient  to  confess 
their  faith ;  to  exile,  if  they  could  not  renounce  life.  At  the  diet  of 
Augsbourg  in  1530,  the  Protestant  electors,  who  were  robed  in  vestures 
with  a  ground  work  of  silk  lace  stolen  from  our  churches,  and  orna- 
mented with  the  gold  of  our  sanctuaries,  dreaded  for  a  time  to  sully 
their  robes  upon  the  pavement  of  a  Catholic  temple,  and  appealed  to 
the  great  luminaries  of  the  Saxon  church  to  know,  whether,  in  con- 
science, they  could  assist  at  our  ceremonies.  Melancthon  and  Luther 
consulted  th.e  Bible,  and  responded  affirmatively,  quoting  the  example 
of  Naaman  who,  from  the  prophet  Eliseus,  obtained  permission  to  enter 
the  pagan  temple. t 

The  Nicodemites  in  France  had  propounded  the  same  question  ;  and 
Calvin,  like  Luther,  had  interrogated  the  Bible  :  but  the  Bible  did  not 
return  the  same  answer. 

To  him,  the  example  of  Naaman,  cited  by  the  Saxon,  seems  of  no 
value.  "In  the  New  Testament,"  says  he  "there  is  a  more  beautiful 
image  which  you  ought  incessantly  to  keep  before  your  eyes,  that  of  the 
holocaust  of  the  seven  brothers  of  the  Machabees.  What  then,  he 
adds,  would  you  go  into  a  temple  entirely  defiled  with  superstitions, 
M'here  contrary  to  the  text  of  scripture,  they  pray  for  the  dead.  J 

•  Bdze,  Hist,  des  Eglises  ref. 

t  Ulenberg,  Histoiia  de  vita  et  moribus  Lutheri,  p.  374. 

*"  To  show  that  prayers  for  the  dead  are  not  allowed  by  scripture,  Calvin 
blots  from  the  second  book  of  Machabees  two  words  of  the  43d  verse  of  the 
12th  chapter.  It  is  said  :  To  offer  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  dead  ;  he  effaces 
*'of  the  dead,'''  {des  morts.) 

There  is  one  thing  greatly  needed :  a  history  of  the  Protestant  translations 
of  the  Bible.  From  1530  to  1600,  they  printed  in  Germany  more  than  twenty 
editions  of  Luther's  version,  revised,  corrected,  augmented  and  curtailed. 

After  Luther's  death,  Melancthon,  Gaspard  Creutzcr,  and  George  Roerer, 
revised,  corrected,  and  often  altered  the  doctor's  version,  as  even  has  been  ad- 
mitted by  Protestant  critics  themselves.  (Sec  unsch.  Nacii.  t.  XIX,  p. 267-280; 
t.  XXXIII,  p.  170-171. 

"There  are  a  great  many  passages  unfaithfully  translated  in  the  Protestant 
bibles,  as  can  easily  be  verified,  by  a  comparison  of  the  variations  between 
the  more  ancient  and  recent  bibles.  The  first  were  the  most  faithful  ;  but,  in 
latter  times,  Protestants  have  added  to  the  scripture  things  in  some  sort  to 
authorize  their  principal  articles  of  faith,  seeing  that  otherwise  they  could  not 
uphold  them,  and  they  have  changed  and  pruned  away,  as  I  have  said  already, 
terms  that  were  contrary  to  their  errors. 

"The  pretended  reformers,  to  prove  the  20th  article  of  their  confession  of 
faith  which  their  church  disputes  with  them,  wherein  it  is  said,  that  man  is 
justified  by  faith  alone,  have  falsified  the  16th  verse  of  the  2d  chapter  of  8t. 
Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  translating  it  thus: 

"  Knowing  that  man  is  not  justified  by  the  works  of  the  law,  but  by  tbe 
fdith  of  Christ  aloneJ*^ 


372-  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

"If  those  dead  had  faith,  they  are  in  the  bosom  of  God ;  if  they  be- 
lieved not  in  Christ,  they  are  forever  lost ;  of  vi^hat  use  are  funeral  pray- 
ers ?" 

The  style  which  he  employs  in  his  Excusatio  ad  Pseudo-Nicodem- 

"  They  have  added  the  word  alone  in  all  the  bibles  printed  previously  to  the 
Jast  century,  beginning  with  that  printed  at  Lyons,  in  1551,  by  de  Tournes;  in 
tliat  which  was  printed  also  at  Lyons,  by  Barbier  and  Thomas  Courtau,  that  of 
Lucius,  in  1563;  that  of  Henry  Estienne,  also  in  1563;  that  of  Perin,  in  1574, 
and  in  a  great  many  others,  and  in  fine,  all  the  ancient  bibles  have  not  the 
word  alone,  and  all  the  new  ones  have  it. 

"  The  ministers,  in  order  to  show  that  Jesus  Christ  is  not  the  Saviour  of  all 
men,  translated  thus  the  passage  of  the  first  Epistle  to  Timothy,  ch.  iv,  v.  10  : 
*'  God,  who  is  the  preserver  of  all  men,  and  chiefly  of  the  faithful,"  in  the 
bibles  of  the  years  1588,  1605,  1610;  whilst  in  the  first  version,  of  1534,  1535, 
1554, 1558,  by  Robert  Olivetan,  was  read:  ^^Saviour  of  all  men,  and  chiefly  of 
the  faithful," 

"  It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  word,  employed  by  St.  Paul  in  this  place,  is 
to  be  found  twenty-five  times  in  the  New  Testament,  and  not  only  in  the  Vulgate, 
but  in  St.  Augustine  and  the  other  fathers,  tradition  always  renders  it  iSaviour^ 
except  in  the  bibles  of  1588,  1605,  and  1610,  where  they  have  translated  it 
-preserver, 

"  To  establish  the  24th  article  of  their  confession  of  faith,  which  declares  that 
the  intercession  of  holy  persons  departed  is  but  an  abuse,  a  fallacy  of  satan, 
they  have^translated :  "There  is  but  one  only  intervener  (moyenneur)  between 
God  and  men;"  whilst,  in  the  bibles  of  the  first  and  second  editions,  they 
translated  with  the  Vulgate  and  the  ancient  fathers :  "There  is  but  one  Media- 
tor (mediateur)  between  God  and  men;"  whence  it  may  be  seen  that  they 
have  added  the  word  only,  which  regards  the  very  point  of  the  controversy. 

"  The  sense  of  these  words  of  St.  Paul,  in  his  second  Epistle  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  c,  2d. :  "Holdfast  the  traditions  which  you  have  learned  either  by 
word  or  by  epistles,"  has  been  changed,  the  first  and  second  editions  agreeing 
with  the  Vulgate  and  the  original  text;  But  Beza,  in  his  edition,  printed  in 
1558,  changes  the  sense,  translating:  "Keep  the  doctrine  given,  which  you 
have  learned  by  word  and  epistles." 

"He  introduces  the  conjunctive,  and,  in  place  of  the  disjunctive,  or ;  and  to 
persuade  simple  souls  that  God  has  prohibited  the  images  of  Christ,  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  the  saints,  in  their  latter  bibles,  they  make  him  say  in 
Deuteronomy,  c.  v»  and  Exodus,  c.  xx:  "Thou  shalt  make  no  carved  images," 
whilst,  in  their  first  bibles,  printed  by  de  Tournes,  in  1557,  was  read:  idols. 
Also,  they  make  David  say,  in  Psalm  32,  v.  5 :  "Thou  hast  taken  away  the 
punishment  of  my  sin,"  in  the  edition  of  1588,  and  the  following,  in  order  to 
authorize  the  eleventh  article  of  their  confession  of  faith,  which  declares  that 
sin  remains  as  to  its  guilt;  whilst  in  their  first  editions,  of  1544,  was  read: 
*'Thou  hast  taken  away  the  guilt  of  my  sin." 

"They  have  also  changed  the  word  penance  into  repentance,  to  induce  be- 
lief that  all  penance  consists  in  repenting,  and  that  there  is  no  obligation  to 
satisfy  for  sin,  because  Christhas  satisfied  for  us,  as  they  say. 

"  They  have  done  the  same  with  the  word  tradition,  in  place  of  which  they 
have  every  where  substituted  ordinance,  in  order  to  be  able  to  reject  tradition^ 
and  they  have  retrenched  two  words  from  the  43d  verse,  12th  chapter  of  2nd 
Machabees,  because  in  that  passage  it  was  manifest  that  in  those  times  sacri- 
fice was  offered  for  the  sins  of  the  dead  :  they  translate  only :  "offer  sacrifice 
for  sin,"  and  cut  off*  the  words,  of  the  dead,  because  these  last  words  evidently 
prove  purgatory  and  prayers  for  the  dead.  From  the  15th  verse  of  the  16th 
chapter  of  Ecclesiasticus,  they  have  likewise  retrenched  the  word,  merit,  and 
besides,  have  altered  this  passage  of  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John,  v.  12:  "But 
to  all  those  who  received  him,  he  gave  power  to  be  made  the  sons  of  God." 
They  unfaithfully  translated :  "But  to  all  those  who  received  him,  he  gave 
right  to  be  made  the  sons  of  God,"  substituting  the  word  right  iox  power.'''' — 
Reponse  aux  raisons  qui  ont  oblige  les  pretendus  reformes  de  se  scparcr  de 
VEgUse,   in  12mo.  Paris,  1749,  p.  183-199. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  3t3 

Has,  is  nearly  always  ironical :  he  has  thrown  aside  aristotelian  argu- 
ment to  deal  in  ridicule.  But  he  is  never  happy,  a  smile  does  not  be- 
come his  face  ;  his  gaity  is  forced,  his  pleasantry  dull,  and  his  buffoonery 
often  smells  like  that  of  a  quack.  No  one  could  ever  guess  to  what 
the  reformer  compares  the  Nicodemites. 

"  I  could  not  employ  a  more  appropriate  comparison  than  to  liken 
them  to  the  cleansers  of  privies;  for,  as  a  master  cleanser,  after  having 
beenlong  practiced  in  his  trade  of  filth  moving,  no  longer  scents  the 
stench,  because  he  has  lost  all  power  of  smell,  and  laughs  at  those  who 
stop  their  noses;  so  these,  being  hardened  by  custom  to  live  in  their 
filth,  imagine  themselves  dwelling  amid  roses,  and  laugh  at  all  who 
are  offended  by  the  stench,  which  they  no  longer  smell.  And,  to  car- 
ry  out  the  comparison  :  as  the  cleansers,  with  the  aid  of  garlic  and 
onions,  arm  themselves  against  the  effluvia,  that  they  may  counteract 
one  offensive  smell  by  another,  so  these,  to  prevent  themselves  from 
scenting  the  bad  odours  of  their  idolatry,  drench  themselves  with  wick- 
ed excuses,  and  smell  like  fetid  meats,  so  strongly,  that  they  destroy 
every  other  sense."* 

But  he  soon  again  resumes  his  scholastic  nature,  and  turns,  and  twists 
again,  the  same  argument,  in  order  to  awaken  the  souls  of  the  Nico- 
demites from  a  sleep  which  he  declares  mortal.  At  one  time,  it  is  fire 
and  hell,  at  another,  the  crown  of  heaven,  and  again  even  worldly  im- 
mortality, that  he  invokes  in  order  to  conquer  christians  for  the  reforma- 
tion. He  must  at  every  hazard  have  martyrs  or  exiles.  To  some,  his 
word  is  offered  as  a  diadem,   to  others,  his  city  of  Geneva  as  a  refuge. 

To  the  family  of  the  Budes,  he  writes  :  "If  it  be  not  possible  for 
you  to  acknowledge  Christ  as  your  Saviour,  love  rather  for  a  short  time 
to  be  deprived  of  your  rank  by  birth,  than  to  be  forever  banished  from 
that  immortal  inheritance  to  which  we  are  called.  Willing  or  not,  if 
we  budge  not  from  the  nest,  we  must  be  strangers  in  this  world.  But 
blessed  are  those,  who  declare  this  in  practice,  and  sooner  than  destroy 
faith,  abandon  their  houses  freely,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  sever  them- 
selves from  their  earthly  comforts,  in  order  to  remain  in  union  with 
Jesus  Christ.  For  those,  who  have  not  experienced  the  great  worth  of 
Jesus  Christ,  these  things  are  hard,  but  for  you,  who  have  felt  his  good- 
ness, all  the  rest  should,  after  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  be  considered 
as  filth  and  dung."t 

And,  as  if  his  words  were  not  sufficiently  potent,  Calvin  wishes  to 
let  them  hear  the  voice  of  the  Saxon  apostle,  that  other  Hermann,  w^ho, 
perhaps  will  be  fortunate  enough  to  arouse,  from  their  lethargy,  all  these 
€Ourtiers,  as  he  did  the  electors  who  slept  while  Munzer's  hammer  was 
resounding  in  the  mines  of  Suabia. 

This  was  the  first  time  that  he  wrote  to  Luther.     With  his  letter,  he 


*  AtquG  ut  similitudinem  ulterius  ducam  :  quemadmodum  qui  purgandis 
cloacis  operam  locant,  cepis,  aliis,  aliisque  grave  olentibus  cibis  tanquam  anti- 
dotis  se  muniunt,  quo  foetorem  unum  alio  propulsent:  ita  illi  ne  idololatriee 
suae  putidum  odorem  olfaciant,  inebriant  se  quodaminodo  putidis  excusationi- 
bus,  quo5  sensum  illis  olfactus   adimunt. — Excusatio    ad  Nicodemitas,  p.  66. 

t  MSS.  of  Berne  :  The  letter  is  signed  Charles  d'Espeville,  one  of  Calvin's 
pseudonvmes. 

32 


374  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIT, 

sent  his  pamphlet  on  the  Nicodemites,  and  his  treatise  on  scandak, 
Melancthon  was  to  transmit  the  epistle  to  the  doctor.  In  it,  Calvin 
conferred  on  Luther  some  beautiful  names  :  he  called  him,  illustri- 
ous man,  glorious  minister  of  Christ,  venerable  father,  -whose  under- 
standing the  Lord  governs,  and  will  continue  to  direct  for  the  welfare 
of  the  church.* 

But  Melancthon  knew  Calvin.  He  had  seen  him  at  the  diet  of 
Worms,  and  he  was  not  to  be  duped  by  this  sentimental  phraseology  in 
favour  of  old  Martin,  whose  character  the  French  refugee  not  long  be- 
fore had  so  maliciously  vilified  at  Strasbourg.  He  doubted  that  Calvin 
had  attached  to  this  bouquet  of  flowery  compliments,  a  selfish  petition, 
which  Luther  would  not  be  willing  to  endorse.  At  least  Melancthon 
was  candid  :  he  answered  precisely,  that  he  had  not  shown  the  letter  to 
his  master,  who  had  become  suspicious,  and  who  was  not  willing  to 
have  his  name  involved  in  such  discussions. f 

Some  months  after,  Luther,  that  glory  of  Christ,  that  luminary  which 
the  Lord  had  caused  to  shine  for  the  welfare  of  his  church,  was  no  lon- 
ger any  thino;  ''but  a  Pericles,  a  fire-brand,  a  soit  of  furious  fool,  who 
was  exhibiting  his  freaks  before  the  astonished  world,  and  for  whom,  he, 
Calvin,  felt  pity. J 

The  Genevese  reformer  had  one  consolation  left :  he  had  secured  the 
-adhesion  of  Martin  Bucer  and  of  Melancthon,  those  two  great  lights 
of  the  Protestant  school,  who  allowed  Philip  of  Hesse  lo  approach  the 
communion  table,  while  driving  thence  the  Nicodemites  for  having  set 
foot  in  a  Catholic  church.  You  are  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
Philip  of  Hesse.  Weary  of  his  garrison  mode  of  life,  he  one  day 
wrote  to  Melancthon  and  Luther :  "  Masters,  arrange  matters;  I  must 
have  two  wives.  The  patriarchs  bad  more  than  I  ask  of  you."  His 
letter  had  been  prepared  by  Martin  Bucer.  And  some  weeks  after, 
Martin  Bucer,  Philip  Melancthon,  and  Martin  Luther,  having  invoked 
the  Holy  Ghost,  replied  to  Philip  of  Hesse: — "Let  your  grace  take 
two  wives,  since  two  are  necessary  for  your  grace." 

Well,  a  Nicodemite  now  seriously  writes  to  Melancthon  : — "If  1 
go  not  to  mass,  and  do  not  assist  at  the  procession  of  the  sacrament, 
they  will  put  me  to  death. "§ 

Melancthon  answers  : 

There  is  the  rule  to  teach  you  what  ought  to  be  done.     The  rule  is 


*  Vale  clarlssime  vir,  prae.^tantissime  Christi  minister,  ac  pator  mihi  semper 
honorande.  Doniinus  te  spiritu  suo  gubernare  pergat  usque  in  finem,  in  com- 
mune Ecclesiee  suas  bonum.  The  autograph  of  this  letter  is  no  longer  to  be 
found  at  Zurich. 

t  D.  Martino  non  exhibui  tuam  epistolam;  multa  enim  suspiciose  accipit,  ct 
non  vult  circumferri  suas  responsiones  de  talibus  qusestionibus  quas  proposu- 
isti — Mel.  Epistol.,  1545. 

t  Vester  autcm  Pericles  quanta  intemperie  ad  fulminandum  capitur  ?...  Et 
quid  in  hunc  modum  tumultuando  proficit,  nisi  ut  totus  mundus  eum  furere 
judicet  ?  Me  certe  qui  eum  ex  animo  vereor,  veliementer  ejus  pudet. — Ep. 
63,  Ed.  Amst.,  p.  33.  BuUin.,  28  jun.  1545. 

J  Sed  dicat  aliquis  :  Si  non  accedam  ad  missas,  ad  pompas  publicas  cum 
gestatur  sacrameiitum,  rapior  ad  supplicium. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  37*5 

«ne  thing,  action  is  another.  The  rule  is,  that  sooner  than  expose 
yourself  to  death,  you  should  abandon  those  places."* 

Another  Nicodemite  said  to  Bucer : — *'  But  Naaman  however  enter- 
ed  a  pagan  temple  !" 

Bucer  answers: — ^'Naaman  the  Syrian  adored  in  the  temple  of 
Rimon,  but  he  adored  the  true  God."t 

Now,  to  Calvin  and  Bucer  it  was  manifest,  that  the  God,  whom 
vSadolet  adored  in  the  Catholic  temple,  was  not  the  true  God. 

Sadolet  was  one  of  those  "mass  mumblers,  who  every  day  sold,  for 
thirty  pieces  of  copper,  what  Judas  sold  but  once  for  thirty  pieces  of 
silver.  "J 


THE    REFUGEES. 

The  emigrants  bring  with  them  to  Geneva  the  vices  of  great  cities. — Bernard 
do  Seswar. — How  Calvin  makes  use  of  the  refugees. — Perambulating  mis- 
sionaries.— Colporteurs. — The  rights  of  citizenship  degraded,  and  conferred 
ou  the  creatures  of  the  reformer. — Persecution  of  the  Libertines. 

The  exhortations  of  Bucer  and  Melancthon,  Calvin's  libels,  and  the 
cigour  of  the  parliaments,  induced  many  from  among  the  French  popu- 
lations to  emigrate.  Most  of  the  fugitives  came  to  Geneva  to  seek  a 
refuge,  where  they  could  find  a  mild  climate,  gallic  habits  of  life,  and 
ardent  sympathy.  The  impulse,  which  had  driven  the  Germans  into 
revolt,  had  extended  itself  to  almost  every  other  nation.  In  Italy, 
Faust  and  Lelius  Socinus  renewed  the  heresy  of  Arius;  in  Spain,  bold 
spirits  began  to  deny  the  divine  word  under  the  very  eye  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion.  It  was  in  the  Iberian  Peninsula  that  anti-Trinitarianism  was  to 
have  birth,  as  the  Poet  says  ; 

Ed  oltra  questa  nota,  il  peccadiglio 

Di  Spagna  gli  danno  anco,  che  non  creda 

In  unita  lo  Spirito,  il  Padre  e'l  Figlio. 

Arlosto. 

The  exiles  brought  with  them  to  Geneva  equivocal  morals,  §  and 
propensities  to  idleness,  to  hypocrisy,  and  to  all  the  vices  of  largo 
cities.  Chapels  were  founded  for  their  especial  benefit;  that  of  the 
Machabees  was  given  to  the  Italians.     At  Notre    Dame  de  la  Neuve, 


*  Regiila  est  ut  potins  discedas  ex  illis  locis  quam  venias  ad  supplicium. 
Consilium  Philipp.  Melanchthonis,  imprinie  k  la  suite  de  1'  Excvsatlo  ad  JMco- 
demitas,  p.  lOl. 

t  Naainan  syrus  quidem  adoravit  in  templo  Rimon,  sed  Deum  verum. — Cons. 
Mart.  Buceri,  p.  109. 

tinst.  chret.,  1.  IV,  ch.  18,  H4. 

?  "  In  the  sentence  of  a  criminal  executed  for  counterfeiting,  they  had  in- 
serted, that  he  hart  withdrawn  to  Geneva  for  sake  of  religion,  and  went  daily 
to  preaching,"  and  Calvin  complains  of  this,  as  of  a  derision  against  God's 
honour,     Reg.  du  Conseil  d'Etat,  Fragments,  p.  18. 


376  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

there  were  sermons  in  English,  at  St.  Gervais,  in  Sjiianish,  and  at  Saint- 
Germain,  in  Flemish.  Bernardino  de  Seswar  was  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated Italian  preachers.*  Calvin  greatly  eulogized  the  zeal  of  this, 
refugee,  f  who  had  declared  a  violent  war  against  the  Anti-Christ.  %. 
For  the  reformer,  each  emigrant  was  a  conquest.  His  eye  read  the 
souls  of  men,  and  he  knew  how  to  discern  individual  vocations.  Du- 
ring the  morning,  he  opened  for  the  young  of  ardent  imagination  his- 
study  cliamber,  a  veritabJe  school  of  calumny  against  the  Catholics.  It 
was  there  that  Calvin,  by  torturing  the  testimony  of  history,  of  the 
canons,  councils,  and  ancient  fathers,  ''clipped  the  wings  of  the  Pope,"^ 
and  proved  that  Leo  X.  was  by  nature  very  cruel,  Clement  VII.  mucli 
addicted  to  the  effusion  of  human  blood,  and  Paul  III.  subject  to  inhu- 
man fury  ;''||  that  all  these  popes  are  the  Antichrist  foretold  Iby  Daniel,, 
and  that  no  sound  brain  "would  dare  maintain  that  the  office  of  bishop 
b  included  in  lead  and  bulls,  and  much  less  in  that  magazine  of  all 
fraud  and  artifice  which  they  call  Rome,"*f  The  doctor  read  there 
some  of  his  interpretations,  for  example  on  Daniel,  ch.  VI,  where  he 
handles  kings  nearly  in  the  manner  they  were  treated  not  long  since  by 
the  abbe  Gregoire,  as  "beings,  who  have  nothing  human  about  them,  into> 
whose  faces  we  should  spit,  and  refuse  to  obey  them."**  These 
students  noted  down  the  words  of  their  master  in  short  hand,  aided' 
his  printers  corrected  his  proofs,  and  circulated  his  books.  Aided 
by  these  disciples,  Calvin  became  acquainted  with  the  rumours  of  the- 
city,  the  designs  of  the  libertines,  and  die  progress  of  opinions.  Cer- 
tain historians  pretend  that  Nicholas  de  la  Fontaine,  who  denounced 
Servetus  to  the  magistrate  of  Geneva,  belonged  to  this  cohort  of  fa.. 
imtical  souls  who  had  devoted  themselves  to  the  reformer ;  others, 
v/ith  less  semblance  of  truth,  find  him  in  the  very  kitchen  of  John 
of  Noyon.  These  youths,  fed  every  morning  on  biblical  texts,  had 
a  marked  advantage  over  the  libertines,  who  endeavoured  to  deny 
the  theological  power  of  Calvin.  Some  of  them,  as  soon  as  their  reli- 
gious education  had  been  completed,  went  to  the  neighbouring  cities  to 
propagate  and  defend  the  doctrines  of  their  master ;  we  often  meet  witii 
ihem  again  in  the  Huguenot  camp  of  the  Baron  des  Adrets,  where  they 
combat  at  the  same  time  with  the  sword  and  the  word.  They  were 
hunters,  very  skillful  in  scenting  a  saint's  relic,  a  pictured  antiphonary, 
illuminated  missals,  stained-glass  windows  of  historical  value,  which 
they  mercilessly  destroyed  for  the  greater  glory  of  the  gospel.     Our 


*  M.  Bernardino  de  Seswar,  who  is  a  learned  man,  desires  publicly  to  preach 
the  word  of  God  in  Italian.  Resolved  to  give  him  a  post  at  St  Peter's  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Cnrdinal,  for  a  short  time,  after  which  he  may  be  placed  at  St. 
Gervais.     Registers,  October  13th,  1542.— Picot,  1. 1.  p.  391. 

t  Bernardinus  est  Bern,  de  Sesvar,  primus  pastor  eccles..  italicee,  quae  Gene- 
vse,  niense  oct.  1542,  erecta  est  in  gratiam  Italorum  qui  s.e  hue,  Evangelii  eau- 
sa,  recepernnt. — Gal. 

I  Epist,  Calv.  Vireto,  oct.  1542.  f  Inst.,  1.  IV,  ch.  7,  ^  21 . 

n  Inst.,  I.  IV,  c)j.  7,  (;  24.  11  Inst.,  1.  IV,  ch.  7,  $  28. 

*♦  Reges  indigni  sunt  qui  censeantur  in  hominum  numero,  adeo  ut  patius 
oporteat   conspuere  in  illorum  capita,  quam  illis  parere..    In  Dan.,  cap*,  6„. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  Oil 

chapels,  crypts,  monasteries,  at  Lyons,  and  Forez,  still  bear  the  traces  of 
the  passage  of  these  Vandals. 

In  this  system  of  propagandism,  vulgar  intellects  also  had  their  ap- 
propriate employment.  They  were  charged  with  disseminating  without 
the  limits  of  the  territory,  heretical  pamphlets,  which  they  cast  into  the 
cabins  of  the  poor,  into  the  saloons  of  the  great,  and  into  the  counting- 
houses  of  merchants.  From  the  reports  of  these  vagabond  colporteurs, 
after  their  return  to  Geneva,  Calvin  learned  the  dispositions  of  the  Ca- 
tholic populations  and  governments,  the  books  that  were  put  to  press 
by  his  adversaries,  and  the  exterior  influence  of  the  reformed  press.* 
At  the  bottom  of  their  packages,  these  colporteurs  concealed  "psalms 
in  rhyme,  elegantly  bound  and  gilt,"  of  which  they  made  presents  to 
young  girls.  For  the  most  part,  they  were  boys  of  the  printing  office, 
who,  having  their  heads  crammed  with  texts  of  scripture,  could,  in  case 
of  need,  sustain,  for  some  time,  the  burden  of  a  religious  discussion ; 
like  that  John  Chapot,  who  "came  near  routing  the  whole  parliament 
of  Paris,  in  a  very  learned  and  very  holy  remonstrance  which  he  made 
to  the  counselors,  when  permitted  to  dispute,  face  to  face,  with  three 
doctors  of  the  Sorbonne."t  They  sold  secretly,  and  often  at  high 
prices,  the  New  Testament,  translated  according  to  the  taste  of  the  re- 
formation, that  is,  miserably.  Having  business  with  the  printers  of  the 
larger  cities,  they  carried  to  the  firm  of  Frellon  brothers,  at  Lyons, 
the  letters  of  Charles  d'Espeville,  the  pseudomyme  of  the  reformer,  and 
brought  back  to  him  their  answers.  There  was  not  a  project  of 
Michael  Villeneufve  (Servetus,)  that  Calvin  did  not  know  beforehand. 
The  journeymen  printers,  who  had  left  Lyons,  attracted  to  Geneva  by 
the  bait  of  considerable  gain,  were  occupied,  at  the  office  of  John  Gi- 
rard,  in  reproducing  the  Antidoton  adversus  articulos  facuUatis  theolo- 
gicm  SorbonlccB ;  or  the  Evistola  Congratulatoria  ad  Gab.  de  Saco- 
nay,  disgusting,  impudent,  and  snarling  libels.  Did  Calvin's  anti-Ca- 
iholic  whim  subside,  they  set  out  for  Neufchatel,  where  they  printed 
the  French  bible  of  Olivetan,  a  pitiful  version,  which  the  reformation 
had  the  hardihood  to  attribute  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  Most  of  them  married 
in  Switzerland.  The  noble  title  of  child  of  Geneva,  so  hard  to  be  ac- 
quired under  the  government  of  the  bishops,  was  given  as  a  recompense 
to  nearly  all  the  creatures  of  the  theocrat.  One  day,  Calvin,  thanks  to 
the  majority  he  had  secured  in  the  small  council,  caused  the  right  of  citi- 
zenship to  be  granted  to  three  hundred  refugees,!  for  the  guard  and 
protectioji  of  the  gooernment,  say  the  city  registers,  for  the  shameful 
motive  of  such  a  measure  was  not  dissembled.  The  executioner  received 
citizenship  gratis.  Every  body  found  his  interest  in  this  violation  of 
the  Genevese  constitution  :  the  refugees  obtained  a  country,  John  Lam- 
bert, the  first  syndic,  an  augmentation  of  perquisites,  and  Calvin  a  ser^ 


*  Florimond  de  Remond,  p,  874.  t  lb. 

X  They  received  in  one  morning,  300  inhabitants,  viz ;  200  Frenchmen,  51 
Englishmen,  25  Italians,  and  4  Spaniards,  so  that  the  antechamber  of  the 
eouiicil  could  not  hold  them  all. — Registres  du  conseil  d'Etat,  fragm.  biogr., 
p.  24. 

♦  Registres,  13  aoAt  1555. 


32 


;78 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    GALVIN. 


vile  majority.  "Ah!  poor  Geneva,"  said  Francis  Berthelier,  ''how- 
no  w  shall  thou  be  defended,  should  it  please  the  king  of  France  to  turn 
against  us  this  garrison  of  his  subjects  ?  Nothing  now  remains,  but  to 
make  a  citizen  out  of  him  also,  and  allow  ourselves  to  be  driven  away 
from  our  firesides  by  these  intruders."* 

Thus,  at  each  hour  of  the  day,  some  shred  was  torn  away  from  that 
ancient  banner,  which,  for  so  long  a  period,  had  protected  the  citizens 
of  Geneva.  Under  their  bishops,  they  had  the  right  to  complain,  and 
to-day,  a  murmur  against  the  despot  is  punished  as  a  crime  against  the 
state.  Entangled  in  the  inextricable  net-work  of  spiritual  regulations, 
wiiich  the  reformer  caused  to  be  accepted  as  laws  of  the  state,  they 
could  neither  collect  around  the  family  fireside,  meet  together  at  the  de- 
cline of  day,  nor  occupy  themselves  concerning  religious  matters. 
The  penal  code  was  filled  with  a  host  of  regulations  to  punish  an 
equivocal  word  or  gesture.  In  the  strict]  councils,  filled  with  the  de- 
voted creatures  of  Calvin,  the  refugees  calumniated  the  patriots ;  through 
the  streets,  they  paraded,  armed ;  at  the  church,  they  might  be  seen 
to  smile  when  they  heard  the  ministers  attack  the  libertines.  The  ser- 
vice over,  woe  to  the  patriot,  who,  passing  by  an  emigrant,  was  heard  to 
murmur  a  word  of  contempt ;  on  the  next  day,  he  was  compelled  to 
appear  before  the  council,  and  was  condemned  to  make  the  amende 
honorable.  In  the  court-yard  before  the  church,  Louis  B.  was  heard 
to  exclaim  :  "  To  the  devil  with  all  the  preachers,  after  they  have  eaten 
their  God,  they  come  here  to  control  us."  Two  days  after,  Louis  B. 
was  condemned  to  ask  pardon  for  having  sinned  against  the  honour  of 
God. 

Every  one  having  the  heart  of  a  man  was  incensed.  The 
patriots  numbered  their  forces,  and  resolved  to  save  the  republic  ;  but, 
to  prevent  their  designs,  Calvin  had  organized  an  army  of  spies,  almost 
the  entire  of  which  was  recruited  from  among  the  refugees. 


THE    INFOKMERS. 


The  employment  of  spy  ennobled  by  Calvin. — The  Fox. — Favre. — Dubois, 
the  bookseller. — The  two  spies. — The  informers  at  the  consistory. — Physi- 
ognomy of  Geneva. — To  what  society  is  reduced  by  Calvin. 

These  refugees,  for  the  most  part,  bankrupts,  pickpockets,  commer- 
cial felons,  evaders  of  justice,  blushed  at  no  occupation ;  Calvin  gave 
them  the  office  of  informers. 

They  insinuated  themselves  into  the  privacy  of  families,  into  the 
temple,  into  the  merchant's  shop.  At  nightfall,  they  went  to  drink  at 
t!ie  tavern,  and  brought  back  to  the  consistory  a  report  of  every  thing 
they  heard;  wretches,  who  for  a  few  Genevese  coppers,  would  have  sold 
their  souls  to  the  devil,  and  who  rented  out  their  eyes  and  ears  at  so  much 
for  each  denunciation  !     Calvin  had  ennobled  this  traffic ;  he  had  pro- 

•  Galiffe,  t.  Ill,  p.  546,  547. 


LIFE    OF    JOII^    CALVIN.  379* 

hibited  any  one  to  speak  evil  of  the'informer  ;  to  do  so,  in  the  language  of 
the  day,  was  stigmatized  as  casting  opprobrium  on  Jesus  Christ. 

From  the  archives  of  Geneva,  M.  Galiffe  has  copied  some  recorded 
cases,  which  the  historian  must  gather,  in  order  to  make  the  world  ac- 
quainted with  the  man  who  so  long  oppressed  that  city. 

September  3d,   1547.— The  Fox. 

Master  Raimond  was  passing  over  a  bridge,  when  he  heard  a  voice 
exclaim  : — I  doom  to  the  devil. 

— Whom  ?  asked  master  Raimond  of  Dominic  Clement. 

— It  is  a  girl  dooming  the  soul  of  the  fox  to  the  devil. 

Raimond  imagines  that  this  is  an  insult  to  himself. 

— Thou  art  a  fox  thyself,  said  he  to  Clement,  who  replied  ; 

— I  am  as  honest  a  man  as  thou,  and  I  have  never  been  driven  away 
from  my  country. 

Raimond  denounces  Clement  to  the  consistory,  which  causes  both 
parties  to  be  summoned  before  it,  and  makes  "ample  remonstrances" 
to  Dominic.  Dominic  wants  to  say  something  in  self-justification,  but 
Calvin  enjoins  him  to  be  silent.  "  Be  silent,"  does  he  say  to  him,  "thou 
hast  blasphemed  against  God,  saying  :  /  have  not  been  banished ;  for 
such  reproaches,  offered  to  a  christian,  are  opprobriums  against  Jesus 
Christ." 

Dominic  takes  fire,  and  responds  arrogantly  : 

— That  they  have  only  examined  the  witnesses  they  pleased,  and 
that  too  many  cavils  are  adduced  against  him  by  the  seignior  Calvin. 

The  minister  went  out  irritated. 

Afterwards,  two  women  came  to  the  consistory,  in  order  to  accuse 
Dominic  Clement  with  having  beaten  his  father,  and  had  a  child  by  his 
mother-in-law.  Colladon  and  Calvin  declared  for  the  torture  :  but 
John  Louis,  S.  de  Marnant,  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  accused,  and 
manifested  that  the  informers  had  contradicted  themselves.  Clement 
was  liberated. 

The  patriots  trembled  before  a  refugee,  concealed  themselves,  and 
dared  trust  no  one  ;  they  bolted  the  doors  of  the  taverns  where  they 
went  in  the  evening  to  drink;  but  the  walls  had  eyes  and  ears.  The 
informers,  encouraged,  recompensed,  honoured,  were  every  where  : 
espionage  had  becom-C  a  dignity. 

At  times,  certain  persons  undertook  to  blush,  on  instituting  a  com- 
parison of  Geneva  under  Calvin,  with  Geneva  under  the  bishops.  They 
dared  not  look  the  spies  of  the  holy  office  in  the  face.  If  Calvin 
chanced  to  be  passing,  they  turned  aside  in  order  not  to  salute  the  bish. 
op  of  Geneva.  But  these  men,  courageous  even  to  audacity,  were  very 
rare.  The  reformer's  police  knew  them,  set  their  spies  to  watch  them, 
and  brought  them  before  the  consistory.  Francis  Favre,  father-in-law 
of  Ami  Perrin,  formerly  counselor,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  Gene- 
vese  liberties,  was  summoned  before  the  tribunal  of  morals,  where  his 
great  soul  failed  him  not  for  a  moment. 

But  how  had  Geneva  fallen,  that  she  was  not  moved  to  indignation, 
and  arose  not  to  rescue  from  the  grasp  of  this  black  robed  calif,  the 


380 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


man  who  had  aided  her  to  throw  off  the  domination  of  the  house  of 
Savoy  !  In  the  history  of  the  republic,  there  is  one  epoch,  when  duke 
Atnedee  undertook  to  oppress  the  people  ;  the  people  remained  mute 
as  now;  but  their  bishop  alone,  and  without  arms,  stepped  forth,  and 
smote  the  prince  with  the  curse  of  excommunication.  Institute  a  com- 
parison. Had  not  the  reformation,  on  taking  possession  of  Geneva, 
dispersed  the  ashes  of  its  bishops  and  broken  to  pieces  their  statues, 
perhaps  the  citizens  would  have  gone  to  revive  their  courage  at  the 
tomb  of  these  holy  prelates,  and  Lessing  would  have  had  no  occasion 
to  pass  this  sentence  :  "  A  true  christian  is  to-day  more  rare,  than  in 
our  ancient  times  of  darkness,"*  and  Ludke  would  not  have  said  to 
his  co-religionists  :  "We,  Protestants,  are  less  free  and  less  christian 
than  the  Catholics. "f 

WILLIAM     DUBOIS,    THE     BOOKSELLER. 

Dubois  had  maintained  that  Calvin  had  retracted  more  than  once  in 
his  writings  :  hence  the  hatred  of  the  reformer,  who  accused  the  book- 
seller with  vending  his  books  to  the  refugees  at  too  high  a  price. 

Under  some  pretext,  they  had  him  brought  before  the  consistory,  and 
there,  "  M.  Calvin  commenced  to  speak  against  him  most  harshly,  de- 
■"  daring  to  him  that  he  had  ever  been  a  false  hypocrite,  and  that  it  was 
"  time  he  should  amend,  with  other  such  speeches.  Whereupon  the 
"  said  seignior  Dubois  responded  to  the  said  seignior  Calvin  : 

'•  It  is  not  merely  now  that  you  entertain  rage  against  me,  and  I  have 
"  well  said  to  you  also,  that  you  were  a  hypocrite,  in  having  hated  me 
"  long,  and  yet  received  the  supper  of  our  Lord." —  On  this,  said  Cal- 
"  vin  answered,  this  is  a  lie,  that  never  had  he  used  such  expressions  to 
"  him,  and  though  he  was  sufficiently  audacious,  yet  never  had  he  the 
"  hardiness  to  speak  to  him  so  impudently,  etc. 

•'  After  this,  said  Dubois  was  asked  what  he  understood  by  this  word, 
"  rage  ?  upon  which  he  answered,  that  he  understood,  fury.  At  last  the 
"  said  Calvin  arose,  demanding  the  consistory  to  have  the  affair  sent  be- 
"  ^ore  the  gentlemen,  (messieurs),  in  order  that  justice  might  be  done 
"  him  for  such  outrages." 

THE    TWO    SPIES. 

When  Calvin,  insulted,  wanted  vengeance,  two  spies  met,  and  one 
said  to  the  other  : 

— I  have  heard  from  Catherine,  wife  of  Jacob  Copa,  of  the  duchy  of 
Ferrara,  "that  Servetus  died  a  martyr  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  M.  Calvin 
was  the  cause  of  his  death  ;  inasmuch  as  there  was  a  pique  between 
them,  and  therefore  the  seigniors  did  wrong  to  put  him  to  death. 

"  That  Gribaldus  teaches  good  doctrine,  and  also  John  Paul  Alciati, 
and  M.  George  Blandratus,  and  that  they  are  wrongfully  and  malevo- 
lently persecuted. 

*  Ein  wahrer  Christ  ist  jetzt  viel  seltener  als  in  dunkeln  Zeiten  geworden. — 
Theol.  Schriften,  t.  III. 

t  Wir  Protestanten  handeln  unmoralischer  und  unchristlicher  als  dirbmisch- 
tn  Christen. — Gesprache  iiber  die  Abschaffung  des  geistlichen  Standes. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  381 

"  That  she  is  desirous  of  abandoning  this  city,  because  the  proceed- 
ings of  these  messieurs  displease  her,  in  this,  that  they  punish  those 
who  speali  anything  they  do  not  approve,  and  she  spoke  several  other 
blasphemies,  which  I  do  not  recollect." 

The  other  replied : 

''  She  said  that  M.  Calvin  does  not  agree  with  M.  Gribaldus,  because 
this  Gribaldus  is  more  learned,  and  because  they  are  rivals. 

"  That  we  are  of  the  number  of  those  who  say,  Lord,  Lord. 

"  That  she  had  done  no  other  thing  but  what  Jesus  Christ  says. 

'•'  That  if  she  suffer  and  die,  inasmuch  as  she  has  come  to  Geneva, 
she  will  be  a  martyr  of  the  devil. 

"  Item,  she  has  a  letter  of  Gribaldus,  subscribed  by  M.  John  Paul 
and  M.  Valentin." 

This  wife  of  Copa  had  come  to  Geneva  in  order  to  please  her  only 
son,  who  did  not  wish  to  go  to  mass. 

She  was  condemned  to  beg  pardon  of  God  and  the  judge,  was  ban- 
ished  from  the  city,  with  orders  to  leave  it  in  twenty-four  hours,  under 
penalty  of  having  her  head  amputated. 

The  informers  were  acquainted  with  their  trade,  and  knew  by  experi- 
ence, that  every  accusation  against  an  enemy  of  Calvin  was  received  by 
the  consistory.  Placed  in  front  of  the  reformer's  pulpit,  they  watched 
the  irony  which  curled  the  lips,  the  blush  which  crimsoned  the  faces, 
the  wrath  which  sparkled  in  the  eyes  of  the  hearers,  when  the  ministers 
treated  them  as  debauchees,  blasphemers,  dogs,  and  worthless  fellows. 
Three  persons  who  had  smiled  during  Calvin's  sermon,  on  seeing  a 
man  fall  from  his  chair,  were  denounced,  condemned  for  three  days  to 
the  prison,  on  bread  and  water,  and  required  to  ask  pardon. 

The  informers  spread  snares  for  poor  souls  simple  enough  to  listen  to 
them.  They  asked  one  Normand,  who  proposed  going  to  Montpellier 
to  study,  if  he  w^ould  abandon  the  church. 

Normand  answered  ;  <'  We  are  not  to  imagine  that  the  church  is  so 
limited,  as  to  be  hanging  from  the  girdle  of  M.  Calvin." 

He  was  denounced  and  banished.* 

The  Genevese  code  required,  where  the  accusation  was  capital,  that 
the  informer  should  make  himself  prisoner.  When  the  crime  was 
proved,  the  informer  left  his  prison.  Ordinarily,  this  part  was  played 
by  one  of  those  students,  whose  religious  education  had  been  supervised 
by  Calvin  himself.  In  the  affair  of  Servetus,  this  comedy  was  played 
by  a  young  man,  named  la  Fontaine,  a  sort  of  minion,  w^hom  the  re- 
former called  my  (mens,)  as  Beza  did  his  Audebert. 

At  this  moment,  Geneva  resembled  the  Rome  of  Tiberius.  The  citi- 
zens regarded  each  other  with  dread.  If  they  have  secreted  some  Catli- 
olic  image  from  the  eyes  of  the  iconoclasts  kept  in  pay  by  the  author, 
ties,  they  conceal  it  carefully,  for  fear  of  being  denounced  to  the  con. 
slstory,  where  Calvin  would  condemn  them  as  idolatrous  papists.  In 
the  inner  household  of  families,  at  the  evening  repast,  they  have  ceased 
laughing,  playing,  singing,  for  the  elder  is  there  to  knock  at  the  door» 
to  demand  of  them  an  account  for  these  songs,  plays,  peals  of  laughter^ 

*  Registres  de  I'Etat,  Bo6t  1558. 


382  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

which  Calvin,  oa  the  morrow,  will  at  the  consistory  transform  into 
blasphemies  against  the  divinity,  and  oflences  against  his  law  for  sus- 
pected persons.  Michael  Peter  Roseti,  has  just  been  thrown  into 
prison,  suspected  of  debauchery.  It  is  u  crime  to  defend  the  interests 
of  God  too  earnestly.  Robert,  a  turner  by  trade,  is  reprimanded  by 
the  consistory  for  having  maintained  that  we  should  impute  the  sin  of 
Adam  neither  to  God,  nor  to  the  devil,  but  only  to  ourselves,  and  for 
having  spoken  against  predestination.*  The  image  of  Christ  is  prose- 
cuted as  an  idolatrous  symbol ;  a  merchant  who  sold  wafers  marked 
with  a  cross,  is  condemned  to  a  fine  of  sixty  sous,  and  his  wafers 
are  cast  into  the  fire  as  scandalous. f  Woe  to  the  person  that  does  not 
uncover  his  head  at  the  sight  of  Calvin,  he  is  fined;  woe  to  the  one 
that  contradicts  him,  he  is  summoned  before  the  consistory  and  men- 
aced with  excommunication; J  woe  to  the  young  girl  who  presents  her- 
self in  the  temple  to  have  her  marriage  blessed,  having  a  bouquet  of 
llowers  in  her  hat;  the  flowers  are  plucked  from  it,  if  she  have  not  pre- 
served herself  pure,  and  she  is  cursed  aloud  by  the  consistory ;  woe 
to  the  one  that  has  sung  or  danced  on  his  wedding  day,  they  punish 
him  with  three  days  imprisonment ;  woe  to  the  young  brid6,  if  she  have 
worn  shoes  after  the  Bernese  fashion,  she  is  publicly  reprimanded. § 

The  Calvinistic  legislation  even  regulated  the  number  of  dishes 
which  should  appear  on  the  tables  of  the  wealthy,  arid  even  the  quality 
of  the  butter  sold  on  the  place  Moulard  :  They  put  a  fruitseller  in  the 
stocks  for  two  hours  for  having  sold  old  butter  as  new  butter.  }| 

One  day,  the  whole  city  was  filled  with  astonishment,  on  waking  in 
the  morning,  to  behold  numerous  gibbets  erected  on  the  pbblic  places, 
surmounted  with  an  inscription  which  said  :     For  any  who  shall 

Si'EAK   EVIL   OF   M.   CaLVIN.T 

Were  we  not  right,  when  we  said  that  drama  is  blended  with  come- 
dy in  this  Calvinistic  legislation ;  and  the  comedy  and  drama  are  here 
merely  indicated.  The  burlesque  or  bloody  action  will  soon  be  devel- 
oped in  some  of  the  prosecutions,  instituted  by  the  reformer  against  the 
most  illustrious  citizens  of  the  republic.  .  .  Then  only  shall  wc  com- 
prehend the  nature  of  that  light,  amid  the  illumination  of  which  it  was 
marching;  we  shall  know  whether  it  comes  from  Sinai,  or  from  those 
places,  where  there  will  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  We  shall 
also  learn,  whether  the  smile  that  plays  round  the  reformer's  lips  be  the 
amile  of  Paul  the  apostle,  or  of  that  fallen  angel,  of  whom  Goethe  has 
sung. 

As  in  tliose  frightful  times,  of  which  Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  tyrants 
of  Rome,  said  :  "They  call  the  silence  of  the  tombs,  peace,"  so  Cal- 
vin designated  the  profuse  shedding  of  the  blood  of  citizens,  purifica^ 

•  Beze,  Hist,  cccl.,  1.  VI,  p.  34,  7  juillet  1553. 

t  Ficot,  t.  I.  p.  259.  X  31  tlecembre  1543. 

i  Police  regulation,  July  29th,  1549.  ** Foolish  young  women  who  have  con- 
ducted themselves  badly  in  the  flesh,  must  not  come  to  the  church  to  ho  mar- 
ried  with  flowers  in  their  hats,  as  if  they  had  comported  themselves  honora- 
bly." And  Geneva  has  erected  a  statue  to  John  Jacques  Rosseau,  who  p.laced 
the  fruits  of  his  libertinism  in  the  asvluni  for  foundlings. 

n  Ficot,  t.  1, 266-207.  '  IF  Galiifo. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIW.  383 

tion  of  marals  :  but  one  day  this  blood  was  to  cry  for  vengeance.  Be- 
hold a  Protestant  patriot,  who  will  tell  us  what  John  of  Noyon  did  for 
the  Genevese  society.  "To  those  who  imagine  that  the  reformer  confer- 
red nothing  but  benefits,  I  will  exhibit  our  registers  covered  with  illegi- 
timate children,  (these  were  exposed  at  every  corner  of  the  city,  and  of 
the  country,) — prosecutions,  hideous  for  their  obscenity, — testaments, 
in  which  fathers  and  mothers  accuse  their  children,  not  of  errors  only, 
but  of  crimes, — transactions  before  notaries,  between  misses  and  their 
paramours,  who,  in  presence  of  their  relatives,  gave  them  wherewith  to 
rear  their  bastards, — multitudes  of  forced  marriages,  for  which  the 
delinquents  were  conducted  from  the  prison  to  the  temple, — Mothers, 
who  abandoned  their  children  to  the  hospital,  whilst  they  were  living 
in  abundance  with  their  second  husband, — bundles  of  papers,  concern- 
ing trials  between  brothers, — heaps  of  secret  denunciations ;  all  these 
things  in  the  midst  of  a  generation  fed  with  Calvin's  mystical  manna. "+ 

X  Galiffe,  Notices  g^n«alogiques,  t.  III,  p.  15, 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

THE   DRAMA  IN  THE  STREET.    1547—1550.* 

PETER  AMEAUX.      FAVRE.       AMI  PERRIN.      GRUET, 

PRTER    AMEAUX. 

Labour  of  the  opposition. — Struggles  of  Calvin.— Calvinian  duality. — Henry 
VIIL,  and  Moses. — Revelations  of  the  Libertines. — Peter  Ameaux. — Noc- 
turnal repast.— Design  against  the  reformer. — The  Counselor  Ameaux  is 
denounced  to  the  council  and  simply  condemned  to  pay  a  fine. — Wrath  and 
menaces  of  Calvin. — The  sentence  is  reconsidered. — Ameaux,  in  his  shirt, 
makes  the  amende  honorable. — Master  La  Mar  and  the  spy  Texier. — The 
gibbet  at  St.  Gervais. — Some  samples  of  despotism. — Abel  Poupin  in  the 
pulpit. 

The  theocratical  government  of  Calvin  was  admirably  organized  : 
in  it,  servitude  is  a  law  of  God,  and  the  legislator  an  inspired  being ; 
he  is  another  Moses  listening  to  the  voice  from  Sinai,  and  giving  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord  under  dictation.  The  libertines  could  not 
accustom  themselves  to  behold  the  apostle  of  the  Lord  in  Calvin ;  there 
were  too  many  passions  fermenting  in  the  reformer's  breast,  not  to  af-^ 
ford  them  grounds  to  contest  his  divine  mission.  Opposition  was  gain- 
ing ground  :  it  fortified  itself  by  appealing  to  all  those  old  instincts  in 
behalf  of  liberty,  which  were  still  living  in  every  one  that  had  a  Gen- 
evese  heart,  to  the  hatred  of  the  people  against  the  refugees,  the  sym- 
pathies of  the  republican  cantons,  and  to  many  glorious  souvenirs,  too 
recent  to  be  forgotten.  In  order  to  combat  their  revolutionary  tenden- 
cies, Calvin  had  his  god,  whom  he  caused  to  intervene  incessantly. 
Complaints,  murmurs,  offences,  were  so  many  sins,  the  suppression  of 
which  he  prosecuted  in  the  name  of  heaven.  From  the  pulpit,  he  trans- 
formed his  adversaries  into  disciples  of  satan,  labouring  to  ruin  tlie  holy 
-church  which  he  had  come  to  erect  to  the  Lord.  In  his  letters,  God 
and  the  devil  are  ever  engaged  in  combat.  The  part,  which  he  causes 
bis  enemies  to  play,  is  not  that  of  factious  tribunes.  They  are  damned 
souls  moving  and  conspiring  together,  and  whom  it  is  his  mission  to 
repress  by  blood,  in  case  the  word  cannot  triumph  over  them.     In  order 

♦  We  must  repeat  here  that,  in  the  political  and  religious  history  of  Calvin, 
the  facts  we  adduce,  when  not  flowing  from  official  documents,  are  nearly 
always  upheld  by  the  testimony  of  the  Protestant  writers,  Gautier,  Galiffe,  Pi- 
T:ot,  Fazy,  Gaberel,  etc* 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK.  385 

(0  characterize  the  combat  which  he  has  to  wage  against  the  libertines, 
^ve  shall  see  him  seeking  inspiration  from  the  holy  books,  borrowing 
from  the  psalmist  his  oriental  imagery,  and,  like  king  David,  moving 
under  the  impulse  of  the  divine  direction. 

"  Did  I  undertake,  says  he,  in  his  commentary  on  the  psalms,  to  re- 
count all  the  combats  which  1  have  sustained,  the  recital  of  them  would 
be  very  long  !  But  what  a  sweet  consolation  is  it  for  me,  to  see  how 
David  has  marked  out  the  way  for  me  !  he  is  my  guide  and  model. 
The  Philistines  had  waged  a  cruel  war  against  this  holy  king;  but  the 
malice  of  his  domestic  enemies  had  more  cruelly  afflicted  his  heart. 
And  I,  also,  have  been  assailed  on  every  side,  and  without  cessation, 
in  exterior  and  interior  struggles.  Satan  had  conceived  the  project  of 
overturning  this  church;  and  I,  feeble,  unskilled  in  w^arfare,  timid, 
liave  been  obliged  to  battle  body  to  body,  even  to  the  efTusion  of  blood. 
During  five  years,  stood  I  in  the  breach  for  the  preservation  of  disci- 
pline and  morals;  the  wicked  were  strong  and  powerful,  and  had  suc- 
ceeded to  corrupt  and  seduce  a  portion  of  the  people.  To  these  per- 
verse persons,  of  what  importance  was  holy  doctrine  ?  They  aspired 
only  after  dominion  :  they  laboured  only  for  the  conquest  of  a  factious 
liberty  !  Some,  impelled  by  want  and  hunger,  served  them  as  auxilia- 
ries; others,  urged  on  by  the  shameful  passion  of  worldly  interest;  all 
moved  on  blindly,  borne  upon  the  waves  of  their  caprices,  and  resolv- 
ed  to  plunge  themselves  with  us  into  the  abyss,  sooner  than  bend  their 
necks  under  the  yoke  of  discipline.  I  believe  that  all  the  arms  forged 
in  the  kingdom  of  satan,  have  been  tried  and  employed  by  them  :  in- 
famous projects,  which  were  to  be  turned  to  the  ruin  of  our  enemies  !" 

Behold  Cahin,  in  his  potent  personality,  the  reflection  or  echo  of  the 
Divinity,  the  living  symbol  of  the  revealed  word.  The  historians  of 
Geneva  have  not  been  willing  to  comprehend  this  phenominal  duality 
of  the  reformer  :  he  is  Henry  VIII.,  and  Moses.  Like  Henry,  ho  has 
assumed  to  himself  all  the  powers  which  govern  society  :  he  is  pontiff 
and  king;  like  Moses,  he  pretends  that  his  power  emanates  from  God 
himself:  he  is  apostle  and  lieutenant  of  Christ.  Therefore,  every  op- 
position  to  his  designs,  every  murmur  against  his  decrees,  every  oflence 
sgainst  his  person,  will  be  invested  with  a  double  criminality  :  in  each 
of  his  adversaries,  he  will  find  the  spirit  of  Grachus  and  of  satan. 

The  libertines  had  but  one  means  to  triumph  ;  this  w^as  to  strip  Cal- 
vin  of  his  title  of  high  priest.  They  attempted  it.  During  several 
years,  w^e  behold  them,  earnest  in  the  work,  watching  Calvin  in  his 
private  life,  at  the  temple,  in  the  council,  in  the  consistory,  in  the  midst 
of  his  intimates  and  friends,  and  recounting  every  thing  that  they  be- 
held,  every  thing  that  they  learned,  and  sometimes  what  they  had  mere- 
ly guessed.  It  was  from  the  reports  of  the  libertines,  that  Bolsec 
learned  how  the  minister  took  from  the  printers  of  .Geneva,  "two  sous 
per  page,  or  for  the  entire  leaf;"*  the  sums  of  money  "that  had  been 
sent  him  to  be  distributed  to  the  poor,  by  the  queen  of  Navarre,  the 
duchess  of  Ferrara,  and  other  rich  foreigners  ;  the  legacy  of  two  thou- 
sand  crowns,  which  David  de  Haynault  left  him  at  his  death,  and  which 

*  Bolsec,  Vie  de  Jean  Calvin,  p.  29 

33 


386  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

he  distributed  among  his  relatives  and  friends  ;*  the  marriage  for  monef 
which  he  caused  his  brother  Anthony  to  contract  with  the  daughter  of  a 
bankrupt  of  Antwerp,  who  had  fled  to  Geneva  in  order  to  secure  his  thefts; f 
the  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Farel  concerning  Servetus;J  and  his  little 
billet  to  the  marquis  de  Pouet : — "  Do  not  omit  to  rid  the  country  of 
those  rascally  zealots,  who,  by  their  discourses,  stir  up  the  people  to 
revolt  against  us,  blacken  our  conduct,  and  wish  to  have  our  doctrine 
taken  for  a  revery ;  such  7nonsters  ought  to  he  strangled. 

"  These  designs,  coming  from  the  workshops  of  satan,"  says  Beza, 
'•were  spread  among  the  populations  of  the  republic,  and  reflected  upon 
the  honour  of  Calvin."  The  people  welcomed  them  with  joy  :  the 
yoke  of  thetheocrat  weighed  heavily  on  all  generous  spirits. 

Beneath  the  open  sunlight,  the  libertines  were  less  successful.  They 
were  nearly  always  certain  to  fail,  when  they  attacked  the  reformer  to 
his  face,  because  Calvin  knew  how,  with  great  skill,  to  present  himself 
before  the  council  as  the  servant  of  God.  If  we  may  be  allowed  to 
use  the  comparison,  this  was  the  Thabor  on  which  he  transfigured  him- 
self before  every  eye.  They  essayed  to  strip  the  consistory  of  the 
consistorial  jurisdiction,  in  order  to  confer  it  on  the  council ;  but  they 
did  not  succeed.  They  could  not  even  restore  to  the  civil  power  the 
right  of  excommunication,  which  at  first  had  been  reserved  to  it  alone, 
and  which,  by  a  monstrous  iniquity,  Calvin  had  transferred  to  the  con- 
sistory. Nor  were  they  able  to  have  repealed  the  decree  which  punish- 
ed,  with  the  pain  of  death,  any  one  who  should  reveal  the  secrets  of 
the  state.  § 

Calvin  knew  his  enemies.  The  chiefs  of  the  opposition  were  Peter 
Ameaux  and  Ami  Perrin.  Peter  Ameaux,  a  man  of  the  bar-room, 
with  a  wicked  tongue  and  a  soul  destitute  of  energy;  Ami,  or  Amied 
Perrin,  the  idol  of  the  people,  admirable  when  facing  the  soldiers  of 
the  duke  of  Savoy,  but  understanding  nothing  that  concerned  a  con- 
test of  words;  skillful  in  handling  his  sword,  but  incapable  of  wielding 
a  pen. 

It  is  with  these  patriots  that  Calvin's  struggle  is  about  to  commence. 

Peter  Ameaux,  member  of  the  council  o(  Twenty  five,  was  fond  of 
seeing  at  his  table  the  old  republicans,  with  whom  he  could  freely  in- 
dulge his  humour.  Calvin  made  the  revellers  the  constant  theme  of 
his  railleries.  One  day,  when  Ami  had  drunk  more  deeply  than  was  his 
custom,  he  began  to  rail  at  the  reformer  in  so  droll  a  strain,  that  every 
body  was  convulsed  with  laughter.  •'  Pardieu  !"  said  he,  "you  set  too 
high  a  value  on  this  man,  and  are  wrong  to  exalt  him  so  much  :  you 
place  him  above  all  the  apostles  and  doctors  that  ever  were;  but  it  is 
no  such  great  thing  that  you  do,  for  among  the  good  sentences  heutters, 
he  mingles  still  more  that  are  very  horned  and  frivolous. "||  The  wine 
was  excellent  and  abundant,  the  heads  of  the  guests  were  affected,  and 
Calvin  was  mercilessly  torn  lo  pieces.     The  minister,  master  Henry  la 

«■  lb.,  p.  30,  t  lb.,  p.  31. 

\  See  chapter  entitled  :  Michael  Servktus. 

♦  The  punishment  of  death,  decreed  against  the  betrayers  of  the  secrets  of 
the  councils,  J  9th  October,  1540. 
Ij  Bolsec,  p.  33. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  387 

Mar,  borne  away  with  the  excitement,  did  like  the  rest,  and  took  it 
into  his  head  to  say,  amid  the  plaudits  of  the  revellers,  "that  he  was 
an  impatient,  hateful,  vindictive  fellow,  who  never  forgave  whilst  he 
had  a  spite  against  any  one." 

At  this  supper,  which  was  prolonged  far  into  the  night,  there  were 
present  some  spies,  sold  to  Calvin,  who  denounced  the  seditious  dis- 
oourses.  On  the  next  morning,  Peter  Ameaux  was  cited  before  the 
council.*  The  night  had  calmed  the  brain  of  the  counselor,  who  ex- 
cused himself,  alleging  the  state  of  intoxication  in  which  he  was,  when 
he  had  spoken  ill  of  master  John.  The  members  of  the  council,  in 
part  friends  of  Peter  Ameaux,  after  long  deliberation,  condemned  him 
to  pay  thirty  dollars  fine  :  a  very  large  sum  for  that  epoch,  when  the 
counselor  received  a  few  sols  salary. 

On  hearing  the  sentence,  Calvin  rises,  invests  himself  with  his  doc- 
tor's  robes,  and,  escorted  by  some  of  the  ministers  and  elders,  pene- 
trates into  the  council  hall,  asks  justice  in  the  name  of  God,  whom 
Peter  Ameaux  has  outraged,  in  the  name  of  morals  which  he  has  de- 
filed, of  the  laws  which  he  has  violated,  and  declares  that  he  will  aban- 
don Geneva,  if  the  criminal  do  not  make  the  amende  honorable,  with 
naked  head,  at  the  hotel  de  ville,  at  the  Moulard,  and  ai  Saint-Ger- 
vais.f  / 

The  council,  terrified,  annuls  the  sentence.     '  / 

On  the  next  day,  Ameaux,  half-naked,  with  torch  in  hand,  accused 
himself  with  loud  voice,  of  having  knowingly  and  wickedly  offended 
God,  and  he  asked  pardon  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

And  after  three  centuries,  a  historian  is  found  defending  the  memory 
of  Calvin,  who  violates  the  sanctuary  of  the  laws,  overwhelms  a  re- 
pentant counselor  with  bitterness  and  shame,  and  forces  iniquitous 
judges  to  repeal  a  verdict,  which  they  had  pronounced  after  having  in- 
voked the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  minister  was  not  satisfied.  At  the  supper  of  Ameaux,  master 
Henry  de  la  Mar  was  present,  who,  also,  had  drunk  rather  too  copious- 
ly himself,  after  the  fashion  of  the  drunkard  Bernard,  the  ancient  guard- 
ian of  the  Franciscan  convent ;  and  who,  with  his  head  fuddled  with 
Sauvagin  wine,  which  the  gentlemen  of  the  council  frequently  sent  to 
Calvin,  allowed  himself  to  indulge  in  a  few  railleries  with  regard  to 
the  reformer.  Well,  when  he  was  paying  a  visit  to  Benedict  Texier, 
one  of  the  doctor's  spies,  the  conversation  turned  upon  Peter  Ameaux's 
supper,  and  Henry,  being  interrogated  concerning  the  cause  of  the  coun- 
selor's imprisonment,  answered  candidly  :  Some  say,  that  after  he  had 
well  feasted  them,  and  given  them  fine  cheer  in  his  house,  they  have 
accused  him  to  the  messieurs  of  the  council,  and  caused  him  to  be  cast 
into  prison." 

Texier  responds  : — "  I  am  sorry ;  I  could  wish  he  had  been  silent  or 
spoken  well.  And  what  then  did  he  say  ?  Has  he  spoken  directly 
agairist  God  or  against  men  ?" 

*  Picot,  Histoire  de  Geneve,  t.  II,  p.  410-411.   This  historian  has  endeavour- 
ed to  justify  most  of  Calvin's  attempts  against  Genevese  nationality, 
t  Gaberel,  p,  92, 


388  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Master  Henry  la  Mar  proceeded  : — •'  I  think  that  he  said  something 
against  Calvin;  yet,  this  was  after  drinking.  And  moreover,"  addshe 
laughing,  "the  man  is  hateful  and  vindictive.  Already,  whilst  he  was 
at  Strasbourg,  he  was  reprimanded  for  this;  even  when  he  came  to  re- 
side in  this  ciiy  of  Geneva,  some  of  his  friends  besought  him  to  divest 
himself  of  such  passions,  and  told  him  that  if  hn  continued  in  them,  he 
would  not  be  borne  with  as  he  had  been  at  Strasbourg."  He  added, 
after  looking  around  him  cautiously  : — "  Calvin  lately  had  such  a  great 
squabble  and  enmity  with  one  of  the  principal  men  of  the  city,  that  the 
messieurs  of  the  coimcil  had  to  interfere.  TheyVere  much  annoyed, 
and  had  a  great  deal  to  do  to  reconcile  him  with  the  other.  His  hatred 
was  so  great,  that  he  did  not  take  ttie  Lord's  Supper ;  for  which  there 
was  great  noise,  and  I  think  this  was  the  cause  of  those  remarks  made 
by  the  said  Peter  Ameaux.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  Calvin  prosecutes 
the  said  prisoner." 

*'  I  do  not  believe  it,"  devoutly  murmured  Texier. 

— "  If  it  be  so,"  resumed  la  Mar,  "1  would  be  glad  he  .should  be  ex- 
iled for  his  profit;  for  Peter  Ameaux  is  a  man  of  great  credit,  and  has 
many  friends.  Calvin  thinks  that  I  am  the  cause  of  all  this;  but  I 
assure  you  that  I  am  not;  I  know  nothing. about  it;  I  beseech  you,  do 
not  tell  him  any  thing  of  all  this." 

"Nor  shall  I,"  replied    Texier,  lifting   up  his  eyes  to  heaven. 

La  Mar  had  scarcely  descended  the  stair  case,,  when  Texier  went  to 
denounce  the  minister  to  Calvin,  saying  to  him  : — "  Master,  I  have  m- 
deed  promised  secrecy  ;  but  when  I  perceived  that  the  matter  was  of 
such  great  importance,  I  wished  to  have  more  regard  for  the  public 
good,  and  the  welfare  of  the  city  in  which  I  reside,  than  for  the  good  of 
a  single  man,  even  were  this  the  greatest  friend  I  have  in  the  world." 

Calvin,  in  consequence,  accused  Henry  la  Mar,  had  him  deprived  of 
his  post  as  minister  at  Jussy  and  Fansonex,  and  condemned  to  threes 
days  imprisonment.  The  sentence  runs:  For  having  censured  M. 
Calvin.* 

The  condemnation  of  Peter  Ameaux  enraged  the  whole  clty.f  They 
might  have  ransacked  the  archives  of  the  past,  and  never  would  they 
have  found  that  either  bishop's  crozier  or  ducal  baton  had  so  iniquitous- 
ly  struck  any  head,  even  that  of  a  slave.  Tears  flowed  from  many 
an  eye.  The  people,  collected  in  the  suburb  Saint-Gervais,  made  the 
air  ring  with  menaces,  exclaiming  :  "Down  with  Calvin!  down  with 
the  refugees  !" 

Calvin  does  not  allow  the  tempest  time  to  burst  forth.  He  feigns  to* 
leave  the  cily,  and,  in  a  moment,  they  all  run  to  him  :  the  councils,  the 
lieutenant,  the  companies  of  watchmen  and  officials,  "armed  with 
.staves,"  and  even  the  very  executioner,  who  drags  after  him  a  gibbet, 
which  he  proceeds  to  erect  on  the   place   Saint-Gervais.,  cryir^g  through 

•  Sop  Gnliffo,  Notices  Gen.,  t.  Ill,  p.  524-527. 

t  P(t^r  Ameaux  was  lirouglit  to  iiid'rnont  lor  having  siid  thai  M.  Calvin 
preached  afalso  doctrtnc,.  was  a  wicked  man,, and  notliing  but  a  Picardiaa.-»- 
Registres  du  conseii  d'Etat,  27th  Jan,,  15461. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


389 


the  streets  : — Whoever  moves  shall  be  hoisted  on  the  gibbet,  even  till 
death  follow.* 

The  people  trembled,  the  city  kept  silent,  and  Ameaux's  sentence 
was  executed  on  the  5th  of  April. 

Calvin's  victory  made  him  insolent..  He  was  like  a  college  pedant 
transformed  into  a  king,  and  taking  his  amusement. 

He  mounts  the  pulpit,  and  calls  those  who  made  the  demonstration  at 
Saint  Gervais,  idle  fellows  and  villains.  The  suburb  is  agitated  and 
murmurs;  four  of  the  most  mutinous  are  arrested  and  thrown  into 
prison,  under  plea  of  preventing  revolt. f  Order  is  given  to  eat  meat 
on  Fridays  and  Saturdays,  under  penalty  of  imprisonment.  The  night 
watch  cries  out : — Let  no  one  make  embroidered  breeches  and  waist- 
coats,  nor  wear  them  henceforth,  under  penalty  of  sixty  sols.J 

In  the  registers,  we  read  : 

"  Chapuis  is  put  in  prison  for  having  persisted  to  name  his  son 
Claude,  though  the  minister  was  not  willing,  but  wanted  him  called 
Abraham.  He  had  said  that  he  would  rather  keep  his  child  fifteen 
years  without  baptism."     He  was  kept  four  days  imprisoned  § 

Certain  men  and  women  having  obtained  permission  from  the  coun- 
cil 10  act  a  moral,  composed  by  Roux  Monet,  and  entitled,  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  Michael  Cop  ascends  the  pulpit  at  St.  Peter's,  and  de- 
clares that  the  women  who  should  play  this  farce,  are  shameless  women, 
who  have  no  other  aim  but  to  show  themselves,  in  order  to  excite  im- 
pure desires  in  the  hearts  of  the  spectators.  || 

One  day,  a  relative  of  Favre  presents  himself  before  the  altar  with  a 
young  woman  of  Nantes,  to  be  married.  The  celebrant,  Abel  Poupin, 
asks  the  husband  : — "  Do  you  promise  to  be  faithful  to  your  wife  ?" — 
The  husband,  in  place  of  answering,  yes,  bows  his  head.  A  great  tu- 
mult takes  place  among  the  assistants.  The  bridegroom  is  thrown  into 
prison,  is  obliged  to  ask  pardon  of  the  girl's  uncle,  and  condemned 
to  bread  and  water. T 

And  Abel  Poupin  was  reprimanded  by  Calvin  for  not  having  driven 
the  bridal  parties  out  of  the  church.  Master  Abel,  however,  was  not 
deficient  in  courage  :  it  was  he,  who,  from  the  pulpit,  cried  out  to  the 
libertines  :  *'  Rascals,  dogs,  blackguards,  even  papists;"**  the  grossest 
insult  to  be  found  in  the  reformed  lexicon  of  the  sixteenth  century. 


FAVRE. 

The  family  of  Favre. — His  daughter  Frances. — His  son-in  law,  Ami  Perrin. — 
Favre  summoned  before  the  consistory,  and  accused  of  having  cried,  live 
liberty ! — He  is  interrogated. — Calvin's  letter. 

If  there  was  in  Geneva  a  family  which  Calvin  should  have  protected, 

*  Registres,  30  mars  1546. 

t  GaUfF^,  p.  538-539.  if  Registres,  16  avril  1543. 

*  Registres,  1546.  Picot,  t.  II,  p.  413-414. 
11  Fragments  biographiques,  p.  15. 

S  Episiola  Vireto.  **  Galiffe,  p.  262,  t.  Ill,  note. 

33* 


390  tlFE    OF    JOHN    CALVINo 

it  was  that  of  the  Favres  :  those  patriots,  who  had  so  long  struggled  (of 
the  emancipation  of  their  country  from  the  house  of  Savoy.  But  for 
Francis  Favre,  and  his  son-in-law,  Ami  Perrin,  and  their  friends,  Be- 
zanfon  Hugues,  John  Baux,  and  John  Philippe,  Calvin  would  not  to- 
day be  at  Geneva.  He  owes  his  power  to  these  intrepid,  but  abused 
men,  who,  not  being  willing  to  comprehend  that  Catholicism  adapts 
itself  to  every  form  of  government,  used,  for  its  destruction,  all  the 
courage  they  possessed,  and  after  a  combat  of  eighteen  years,  in  which 
their  blood  was  freely  shed,  succeeded  only  in  giving  themselves  a 
merciless  master  :  the  just  chastisement  of  an  apostacy,  which  they 
vainly  endeavoured  lo  colour  with  the  name  of  patriotism.  Calvin 
was  destined  to  make  them  expiate  their  part  of  renegades  in  a  most 
cruel  manner. 

It  is  not  now  necessary  to  ask  to  what  side  the  Favre  family  belongs. 
Francis  and  his  son-in-law.  Ami  Perrin,  could  be  found  no  where  but 
where  danger  was  to  be  risked,  liberty  ^^to  be  defended,  a  country  to 
be  saved,  a  despot's  yoke  to  be  broken  to  pieces  :  they  are  libertines. 
Favre  is  a  man,  with  whitened  locks,  an  admirable  vigour  of  constitu- 
tion, a  strength  of  soul  fit  for  every  trial,  having  his  veins  filled  with  a 
mingling  of  Gallic  and  Roman  blood,  and  who  would  have  soon  driven 
the  stranger  away,  had  he  found  in  the  people,  made  degenerate  by  the  re  . 
former,  the  audacity  of  the  first  days  of  the  reformation.  Calvin  has 
represented  him  as  a  toothless  debauchee,  who  carries  disorder  into 
families,  makes  sport  of  the  virtue  of  females,  of  the  honour  of  young 
men,  and  goes  to  rekindle  his  wanton  fires  in  the  bar-rooms  of  taverns 
and  in  other  wicked  places.  His  daughter,  Frances,  was  one  of  those 
women  whom  our  old  Corneille  would  have  taken  for  heroines  :  ex- 
citable, choleric,  fond  of  pleasure,  enamoured  with  dancing,  and  hating 
Calvin  as  Luther  did  a  monk.  John  of  Noyon  represents  her  as  a 
daughter  of  hell,  and  often  designates  her  as  "the  new  Proserpine." 

Ami  Perrin,  the  captain  general,  had,  in  1538,  espoused  Frances 
Favre.  He  was  a  man  of  noble  stature,  who  wore  the  sword  with  great 
grace,  dressed  in  good  taste,  and  conversed  with  much  facility  ;  but  a 
boaster  at  table  and  at  the  council,  where  he  deafened  every  one  with 
his  boastful  loquacity,  his  fits  of  self-love,  and  his  theatrical  airs. 
Calvin,  through  derision,  called  him:  Ccesar  comicus  et  Coesar  tragi- 
cus,  (the  comical  and  tragical  Caesar,)  because  of  the  attitude  he  loved 
to  assume,  in  treating  matters  either  important  or  indifferent.*  As  tO' 
the  rest,  like  all  men  of  this  stamp,  he  had  an  excellent  heart,  was  de- 
voted as  a  friend,  with  cool  blood,  and  patriotic  even  to  extremes. 
Could  hatred  kill,  long  since  would  Calvin  have  ceased  to  exist.  Ami 
called  him  nothing  but  the  hypocrite.  At  the  table,  it  was  his  delight 
to  imitate  the  reformer,  elongating  his  visage,  winking  his  eyes,  and  as- 
suming the  air  of  an  anchoret  of  the  Thebaid.      At  his  dwelling,  his 

•  Moshcim  attributes  this  double  soubriquet,  given  by  Calvin  to  Perrin,  to 
the  now  tragic  Jind  now  comic  language  of  the  syndic. — Das  Wort  Casar  geht 
wohl  auf  Herrschbcgierde,  aber  comicus  und  tragicus  scheint  auf  seine  Ber- 
redsamkeit  zu  gehen,  die  bald  zu  hoch,  und  schwUlstig,  wie  in  Trauerspielen, 
bald  zu  lustig,  wie  in  Froudonspielen  war.— Mosheim,  Geschichte  Serveti, 
p.  192. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN,  391 

wife,  child,  servant,  were  all  taught  to  despise  Calvin  :  the  daughter  of 
Favre  was  particularly  remarkable  for  her  noisy  outbursts.  She  af- 
fected to  laugh  at  the  disciplinary  regulations  of  the  reformer  ;  at  divine 
service,  she  threw  her  eyes  round  on  every  side;  she  clothed  herself 
after  the  Bernese  fashion,  and  danced  in  spite  of  the  ordinances. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1546,  there  was  a  wedding  at  Belierive,  where, 
among  others,  were  present  Francis  Favre,  captain  Perrin  and  his  wife, 
John  Baptist  Sept,  ClauJine  Philippe,  Denis  Hugues,  James  Gruet, 
the  poet,  the  wife  of  the  seignior  Anthony  Lect,  the  wife  of  Philibert 
Donzel,  and  the  newly  married  lady  was  the  daughter  of  Anthony  Lect ; 
they  danced  the  whole  evening.* 

On  the  next  day,  the  whole  wedding  party  appeared  before  the  con- 
sistory. Francis  Favre  was  accused  of  having  used  seditious  observa- 
tions at  the  repast. 

We  must  cite  the  act  of  accusation  :t 

1st.  He  has  said  he  would  not  accept  the  office  of  captain  of  the 
:arquebusiers,  if  he  had  to  have  Frenchmen  in  the  company,  because  he 
wanted  none  but  good  Genevese,  and  nothing  to  do  with  the  bishop  of 
Geneva,  M.  Calvin. 

2ndly.  He  said  that  M.  Calvin  and  M.  Poupin  have  changed  their 
names. 

3rdly.     Item,  that  he  does  not  believe  what  they  preach. 

4thly.  He  said  to  a  man  that  saluted  him  :  *'  Why  dost  thou  salute 
a  dog !"  and  this  in  order  to  excite  hatred  against  the  preachers,  (who 
had  called  him  a  dog  from  the  pulpit.) 

5thly.  He  said  :  These  French,  these  mean  fellows,  are  the  cause 
why  we  are  slaves ;  and  this  Calvin  has  devised  means  to  make  it  ne. 
cessary  that  one  should  go  to  him  to  tell  his  sins,  and  show  him  reve- 
rence. 

6thly.     To  the  devil  with  the  preachers  and  those  who  uphold  them. 

7thly.     Item,  that  he  would  be  glad  the  French  were  in  France. 

8thly.  Item,  that  he  wishes  to  leave  Geneva,  where  his  old  age  is 
made  miserable,  whilst  it  would  be  honorable  any  where  else. 

9thly.  Item,  that  Calvin  has  tormented  him  more  than  four  bishops, 
whom  he  has  seen  buried,  and  that  he  will  not  recognize  him  for  his 
prince. 

lOthly.  When  they  w^re  conducting  him  to  prison,  he  cried  out  : 
Liberty  !  liberty  !  I  would  give  a  thousand  crowns  to  have  a  general 
council. 

Liberty !  that  sacred  cry,  shouted  by  an  old  man,  who  had  shed  his 
blood  in  defence  of  national  independence,  has  become  a  seditious  cry  ! 
To  expiate  it,  they  want  Favre  to  ask  pardon  ! 

But  the  old  patriot  lifted  up  his  head,  and  said  to  his  judges  :  "Let 
them  take  me  to  prison,  I  will  not  humble  myself" 

He  lay  there  during  three  weeks.  Then  Berne  remembered,  that, 
fifteen  years  before,  Francis,  with  his  brothers,  John  and  Anthony,  had 

•  Galiffe,  t.  HI,  p.  540-541. 

t  Extracted  from  the  act  of  accusation  against  Francis  Favre,  formerly 
counselor. 


392 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


assisted  at  the  federation  of  Fribourg.     Naegeli,  the  advocate,  came  to 
demand,  and  he  obtained,  ihe  liberation  of  the  old  soldier.* 

We  must  hear  Calvin's  account : 

*«  Since  your  departure,  dances  have  not  permitted  us  a  moment's  re- 
pose. All  those,  who  have  allowed  themselves  to  be  seduced  into  them, 
have  been  summoned  before  the  consistory,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
Ami  and  de  Come,  of  whom  nothing  has  been  said,  they  have  not 
spared  us  any  more  than  God.  Anger  at  last  took  possession  of  me  ; 
1  have  thundered  against  this  public  contempt  of  the  Lord,  and  against 
the  neglect  of  our  holy  ordinances.  They  exhibit  no  signs  of  repent- 
ance. 1  had  promised  God  that  I  should  know  how  to  chastise  them. 
I  will  declare,  that,  at  the  peril  of  my  life,  I  should  know  the  truth, 
and  have  justice  for  their  falsehoods.  The  woman,  Frances  Perrin, 
has  spoken  to  us  a  thousand  insults ;  I  answered  her  as  she  deserved. 
I  asked  whether  the  Favre  family  had  a  privilege  to  violate,  with  impu- 
nity, the  police  regulations.  The  father  is  a  debauchee,  who  already 
has  been  charged  with  adultery.  There  is  now  a  second  prosecution  of 
this  nature  about  to  be  instituted,  and  perhaps  a  third;  it  is  spoken  of, 
at  least.  The  brother  openly  mocks  at  us.  I  added  :  Why  do  you 
not  build  a  city  where  you  can  live  according  to  your  fancy,  since  you 
are  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  yoke  of  Christ  ?  but,  as  long  as  you  shall 
remain  here,  it  will  be  in  vain  for  you  to  seek  to  exempt  yourselves 
from  the  laws  :  for,  were  there  in  your  dwellings  as  many  diadems  as 
heads,  God  will  still  know  how  to  remain  master. — Then  came  the 
avowals,  they  have  confessed  every  thing,  and  T  have  learned  that  they 
had  danced  at  the  widow  Balthasar's.  They  passed  from  the  council 
to  the  prison.  The  syndic  had  exhibited  a  criminal  weakness;  he  has 
received  a  sharp  reprimand  from  the  consistory,  and  been  suspended 
until  he  give  marks  of  repentance.  It  is  said  that  Perrin  has  returned 
from  Lyons  :  he  shall  not  escape  chastisement.  The  wife  of  Perrin 
is  furious,  the  widow  Balthasar  half  a  fool,  all  the  rest  are  ashamed 
and  silent. "t 


AMI    PERRIN. 

Lawrence  Megret,  a  creature  of  Calvin,  denounces  Ami  Perrin  to  the  coun- 
cil.— Means  employed  by  the  reformer  to  ruin  the  captain  general. — Popular 
commotion. — Calmed  by  Calvin. — Prosecution  of  Perrin. — The  interrogato- 
ry.— Reaction. — Condemnation  of  Megret. 

The  captain  general  was  in  fact  absent.  Calvin  had  sent  him  away 
from  Geneva  in  order  to  ruin  him.  Perrin,  named  ambassador  to  Paris, 
was  one  of  those  confiding  souls,  whom  it  is  easy  to  ensnare.  A  fine  look, 
ing  cavalier,  he  was  to  be  feasted  in  a  gallant  court,  where  external 
gifts  were  the  requisites  for  success  and   triumph.     Cardinal  du  Bellay 

»  Francis  Favre,  father-in-law  of  Perrin,  has  been  liberated  from  prison,  at 
the  prayer  of  the  seigniors  of  Berne,  who  have  sent  here  the  ancient  advocate, 
Naegeli,  express,  to  solicit  his  liberation. — Fragments  biographiques,  p.  14. 

t  Ep.  71,  1546,  Farello. 


LIFE    Of    JOHN    CALVIN.  393 

loved  to  chat  with  Perrin.  In  one  of  those  openhearted  interviews, 
the  conversation  turned  upon  the  emperor,  who  was  then  menacing 
Switzerland. 

— In  that  case,  said  the  cardinal,  have  courage ;  the  king,  my  mas- 
ter, will  not  forget  his  cherished  allies.  Do  you  wish  two  hundred  good 
lances,  of  whom  you  shall  be  captain  ? 

— My  lord,  responded  Perrin,  I  will  speak  of  this  to  the  council.* 

This  design  was  denounced  by  Lawrence  Megret,  called  the  magnifi- 
cent,  and  at  Calvin's  instance. 

The  capital  accusation  was  altogether  proved ;  and  it  was  only  ne- 
cessary  now  to  have  a  pretext  for  arresting  the  captain  general,  and 
Calvin  comes  to  the  aid  of  Megret. 

Perrin's  wife  had  gone  to  dance  in  the  Bernese  territory,  and  on  the 
next  day,  the  rumour  was  spread  through  the  city,  that  Frances  Perrin 
and  her  father,  accused  of  committing  adultery  Avith  their  servants, 
were  to  be  conducted  to  prison  between  two  soldiers  of  the  police. 
This  was  a  humiliation  that  Perrin  would  not  have  suffered  at  the  price 
of  his  blood.  Francis  Favre  had  been  cited  before  the  consistory. 
The  theme  of  the  counselors  had  been  prepared  beforehand.  Favre, 
in  response  to  the  charge  of  prostitution,  exhibits  his  grey  hairs,  and 
refuses  to  say  anything  in  self-justification  :  they  insult  him ;  he  is  si- 
lent ;  and,  once  out  of  view  of  the  tribunal,  he  pours  forth  his  soul  in 
insults  against  his  judges.  He  is  summoned  anew,  and  withdraws  to 
the  country ;  his  daughter  takes  his  place,  and  appears  before  the  con- 
sistory. This  was  the  woman  whom  Calvin  called  a  fury  ;  a  woman 
fond  of  her  own  body,  and,  in  his  energetic  language,  a 1 

Frances  defended  herself  like  an  angry  woman,  and  did  not  spare 
Calvin.     It  was  said  that  she  was  about  to  be  arrested. 

Then  the  captain  general  presents  himself  before  the  council,  at 
once  in  defence  of  his  father-in-law  and  his  wife.  At  the  moment  he 
entered,  they  were  interrogating  a  man  arraigned  for  an  offence  against 
God.  The  captain  general,  who  wanted  to  speak,  pushed  the  prisoner 
aside  violently,  saying  to  him  :  Withdraw ;  my  business  is  more 
urgent  than  thine. 

Among  the  members  of  the  council,  there  was  one  evidently  sold  to 
Calvin  :  this  was  Lambert,  who  had  no  means  of  livelihood,  except 
from  the  fines  which  were  levied  from  the  libertines  who  were  de- 
nounced by  the  reformer.  For  the  judge,  the  captain's  insolence  was  a 
God-send;  he  accused  him  of  an  attempt  upon  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  in  the  persons  of  the  members  of  the  council ;  of  criminal 
pity  for  a  wretch  condemned  to  be  scourged,  whom  he  had  prevented 
from  being  struck  to  the  blood ;  of  seditious  tenderness  for  a  poor  man, 
to  whom  he  had  remitted  a  fine  that  would  have  taken  his  last  and  only 
cent.:j: 

On  leaving  the  council,  Perrin  was  arrested  and  conducted  to  prison. 
His  prosecution  was  commenced  immediately  :   Calvin  wanted  blood. 

*  Galiffe,  t.  HI,  p.  379-392.— James  Fazy,  t.  I,  p.  270-272. 
t  Uxor  est  prodigiosa  furia,  impudenter  omnium   criminum   defensionem. 
suscipiens. — Ep.  70, 
I  Galiffe,  t.  HI,  p.  385, 


394 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


But  the  people  loved  Perrin.  They  admired  the  courage,  the  gene- 
rosity, the  patriotism,  and  even  the  very  defects  of  the  captain  general. 
In  the  evening,  the  streets  were  filled  with  labourers  and  burghers,  de- 
manding news  concerning  the  prisoner.  The  police  did  not  dare  resort 
to  force,  in  order  to  disperse  the  crowds  which  at  length  would  have 
assumed  a  menacing  attitude.  Calvin's  name  was  abused.  In  the 
councils,  the  cause  of  the  patriot  was  pleaded  with  energy.  In  the 
Two  Hundred,  the  majority  seemed  to  have  abandoned  the  reformer, 
and  wished  an  appeal  made  to  the  people  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  ac- 
cused. Had  there  been  a  single  man  of  courage  in  the  councilof  the 
Two  Hundred,  Geneva  would  have  recovered  her  liberties.  But  Gene- 
va was  in  dread  :  a  great  lesson  was  about  to  be  given  her,  in  which 
the  reformer  will  manifest  how  a  people  can  be  made  to  tremble. 

The  council  of  the  Two  Hundred  was  assembled.  Never  had  any 
session  been  more  tumultuous  ;  the  parties,  weary  of  speaking,  began 
to  appeal  to  arms.  The  people  heard  the  appeal.  Calvin  appears, 
unattended ;  he  is  received  at  the  lower  part  of  the  hall  with  cries  of 
death.  He  folds  his  arms,  and  looks  the  agitators  fixedly  in  the  face. 
Not  one  of  them  dares  strike  him.  Then,  advancing  through  the  midst 
of  the  groups,  with  his  breast  uncovered  : — '•  If  you  want  blood,"  says 
he,  "there  are  still  a  few  drops  here;  strike,  then  !"  Not  an  arm  is 
raised.  Calvin  then  slowly  ascends  the  stair-way  to  the  council  of  the 
Two  Hundred.  The  hall  was  on  the  point  of  being  drenched  with 
blood  ;  swords  were  flashing.  On  beholding  the  reformer,  the  w^eapons 
were  lowered,  and  a  few  words  sufficed  to  calm  the  agitation.  Calvin, 
taking  the  arm  of  one  of  the  counselors,  again  descends  the  stairs,  and 
cries  out  to  the  people  that  he  wishes  to  address  them.  He  does  speak, 
and  with  such  an  energy  and  feeling,  that  tears  flow  from  their  eyes  : 
they  embrace  each  other,  and  the  crowd  retires  in  silence.  The  patri- 
ots had  lost  the  day.  From  that  moment,  it  was  easy  to  foretell  that 
victory  would  remain  with  the  reformer.  The  libertines,  who  had 
shown  themselves  so  bold,  when  it  was  question  of  destroying  some 
front  of  a  Catholic  edifice,  overturning  some  saint's  niche,  or  throwing 
down  an  old  wooden  cross  weakened  by  age,  trembled  like  women 
before  this  man,  who,  in  fact,  on  this  occasion,  exhibited  something  of 
the  homeric  heroism.* 

The  prosecution  of  Perrin  was  commenced  on  the  20th  of  Septem- 
ber, and  lasted  to  the  5th  of  November,  1547.  Among  the  witnesses, 
that  gave  evidence  against  the  chief  of  the  libertines,  appeared  Bonni- 
vard,  who,  twenty  years  before,  played  all  parts,  and  who  now  was 
purchasing  from  Calvin,  at  the  price  of  base  informations,  a  repose 
which  he  could  have  made  more  glorious.  This  old  soldier  of  liberty, 
quite  bruised  with  the  chains  of  Chillon,  was  mean  enough  to  sit  at  the 
table  of  judges,  whose  ears  could  listen  to  an  interrogatory  conceived 
in  the  following  forms  : 

1.  Since  when  he  has  been  detained,  and  if  he  know  the  cause  of 
Lis  detention. 

♦  Epist.  Vireto,  17  septemb.  1547. — Bretschneider,  Calvin  ct  TEglise  d& 
Geneve,  p.  162. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  395 

2.  If  he  be  not  citizen  and  counselor  of  the  city  of  Geneva,  know- 
sng  the  edicts  and  ordinances  of  the  council,  ivhich  is  established  by  the 
pravidence  of  Gud,  and  ratified  by  the  community  of  Geneva,  which 
every  one  ought  to  obey  in  all  things  licit,  and  those  who  contravene 
it  deserve  to  be  punished. 

3.  With  what  arrogance  and  authority,  on  Tuesday  last,  the  20th 
of  this  month  of  September,  1547,  he  came  to  interrupt  the  ordinary 
council,  without  being  called,  he  being  retired  out  of  said  council. 

4.  With  what  authority,  he  has  spoken  to  a  certain  person  named 
Bramet,  whom  their  seigniories  had  summoned  to  hear  in  council,  as 
the  order  shows,  such  words  as  these  :  Withdraw,  and,  in  fact,  by  his 
arrogance,  caused  him  to  retire,  contravening  the  ordinances  on  this 
point  established. 

5.  If  he  have  not  said  that,  if  they  cast  Francis  Favre  and  the  wife 
of  the  said  accused  into  prison,  and  led  and  dragged  them  through  the 
city,  he  could  not  tolerate  it,  and  would  even  revenge  himself,  and  God 
would  aid  him  to  be  avenged.. 

6.  By  what  means  he  designs  taking  such  vengeance,  and  who  are 
his  adherents. 

7.  On  which  occasion,  the  day  aforesaid,  several  times,  and  again, 
he  came  to  interrupt  the  council,  saying  :  "You  have  caused  command 
to  be  given  me  to  go  to  prison;  but  1  will  not  go,"  with  high  words, 
menacing  and  otherwise  illicit,  and  if  this  be  not  great  rebellion  against 
the  magistrate,  and  deserving  of  punishment. 

8.  If,  formerly,  he  have  not  said  that  he  had  kept  a  turkish  horse 
in  Geneva  during  the  space  of  three  weeks,  and  worn  a  coat  of  mail, 
for  the  purpose  of  killing  three  citizens  of  Geneva,  of  whom  he  then 
declared  that  one  was  among  the  seigniors  the  syndics,  at  that  time 
holding  the  office  of  the  syndicship  in  his  own  degree.* 

9.  What  acquaintance  and  intercourse  he  has  with  the  seignior  de 
Rolle,  to  have  thus  so  long  frequented  him. 

10.  If  he  have  not  declared  that  he  was  as  much  master  in  Geneva, 
as  the  king  in  his  kingdom  of  France. 

11.  With  what  authority  he  made  such  a  speech,  and  to  what  end 
it  tended. 

12.  If,  being  in  the  country,  near  this,  and  having  met  a  citizen  of 
Geneva,  he  did  not  say  to  him,  in  a  rage,  blaspheming  God  :  *♦  Thou 
hast  not  saluted  thy  prince,"  and  he  threatened  to  beat  him.t 

13.  If  he  have  not  said  that  a  look  or  sign  from  him  would  suffice, 
to  kill  all  the  members  of  the  council  in  their  houses.  J 

14.  On  what  occasion  he  used  such  a  remark,  and  let  him  declare 
the  source  and  foundation  he  had  for  it. 


*  This  accusation,  and  all  which  follow  it,  concern  remarks  or  facts 
anterior  to  his  embassy  to  Paris. 

t  In  accompanying  the  syndic  Lambert  into  the  country  on  an  excursion, 
he  strongly  chidcd  a  peasant,  who  had  neglected  to  salute  the  first  magistrate 
of  the  republic. — Galiffe. 

t  De  faire  un  signe  pour  que  tous  les  conseillers  fussent  tu^s  dans  leurs 
tnaisons. 


396  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

15.  If  he  have  not  said,  blaspheming  God,  that  he  would  sooner 
die  rich,  than  a  good  poor  man. 

16.  If,  before  leaving  Geneva,  when  he  was  about  to  go  to  France, 
he  did  not  use  words  like  these  :  "  What  sayest  thou  ?  Would  it  not 
be  good  and  profitable,  did  I  find  means  to  obtain  a  pension  from  the 
king  ?"  and  he  said  that  he  would  take  one. 

17.  In  pursuance  of  his  desire  to  have  such  pension  from  the  king, 
wishing  to  execute  his  enterprise,  what  proposals  he  entertained  at  the 
court  of  the  king,  and  the  parley  about  light  horse,  etc.,  and  let  him 
declare  this  enterprise,  and  to  what  end  it  was  designed. 

But  the  voice  of  the  people  continued  to  mutter  round  the  tribunal. 
The  judges  were  afraid,  and  did  not  dare  give  Calvin  the  head  of  Per- 
rin.  They  condemned  hhn,  for  having  violated  the  sanctuary  of  jus- 
tice, to  be  deprived  of  his  titles  and  employments,  and  abolished  the 
office  of  captain  general.* 

Then  commenced  a  reaction  in  public  opinion,  of  which  any  one  else 
but  the  captain  general  might  have  known  how  to  take  advantage. 
Megret,  whom  the  ministers  named  Jesus^  who  had  abused  the  protec- 
tion of  Calvin,  to  pursue  the  patriots,  denounced  by  the  public  voice  as 
the  paid  spy  of  France,  was  in  his  turn  arraigned  before  the  council. 
The  truth  came  out.  Urged  by  questions,  the  spy  acknowledged  his 
occult  manoeuvres  with  Calvin,  to  form  a  defensive  league  between 
France  and  Berne.  They  learned  that,  driven  away  from  his  country 
for  various  misdeeds,  the  informer  was  seeking  to  procure  his  recall  from 
exile,  at  the  price  of  infamous  services.  This  was  the  table  compan- 
ion of  the  reformer,  '*who,"  says  M.  GalifTe,  "gave  meat  and  drink  to 
every  parasite  whom  he  could  in  any  way  use  to  advantage."  Leger 
de  Mestrezat,  denounced  by  Megret,  had  come  near  perishing  on  the 
scaffold. 

The  people  needed  satisfaction ;  this  was  accorded  them.  Megret 
was  condemned,  in  spite  of  Calvin  and  the  ministers. f 

But  the  Genevese  did  not  yet  know,  that  in  revolutions,  it  is  necessa- 
ry to  push  on,  as  in  the  mountains  between  Uvo  o'erhanging  avalanches, 
without  pausing  or  looking  behind.  They  imagined  that  they  had  re- 
covered their  liberty,  because,  for  some  time,  their  master  allowed  them 
to  make  merry  in  the  bar-rooms  :  their  joy  was  to  be  of  but  short  du- 
ration. 


G  RU  E  T . 

Placards  stuck  up  at  St.  Peter's. — Gruet  accused. — Seizure  of  his  papers. — 
He  is  thrown  into  prison. — Tortured, — Decapitated. — Prosecution  instituted 
against  some  loose  leaves. 

At  the  end  of  May,  1547,   the  following  writing  in  Savoyard  paloi* 
■was  found  affixed  to  the  pulpit  of  St.  Peter's  church  : 

*  Registres  du  conseil  d'Etat,  9  octobre. 
t  GalifFe.  t.  Ill,  p.  391, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  397 

«'  Gro  pan  far  te  et  to  compagnon  gagneria  miot  de  vo  queysi.  Se  vo 
no  fette  enfuma,  i  n'y  a  personna  que  vo  garde  qu'"on  ne  vos  mette  en 
tas,  Lua  que  pey,  vo  maudery  I'oura  que  jamet  vo  salites  de  votra 
moi«nery.  Et  mezuit  prou  blama  quin  DiabJo  et  tot  su  f.....prestres 
renia  no  vegnon  ici  mettre  en  ruyna.  Apres  quon  a  prou  endura  on  se 
revenge.  Garda  vo  qu'i  ne  vo  n'en  presgne  comrne  i  fit  a  monsieur 
Verle  de  Fribor.  No  ne  voUin  pas  tant  avey  de  mettre.  Nota  bin 
mon  dire."* 

The  voice  of  the  public,  for  once  in  accord  with  the  reports  of 
Calvin's  spies,  designated  Gruet  as  the  author  of  this  placard.  James 
Gruet  was  a  man  of  courage,  a  patriot  who  busied  himself  in  making 
songs  against  John  of  Noyon  and  the  refugees,  which  were  more  ma- 
lignant than  poetic.  Several  times  had  the  reformer  called  him  a 
scurvy  fellovj,  from  the  pulpit.  Gruet  laughed  at  the  threats  of  his 
€nemy.  At  church,  he  looked  hun  boldly  in  the  face,  shrugged  his 
shoulders  when  he  was  speaking,  and  frequented  the  taverns  '-which 
then  were,  what  coffee  houses  and  clubs  are  in  our  days.'"*  He  was 
the  first  to  adopt  the  fashion  of  breeches  with  plaits  at  the  knees. 
Abominable  principles  of  religion  were  attributed  to  him.  Calvin 
draws  a  horrible  picture  of  the  poet's  morals. 

''  There  is  no  longer  question  of  the  comic  Ccesar  and  his  dancing 
Venus.  Gruet  has  just  been  arrested  :  he  is  suspected  of  having  affixed 
the  placard  at  St.  Peter's;  yet  it  is  not  in  his  hand-writing;  but  in 
searching  among  his  papers  they  have  discovered  frightful  things  :  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people,  in  which  he  maintains  that  a  mere  attempt  against 
the  state  ought  not  to  be  punished  by  the  law  ;  that  the  despotism,  of  an 
atrabilious  man  such  as  Calvin,  would  necessarily  lead  to  a  conflict 
among  the  citizens.  Then,  there  are  two  pages,  all  in  his  hand,  in 
which  he  mocks  at  the  holy  scripture,  defames  Christ,  treats  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul  as  a  fable  and  revery,  and  saps  all  the  groundworks 
of  religion.  I  do  not  think  that  he  has  devised  ail  these  fancies,  but 
he  has  written  them,  and  he  shall  be  judged.  And  yet  who  knows  ? 
he  has  mind  enough  to  have  given  a  form  and  a  body  to  doctrines, 
which  he  will  have  borrowed  from  some  other  person. "f 

These  papers,  seized  upon  at  the  lodgings  of  Gruet,  were  like  those, 
which  are  found  with  every  man  who  occupies  his  intellect  in  literary 
labours;  leaves  in  disorder,  on  which  he  had  thrown  unfinished 
phrases,  lame  verses,  imperfect  hemistiches,  lines  in  prose,  all  this 
illuminated  with  flourishes,  signatures,  hieroglyphics,  and  all  the  ca- 
prices of  a  student's  pen. 

*  We  give  the  original  of  this  placard,  because  we  are  not  sufficiently  ac- 
xjuainted  with  ihe  patois  in  which  it  is  written,  to  venture  a  translation,  ex- 
cept by  way  of  a  note.  We  take  the  following  to  be  the  import,  if  not  a 
translation,  of  the  text.  "  Gross  hypocrite,  thou  and  thy  companions  will  get 
more  than  you  bargain  for.  If  you  do  not  save  yourselves  by  flight,  there  is 
no  one  that  can  keep  you  from  being  taken  hold  of.  And  what  is  worse,  you 
shall  curse  the  hour  that  ever  you  left  your  naonkery.  The  devil  and  so  many 
of  his  cursed  priests  come  here  for  our  ruin.  When  persons  have  endured  for 
a  long  time,  they  revenge  themselves.  Take  care,  they  do  not  serve  you  as 
they  served  M.  Verle  of  Fribourg,  We  do  not  want  to  have  so  many  mas- 
ters.    Note  well  what  I  say." — Tr. 

*  James  Fasy.  t  E.  Vireto,  11  juillet  1547. 

34 


398  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIF, 

Now,  were  we  to  say  that  in  the  rolls  of  our  revolutionary  tribanak^ 
no  capital  accusation,  so  monstrously  bolstered  up,  can  be  found,  who 
would  believe  us  ?     Read  then. 

<  3.  All  contradicting  this  ( the  reformation, )  as  well  by  word  as 
WILL,  are  rebels  against  God,  and  deserving  of  grievous  punishment. 

■  6-9.  The  said  Gruet  has  shown  himself  other  than  he  should;  he 
has  specifically  and  openly,  in  liis  letter  ( a  busybody )  insulted  the 
said  master  Calvin,  saying  in  this: — '' As  our  gallant  Calvin  has 
done." 

18.  He  has  written  with  his  own  hand,  hy  him  acknowledged,  two 
CUT  leaves  written  by  him  in  the  Latin  language,  in  which  are  con- 
tained several  errors. 

19.  And  from  the  things  premised,  he  has  been  rather  inclined  to 
speak,  recite,  and  write  false  opinions  and  errors,  than  the  true  word  of 
Our  Lord,  which  every  day  is  announced. 

■  22.  He  affixed  the  placard  at  St.  Peter's. 

2.?.  He  must  have  adherents  and  accomplices,  whom  he  must  name, 

24.  He  must  be  punished  with  corporal  punishment.* 

We  are  forced  to  blush.  It  is  necessary  to  go  to  reformed  Geneva, 
in  order  to  find  judges,  who  incriminate  not  only  deeds,  but  thoughts ; 
not  only  opinions  manifested  externally,  but  desires  revolved  in  the 
depths  of  the  heart,  and  who  say  to  the  accused  :  thou  must  have 
accomplices,  and  thou  must  name  them.  Fouquier  Tinville  has  been 
calumniated  ! 

Now  let  Golladon  discharge  the  duties  of  his  profession,  and  he 
will  do  so  conscientiously. 

Gruet  vv'as  put  to  the  torture  twice  a  day.  On  the  9th  o(  July,  in 
the  midst  of  frightful  torments,  he  accuses  himself  of  having  posted 
the  placard  on  the  pulpit  at  St.  Peter's. 

On  the  next  day,  there  were  new  torments,  and  new  avowals ;  tho 
punishment  was  suspended  and  resumed  the  following  day,  to  be  inter- 
mitted,  and  renewed  twelve  hours  after.  Gruet  was  ground  during  an 
entire  month.  The  unhappy  man  cried  out  to  his  executioners  :  Fin- 
ish me,  in  mercy,  I  am  dying !  But  ihe  eye  of  Colladon  was  watch- 
ing the  sufferings,  and  knew  the  precise  moment  when  breath  was 
about  to  leave  his  victim.  Then  they  unbound  him,  and  revived  him 
with  the  aid  of  some  spirits,  and  two  of  the  assistants  bore  him  back  to 
the  prison.  Calvin  hoped  that  Gruet  would  accuse  Francis  Favre  and 
Perrin ;  but  the  poet  remained  firm,  and  immoveable.  When  they 
perceived  that  they  would  have  but  a  carcass  to  drag  to  the  scaffold, 
Colladon  said  :   enough. 

And  on  the  next  day,  the  council  pronounced  the  sentence. 

This  declares  :  that  Gruet  has  spoken  of  religion  with  contempt,  andf 
maintained  that  laws,  divine  and  human,  are  but  pure  follies;  that  he 
has  composed  obscene  verses,  and  taught  that  man  and  woman  can  use 
their  bodies  as  they  please ;  that  he  has  endeavoured  to  destroy  ther 
authority  of  the  consistory ;  that  he  has  threatened  the  ministers,  and 
spoken  evilly  of  M.  Calvin;  that  he  has  coriesponded   and  conspired 

*Galifre,t.  Ill,  p.  260-261. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  399 

Tf  ith  ihe  king  of  France  against  the  safety  of  Calvin  and  of  the  country. 

On  the  26th  of  July,  1547,  Gruet  ascended  the  scaffold.  The 
sword  of  the  executioner  struck  off  the  head  of  a  man  already  in  the 
pangs  of  death. 

Calvin  was  not  satisfied ;  he  wished  a  prosecution  to  be  instituted 
against  Gruet's  book.  You  know  what  this  book  was  :  some  rags  of 
paper,  found  upon  the  house-tops,  in  the  fire-place,  and  in  the  dirt  box  : 
informal  fragments,  w^hich  they  adjusted,  and  out  of  which  they  formed 
i^ome  thirteen  leaves.  Were  these  leaves  the  production  of  Gruet? 
The  poet  could  no  longer  answer.  The  council  was  ignorant  how  to 
institute  a  prosecution  against  these  hieroglyphics.  Calvin  was  con- 
sulted, he  drew  up  the  proceedings,  and  even  wrote  the  very  sentence 
against  the  seditious  leaves. 


Advice,  which  Calvin  gave  to  the  coltjcil  in   the  pkocess  which   was  to 

BE    instituted   AGAINST    THE   BOOK    OF     GrUET,    PREPARED    IN    ApRIL     OR    MaY 

1350. — This  advice  is  written  in  Calvin's  own  hand.* 

Since  Messieurs  have  been  pleased  to  consult  me,  as  to  the  book  of  Gruet, 
U  seems  to  mc  before  every  thing,  that  they  should  juridically  cause  the  hand 
to  be  recognized,  not  so  much  as  regards  the  man,  who  already  is  sufficiently 
condemned,  but  for  the  consequence,  that  it  may  not  be  thought,  that  they 
were  with  levity  moved  regarding  an  uncertain  book,  and  also  with  respect 
to  the  adherents  and  accomplices. 

This  done,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  abolition  of  the  book  should  not  be  as 
a  sepulture,  but  with  testimony  that  they  hold  it  in  such  detestation  as  it 
merits,  were  this  only  for  the  sake  of  example.  True  it  is,  that  it  becomes 
us  to  abstain  from  all  dishonest  words,  which  should  not  come  from  our  lips; 
that  snch  blasphemies,  so  execrable  ought  not  to  be  recounted;  as  if  we  had 
no  horror  of  them,  but  in  pursuance  of  the  rule,  given  to  us  by  our  Lord  in 
his  law,  it  is  expedient  that  faithful  magistrates  should  specify  the  impieties 
which  they  punish.  Moreover,  Messieurs,  know  that  this  is  necessary  for  sev- 
eral reasons  which  I  leave  them  to  consider,  although  those  indicated  by  God 
should  be  sufficient  for  us. 

The  form.  It  would  seem  good  to  me  as  the  first  subcorrection,  that  there 
should  be  a  dictum  or  narrative  like  the  foUov.ing.  Though  in  such  a  year, 
on  such  a  day,  James  Gruet,  as  well  for  enormous  blasphemies  against  God, 
and  mockeries  of  the  christian  religion,  as  for  wicked  conspiracies  against 
the  public  weal  of  this  city,  for  mutinies,  other  sorceries  and  crimes,  had' been 
condemned,  inasmuch  as  they  have  found  a  book  written  with  his  own  hand, 
us  has  been  sufficiently  recognized,  in  which  are  contained  several  blasphemies 
so  execrable,  that  there  is  no  human  creature  who  must  not  tremble  in  hearing 
them,  as  in  general  to  make  sport  of  all  Christianity,  even  to  say  of  oar  Lonl 
Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of  God  and  king  of  glory,  before  whose  majesty  tlie 
devils  are  constrained  to  humble  themselves;  that  he  is  a  scoundrel,  a  liar, 
a  fool,  a  seducer,  a  wicked  and  miserable  man,  a  fantastic  wretch,  a  churl, 
full  of  boastful  and  malignant  presumption,  who  merited  to  be  crucified,  that 
the  miracles  he  operated  were  but  sorceries  and  monkey  capers,  that  he  pre- 
tended to  be  the  son  of  God  as  the pretend  to  be  in  their   synagogue, 

that  he  acted  the  hypocrite,  having  been  hung  as  he  deserved  to  be,  and  died 
miserably  in  his  folly,  a  senseless  fool,  a  great  drunkard,  a  detestable  traitor 
and  hung  malefactor,  whose  coming  brought  the  world  nothing  but  all  kind 
of  wickedness,  unhappiness   and  roguery,  and  all  kinds  of  opprobriums  and 

♦  Manusc,  tire  des  Arch,  de  Berne, 


400  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

outrages  which  it  is  possible  to  invent.  Of  the  prophets,  that  they  were 
nothing  but  fools,  dreamers,  fantastic  fellows;  of  the  apostles,  that  they  were 
marauders  and  rascals,  apostates,  gawks,  hair-brained  persons.  Of  the  virgin 
Mary,  that  it  is  to  be  presumed  she  was  a  prostitute.  Of  the  law  of  God, 
that  it  is  worth  nothing,  any  more  than  those  who  made  it;  of  the  gospel,  that 
it  is  only  falsehood,  that  all  the  scripture  is  false  and  wicked,  and  contains 
less  sense  than  the  fables  of  iEsop,  and  is  but  a  false  and  foolish  doctrine. 
And  not  only  does  he  thus  villainously  rave  against  our  holy  and  sacred 
christian  religion,  but  also  he  renounces  and  abolishes  all  religion  and  divinity,, 
saying  that  God  is  nothing,  making  men  like  to  the  brute  beasts,  denying 
eternal  life,  and  vomiting  such  execrations,  as  must  cause  the  hair  to  rise  on, 
the  head  of  every  one,  and  which  are  such  stinking  infections  as  must  render 
a  whole  country  cursed,  so  that  all  good  persons  having  a  conscience  should 
demand  pardon  of  God,  for  the  fact  that  his  holy  name  has  been  thus  blas- 
phemed amongst  them. 

Upon  this,  it  appears  to  me,  that  sentence  should  be  passed  in  such  or  the 
like  form.  Although,  the  writer  of  the  book  already  by  just  judgment  has 
been  condemned  and  executed,  nevertheless  that  the  vengeance  of  God  may 
not  rest  upon  us  for  having  endured  or  dissembled  an  impiety  so  horrible,, 
and  also  to  give  an  example  to  all  the  accomplices  and  adherents  of  a  sect,  so 
infected  and  worse  than  diabolical,  and  even  to  stop  the  mouths  of  all  those 
who  will  seek  to  excuse  or  hide  such  enormities,  and  to  manifest  to  them  what 
condemnation  they  merit,  the  messieurs  have  ordained. 

The  sooner,  the  better;  for  already  has  this  unfortunate  book  been  too  long' 
in  the  hands  of  messieivrs. 

Process  against  Gruet's  book  as  it-  was  pronounced.  Following  the  process 
drawn  up  in  form  in  the  year  1547,  in  the  month  of  July,  before  my  very 
dreaded  seigniors  the  syndics,  judges  of  criminal  causes  of  the  city,  at  the 
instance  of  seignior,  the  lieutenant,  and  of  the  liscal  officer  of  this  city,  for 
causes  standing  against  James  Gruet,  as  well  because  of  enormous  blas- 
phemies against  God  and  mockery  of  the  christian  religion,  as  for  wicked 
conspiracy  against  the  public  weal  of  this  city,  for  mutinies  and  other  sorce- 
ries, by  liim  perpetrated  and  confessed,  for  which  he  was  condemned  and 
executed,  be  it  known  to  all:  that  it  has  since  happened,  that  in  the  house  of 
said  Gruet  next  to  the  roof,  in  the  hearth  and  dirt-box  of  said  house,  a  paper 
hook  covered  with  parchment  has  been  found,  which  but  recently  has  been 
placed  in  the  hands  of  justice,  and  in  which,  amidst  other  writing,  are  con- 
tained thirteen  leaves  written  with  the  hand  and  letter  of  said  Gruet,  against 
which  justice  has  been  demanded  by  the  fiscal  officer  of  this  city. — Item,  the 
writing  of  which  has  been  juridically  examined  by  persons  worthy  of  credit 
and  recognized  to  be  that  of  said  Gruet.— ^Item,  in  which  book  and  13  leaves 
thus  juridically  recognised,  are  contained  several  blasphemies  so  execrable, 
that  there  is  no  human  creature  who  must  not  tremble  to  hear  them,  as  in 
general  a  mockery  of  all  Christianity. — Item,  and  not  being  only  against  our 
holy  and  christian  religion;  but  also  containing  renunciation  and  abolition  of 
all  religion  and  divinity. — Item,  and  in  said  book  are  written  enormously 
damnable,  and  to  the  whole  world  intolerable  blasphemies  against  Gad,  the 
creator  of  heaven  and  earth. — Item,  and  also  specifically  and  expressly  against 
his  son,  our  Saviour  and  redeemer  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. — Item, 
and  also  against  the  honour  and  chastity  of  the  glorious  virgin  Mary,  his  moth- 
er.— Item,  and  for  a  commencement  of  his  damnable  blasphemies,  there  is 
written  something  against  the  person  and  doctrine  of  Moses,  through  whom 
/God  gave  his  holy  commandments  and  holy  laws  to  his  people,  the  children 
of  Israel. — Item,  and  also  all  the  holy  patriarchs  and  prophets  comprised  in 
the  holy  scriptures  arc  by  name  blasphemed. — It^m,  likewise  there  are  false 
statements  and  blasphemies  against  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  holy 
evangelists  and  all  the  disciples. — Item,  and  also  particularly  against  the 
whole  of  the  holy  scriptures  as  well  of  the  Old  as  of  the  New  Testament. — 
Item,  and  also  against  the  whole  mystery  of  the  passion  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  and  against  all  the  miracles  which  he  has  operated  on  earth,  and  par- 
ticularly against  his  holy  resurrection. — Item  and  finally:  these  13  leaves 
fully  written  and  completed  by  said  Gruet  are  quite  full  of  such  abominable, 
horrible,  and  more  thaa  evev  man  saw  or  wrote,  detestable  blasphemies, against: 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  401 

the  divine  power  and  essence  of  God  and  all   religion,  that  one  dare  not  from 
very  horror  even  read  or  pronounce  them  : 

Sentence.  And  we,  the  syndics  of  Geneva,  judges  of  all  the  criminal 
causes  of  this  city,  having  seen  and  heard  the  prosecution  instituted  before  us 
by  our  fiscal  officer,  and  the  contents  of  the  book  written  by  JamesGruet, 
who  was  by  our  justice  justly  condemned  and  executed  for  his  mis- 
deeds in  the  month  of  July,  1547,  and  the  recognition  of  the  letter  and 
hand  writing  of  said  Gruet,  author  of  this,  having  been  manifested  to  us  by 
good  watnesses  worthv  of  credit,  and  the  whole  being  heard  in  detail,  said 
book  and  writing  manifesting  to  us  that  this  James  Gruet  wrote  enormous, 
damnable,  detestable,  and  abominable  blasphemies  against  God,  his  son»  our 
Saviour  J.  C.,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  holy  patriarchs,  prophets,  disciples, 
apostles,  evangelists,  the  glorious  virgin  Mary,  against  all  the  holy  scriptures, 
against  all  divinity,  and  against  the  whole  christian  world. 

"For  these  causes,  and  in  order  that  God's  vengeance  may  not  remain  over 
us  for  having  endured  or  dissembled  an  impiety  so  horrible,  and  also  to  stop 
the  mouths  of  all  those  who  would  excuse  or  conceal  such  enormities,  and  to 
siiow  them  what  condemnation  they  merit,  we,  sitting  in  our  tribunal  in  the 
place  of  our  predecessors,  after  having  taken  counsel  and  advice  of  our  fellow 
citizens,  having  God  and  the  holy  scriptures  before  our  eyes,  saying  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Amen; — by  this, 
our  definitive  sentence,  which  we  render  in  writing,  the  aforesaid  book  being 
here  before  us,  sentence,  judge  and  condemn  it,  to  be  by  the  executor  of  our 
justice  carried  to  the  place  du  Bourg  du  Four,  before  the  house  of  said  Gruet» 
writer  thereof,  and  there  cast  and  throvv^n  into  the  fire,  till  it  be  burned  and 
reduced  to  ashes,  that  the  memory  of  a  thing  so  abominable  may  perish,  and 
to  give  example  to  all  the  accomplices  and  adherents,  if  any  such  be  found, 
of  a  sect  so  infected  and  v/orse  than  diabolical,  we  commend  to  you  our  lieu- 
tenant this  our  sentence,  to  cause  the  same  to  be  put  into  execution.  On 
Friday,  May  23d,  1550,  this  sentence  was  given  and  pronounced  by  N.  Claude 
Da  Pan,  syndic,  and  immediately  executed. 

A  singular  prosecution  this,  instituted  against  stray  leaves  of  wicked 
purport,  which  are  culled  from  among  the  sweepings  in  order  to  be 
invested  with  the  form  of  a  book  !  Supposing  that  Gruet  wrote  these 
impious  lines,  he  repented  for  this,  since  he  had  thrown  them  to  the 
winds  and  rain.  The  panegyrists  of  Calvin  say  that  the  law  was  pre- 
cise ;  that  blasphemy  and  heresy  were  punished  with  death,  in  the 
Genevese  legislation.  Undoubtedly;  but  if  the  poet  blasphemed,  it 
was  in  secret :  and  God  only  can  punish  him  in  this  life  and  in  the 
next.  Gruet  was  not  amenable  to  any  human  tribunal.  And  Ave  are 
reasoning  in  the  hypothesis,  that  these  thirteen  leaves,  "found  in  the 
hearth  and  dirt-box,"  are  from  the  pen  of  the  punished  man,  whilst, 
according  to  GalifTe,  ''this  book  was  only  produced  after  Gruet's  death, 
and  there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  he  was  its  author. "■^' 

What  a  lesson  is  found  in  the  prosecution  and  death  of  the  poet ! 
Let  the  reformation  then  boast, — as  it  did  when  Farel  appeared, — that 
thought  henceforth  shall  be  free.  Behold  the  executioner  exhibiting  to 
a  child  of  Geneva,  these  words,  written  in  the  code  of  the  despot : 

"  Any  one  contravening  this,  either  in  word  or  will,  is  a  rebel 
against  God,  and  merits  grievous  punishment." 

And  the  despot,  the  blessed  apostle  of  Geneva,  as  he  is  still  termed 
in  our  day,  pauses  not  in   his   course.      Blood   calls  for  blood,  and  he 

*  Galitfe,  t.  Ill,  p.  262,  note.      The    writer  adds:  The   most   inexcusable 
crime  of  Gruet  was,  that,  on  the  margin  of  a  copy  of  Calvin's  book  against  the 
Anabaptists,  page  415,  he  wrote:  "all  fudge." 
34* 


402  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVINc 

will  pour  it  out  profusely.  For  a  moment  he  is  about  to  leave  the 
street  to  the  libertines,  who  will  not  have  courage  enough  to  pre- 
serve their  conquest.  He  has  other  enemies  to  combat :  behold  him 
now  wrestling  with  human  individuality,  in  the  various  religious  mani- 
festations which  it  produces  : 

With  the  operation  of  the  reformed  word,  in  the  Saxon-  symbol  and 
its  two  representatives,  Luther  and  Westphalius ; 

With  human  liberty,  in  Castalion  ; 

With  the  merit  of  good  works,  in  Bolsec; 

With  freedom  of  thought,  in  Servetus. 

We  shall  study  each  of  these  phenomena  in  the  intellectual  life  of 
Calvin,  in  which  an  idea  of  constant  aggression,  against  every  idea 
discordant  with  his  theocratical  principles,,  contintially  domineers. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE  REFORMED  WORD  IN  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


LUTHER.       WEST  PH  ALIUS. 


LU  TH  E  E  . 


Renewal  of  the  dispute  on  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper. — Zurich  and 
Wittenberg. — Calvin  vainly  essays  to  reconcile  the  two  churches. — Luther's, 
decree. — Tergiversation  in  Calvin's  language  regarding  the  Saxon  monk. — 
Luther,  the  Pericles  of  the  reformation  and  the  servant  of  Christ. — Moritz 
Goltz,  the  bookseller. — The  Protestant  reformed  churches  have  never  been 
able  to  produce  a  uniform  symbol. 

At  the  death  of  Zwingle,  the  church  of  Zurich  was  divided  into  va- 
rious sects  :  the  Significatives,  the  Tropists,  the  Energicals,  the  Arha- 
benarians,  the  Adessenarians,  the  Metaphorists,  the  Iscariotists,  and  the 
Nothingarians. 

The  dispute,  for  a  moment  tranquilized,  was  revived  again  on  the 
slightest  liistorical  accident.  Melancthon  vainly  endeavoured  to  ap- 
pease his  master.  Luther  declared,  that,  as  long  as  there  remained  a 
drop  of  blood  in  his  veins,  or  sufficient  ink  in  his  inkstand  to  fill  his 
pen,  he  would  wage  war  against  the  Sacramentarians.  In  1543,  he 
wrote  to  Froschauer,  that  the  Saxon  church  could  not  live  in  peace  with 
the  heretical  church  of  Zurich.  And  in  his  annotations  on  Genesis, 
published  the  year  following,  he  acted  the  part  of  the  Eternal  Judge^ 
and  condemned  Zwingle,  (Ecolampadius,  and  their  adherents,  to  eter- 
nal flames.  In  the  meantime,  Zurich  remained  faithful  to  the  word  of 
its  apostle,  whom  it  venerated  as  a  martyr.  In  honour  of  the  memory 
of  the  soldier  of  Cappel,  BuUinger  had  just  published  that  work  which 
was  designated  as  the  song  of  the  swan  :*  the  ChristiancB  fidei  exposu 
tio  ad  Christian,  regem  :  a  singular  libel,  in  which  Zwingle  caused 
Hercules  himself  to  chant  the  hosanna  of  the  blessed  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  "  A  vile  olympus,"  said  a  Lutheran,  "into  which  I  should  be 
unwilling  to  enter,  for  fear  of  being  knocked  down."!  The  appear- 
ance of  Zwingle's  book  occasioned  the  Sacramentarians  to  renew  the 

•  Bullinger,  Hist.  Eccl.    fol.  232. 

t  Lanat,  in  Hist,  sacram. — Floriraond  de  Raymond,  p.  174, 


404  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN-, 

accusations  which  they  had  already  circulated  against  Luther,  whonu 
they  represented  as  a  soul  full  of  hate,  puffed  up  with  pride,  adoring  only 
his  own  inspirations,  and  nailed  to  every  personal,  idea  like  a  murderer 
to  his  gibbet.  Luther's  wrath  knew  no  bounds,  when  he  was  in- 
formed that  Leo  Judae,  the  successor  of  Zwingle,  and  some  other  min- 
isters were  labouring  at  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible,  which,  in  fact, 
was  published  in  1543. 

We  can  understand  the  indignation  of  Luther.  To  touch  that  trans- 
lation, which  Mathesius  regards  as  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  mira- 
cles of  God  in  favour  of  his  church ;  to  attack  that  version,  in  honor  of 
which  Pomer  had  instituted  a  festival,  called  the  translation  of  the 
Bible  !  In  vain  did  Zurich,  in  defence  of  its  doctors,  cite  the  fourteen 
hundred  passages  corrupted  by  Luther,  in  the  New  Testament,  and  re- 
peat with  Bucer,  in  the  dialogue  against  Melancthon  :  Martin  is  un- 
willing for  any  one  to  contradict  him,  let  him  have  himself  adored; 
Luther  laughed  at  the  silliness  of  his  enemies,  applauded  himself  in 
his  glory,  and,  in  the  face  of  all  Germany,  set  himself  up  as  the  god 
of  intelligence,  of  fortitude,  and  of  reason. 

The  Sacramentarians  ironically  asked  Luther,  why,  in  the  new- 
edition  of  his  translation,  he  had  changed  thirty-four  passages  of  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Mathew.  They  wanted  him  to  tell  them,  how  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  had  been  his  Hebrew  teacher,  had  permitted  him  to  commit 
such  gross  mistakes  ;*  and  they  said,  as  two  centuries  later  did  Ph. 
Odelem  :  ''  Show  us  then  Martin's  true  bible  !"t  The  Sacramenta- 
rians this  time  had  the  laughers  on  their  side. 

Then,  between  the  Saxons  and  the  Zurichers  began,  not  as  former- 
ly, one  of  those  rude  com.,bats,  in  which  they  struck  with  daggers  steep- 
ed in  the  waters  of  the  Limmat  and  the  Elbe ;  but  a  struggle,  in  which 
they  fought  with  pins.  It  appeared  as  if  both  parties  had  forgotten 
how  to  employ  the  pen,  and  had  lost  the  use  of  that  corrosive  ink  which 
effected  such  wonders  at  Marbourg  and  at  Augsbourg. 

The  Zurichers  commenced  the  contest  with  a  pamphlet,  the  whole 
•venom  of  which  is  in  the  title  :  "  A  summary  of  the  teaching  of  the 
evangelists  of  Zurich,  chiefly  regarding  the  Lord^s  Supper,  against  the 
calumnies,  the  outrages,  and  the  insolence  of  doctor  Martin.":]: 

But  the  pamphlet  did  not  correspond  with  the  title;  Calvin  has 
given  its  character  perfectly,  in  styling  it  '*a  libel  of  a  fasting  child." 

Luther  did  not  take  up  the  gauntlet ;  but  hatred  still  rankled  in  his 
breast.  Some  days  previously  to  his  death,  he  wrote  :  "  Happy  the- 
man  who  has  not  walked  in  the  counsel  of  the  Sacramentarians,  who 
has  not  been  found  in  the  ways  of  the  Zwinglians,  w^ho  has  not  seated 
himself  in  the  chair  of  the  Zurichers. "§ 

*  Cochl.  De  Act.  Luth.  2550. 

t  Welches  dann  dcs  Luthers  reclite  Bibel  sey? — In  der  abgenothigtcn  An- 
mcrkurifr  liber  M.  J.  Christ.  Rochs  abgcwicsencn  IndifFerentisten,  pag.  67.. 

^  Walirhaftes  Bekcnntnis/,  derDiener  der  Kirche  zu  Zurich,  was  sie  leliren, 
insonderheit  vomNaclitmalil,  auf  das  Schmahlen,  Verdammen  und  Schelten 
von  Doctor  Martin  Luther 

§  Bcatus  vir  qui  non  abiit  in  consilia  sacramcntariorum,  nee  stetit  in  via 
Cinglianorum,  nee  seditin  cathedra  Tigurinorum. — Ep.  Jaeobo  Probst,  ecclesiae 
Bremensis  doctori,  ITjan.  1546. 


LIFE    Of    JOHN    CALVIN.  405 

Calvin  for  a  moment  flattered  himself  with  the  hope  of  reconciling 
divided  minds,  by  means  of  his  hermaphrodite  system.  Farel,  who  be- 
lieved in  the  futm'e  success  of  the  Genevese  trope,  advised  his  friend  to 
go  to  Zurich,  w^here  his  word,  sustained  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  would  ope- 
rate a  reconciliation,  which  Piiilip  of  Hesse  had  in  vain  tried  to  effect  at 
Strasbourg.  Calvin  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  deluded  regarding  the 
dispositions  of  the  hostile  communions. 

"  What  should  I  go  there  to  do  ?"  he  wrote  to  his  friend ;  *'  first,  I 
have  not  read  the  pamphlets  which  have  so  violently  stirred  the  bile  of 
Luther.  I  know  already  w^hat  the  Zurichers  would  answer  me  :  they 
would  boast  the  patience  of  which  they  have  given  proofs,  and  their  ef- 
forts to  soften  down  the  humours  of  the  doctor.  Bullinger  himself,  in 
one  of  his  letters,  complained,  not  long  since,  of  the  harshness  of  the 
Saxon,  and  told  me  how  conciliating  he  and  his  party  had  shown  them- 
selves. It  would  be  necessary  to  tame  Martin ;  but  to  say  to  the  Zu- 
richers that  they  must  ask  his  pardon  !  It  is  more  to  be  feared,  lest 
they  go  and  stir  up  the  mud.'"* 

Calvin  is  tormented  in  contemplating  this  son  of  Peleus,  as  he  calls 
Luther,  who  listens  to  no  advice,  and  marches  upon  his  path,  without  fear 
of  thickets  and  mountains.  He  would  have  Luther  approximate  to  Zwin- 
gle,  and  to  effect  this  approximation,  he  believes  in  the  omnipotence  of 
his  treatise  on  the  Lord's  Stepper,  which  is  welcomed  no  where. 

'' But  of  what  terrible  malady  is  your  Pericles  ill  ?"  he  wrote  to 
Melancthon.  *'  Whom  has  he  induced  to  think  with  him,  by  all  his 
tumults  of  words  ?  Let  him  play  his  real  game  of  a  furious  fool. 
Certes,  I  revere  him,  but  he  does  me  wrong.  And  what  is  most  unfor- 
tunate is,  that  no  person  is  found  to  repress,  or  even  to  calm  an  impet- 
uosity so  insolent. "t 

The  Genevese  reformer  w^as  still  more  confidential  with  Bullinger, 
because  he  was  acquainted  with  the  dispositions  of  his  correspondent. 
He  has  no  fear  now  that  his  revelations  will  be  abused ;  he  writes  : 

"  I  learn  that  Luther,  with  his  insolent  petulence,  attacks  us  all  to^ 
gether  :  I  cannot  decently  hope  that  you  will  observe  silence ;  for, 
after  all,  it  is  not  just  to  be  treated  so  badly,  and  not  dare  defend  one- 
self. I  acknowledge  that  Luther  is  a  man  of  fine  genius,  that  he  has 
received  extraordinary  gifts  from  heaven,  that  he  has  an  admirable  for- 
titude of  soul,  a  constancy  above  all  trial,  and  that  to  this  day  he  has 
combated  the  Antichrist.  I  have  frequently  said,  that,  were  he  to  treat 
me  as  an  incarnate  demon,  I  would  still  not  the  less  rank  him  as  a 
great  servant  of  Christ,  but  also  great  for  his  faults.  Would  to  God  he 
had  employed  against  the  enemies  of  the  truth  that  bile,  which  he  ceases 
not  to  pour  out  against  the  servants  of  Christ  \"X 

During  ten  years,  the  private  opinion  of  Calvin  regarding  Luther  had 
undergone  no  variation.  Already,  in  1538,  he  was  a  man  of  vanity 
and  falsehood,  labouring  under  gross   hallucination,  an  absurd  doctor, 

*  Cavere  multo  ante  oportuit  ne   camarinam   movereat. — Farello,  10  oct. 
1544.  Manus.  Gen. 
t  Ep.  Melanch.  28  Jan.  1545,. 
X  25  noY.  1544.  BuUingero. 


406  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

who  maintained  that  material  bread  is  the  body  of  Christ ;  an  insolent 
opponent  of  the  truth,* 

But  language  changes  with  circumstances.  It  happens  that  Calvin 
needs  Luther's  patronage  for  his  book  against  the  Nicodemites;  now^ 
the  writer's  words  are  sweet  as  honey ;  and  the  Augustinian  monk  is 
transformed  into  a  glorious  minister  of  Christ,  into  a  respectable  father, 
whom  God  illumines  with  his  Spirit. f  For  the  honour  of  Calvin,  they 
ought  to  tear  up  his  correspondence  ;  in  perusing  it,  one  would  imagine 
himself  at  Wittenberg  at  the  cradle  of  the  reformation,  when  Luther 
writes  to  Leo  X.  :  *'  Very  holy  father,  give  life,  kill,  call,  recall,  ap- 
prove, reprove,  thy  voice  is  the  voice  of  Christ;  "J  and  at  that  very  hour,, 
without  changing  his  pen,  he  completes  his  libel  "on  Adam  and 
Christ,"  in  which,  with  joyous  heart,  he  mocks  at  the  Pope  and  his 
thunders. 

This  morose  monk  died,  bequeathing  to   Leo  Judae,  Calvin,  and  the 
Sacramentarians,  the  following  testament,  written  in  his  own  hand  : 

"  Seeing  heresies  heaped  upon  heresies  on  every  side,  and  that  the 
devil  puts  neither  limit  nor  term  to  his  rage  and  fury,  in  order  that  after 
my  death  they  may  not  be  able  to  make  use  of  my  writings  to 
defend  the  errors  of  the  Sacramentarians,  as  has  already  been  done  by 
some  brainless  fellows,  corrupters  of  the  supper  of  the  Lord  and  of 
baptism ;  I  have  desired,  before  God,  and  before  men,  to  make  my 
confession,  in  which,  with  the  Ijord's  aid,  I  wiah  to  persevere  and  pre- 
sent myself  before  the  tribunal  of  Jesus  Christ.  Should  any  one  after 
my  death  say  :  If  Luther  were  alive,  he  would  be  of  another  opinior* 
regarding  such  or  such  article,  because  he  never  gave  it  due  considera- 
tion. Let  such  person  know,  that  then  I  should  be  of  the  same  opinion 
I  am  now.  I  have  weighed  all  articles  well ;  I  have,  time  and  again, 
reviewed  them  in  comparison  with  the  holy  scripture,  all  of  which  I 
will  defend  as  courageously  as  I  have  done  the  Lord's  Supper.  I  am 
not  drunk,  and  I  treat  of  nothing  inconsiderately.  I  know  what  I  say, 
and  am  aware  of  the  judgment  I  am  to  undergo  at  the  advent  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Let  no  one,  therefore,  think  that  I  amuse  myself  regarding 
matters  of  such  great  importance  ;  the  thing  important,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  I  know  satan.  What  would  he  not  do  with  my  writings,  since 
he  has  dared  corrupt  the  holy  scripture  ? — I  say,  likewise,  of  the  Lord's 
Supper ;  that  in  it,  the  true  body  and  the  true  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  bread  and  wine,  is  eaten  and  drunk,  even  though  those  who  give 
and  those  who  receive  it  have  lost  faith,  or  abuse  the  sacraments  :  this 
is  my  faith,  all  true  christians  believe  it,  and  also  the  scriptures  teach 
it.  What  was  not  explained  with  sufficient  clearness,  has  been  enough 
expounded  in  books,  that  have  been  published  during  four  or  five  years 
past.     I  beg  upright  and  pious   persons   to  be  witnesses  of  my  confes^ 

*  Ncquo  enim  fastumodo  et  malecUcentia  deliquit,  sed  ignorantia  quoque  et 
crassissima  hallucinatione....  ilium  focdissimc  errare  judico....  quis  tamen  non 
excusct  Zwinglium  praj  insolenti  quam  narrant  Martini  ferocitate'? — Bucero, 
Genevoe.  l^jan.  1538. 

t  Vale,  vir  preestantissime,  christi  minister.  12  cal.  feb.  1545. — See  chapter, 
entitled :  The  Libertines,  under  head  of  the  Pamphlets. 

tDas  Buchlein  von  rechten  Varstand,  und  Adam  und  Christus  sey.— 
Witt,  1518. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  407 

sion,  and  implore  God  to  give  me  the  grace  to  persevere  and  accom- 
plish the  com-se  of  my  life ;  and  if,  in  the  struggle  of  death,  tempta- 
tion should  force  from  my  mouth  anything  contrary  to  this,  I  disavow 
it,  and  by  the  confession  which  I  make,  I  protest  that  such  thing  can 
only  come  from  satan  :   So  help  me  God.     Amen."* 

Once  Luther  was  sleeping  in  his  tomb,  then  began  the  chants  of 
Calvin  :  the  monk  of  Wittenberg,  with  lips  swollen  with  bile,  is  no 
longer  a  worthy  apostle  of  Christ;  the  turbulent  Pericles,  who  became 
furious  in  attacking  the  disciple  of  Christ,  is  a  champion  that  has  spent 
his  life  in  destroying  the  Antichrist. f  And  why,  then,  these  antilogies? 
The  reason  was,  that  the  combat  regarding  the  Eucharist  was  still 
raging,  and  the  Genevese  reformer,  in  order  to  rally  the  dissident  church. 
GS  of  Switzerland,  needed  to  have  it  believed  that  Luther,  before  dying, 
had  become  reconciled  to  some  of  the  teachings  inculcated  in  the  book 
de  Ccena ;  because,  in  order  to  shelter  his  head  from  the  attacks  of  his 
adversaries,  he  needed  an  aureola,  made  out  of  the  glory  which  radiated 
from  the  name  of  the  Saxon  monk. 

Protestants  would  have  us  believe  that,  before  his  death,  Luther  de- 
nied some  of  his  dogmas,  and  especially  his  formulary  respecting  the 
real  presence ;  they  stand  in  need  of  this  apostacy  in  order  to  exalt 
Calvin.  But  this  is  a  pleasure  which  we  cannot  allow  them  to  enjoy. 
In  default  of  official  testimony,  they  have  culled  from  an  obscure  writer 
an  anecdote,  which  they  quote  in  order  to  prove  that  Luther  did  not  re- 
gard Calvin  as  a  heretic.  We  ask  nothing  better,  than  to  recount  this 
little  story. 

At  Wittenberg,  there  was  a  vender  of  old  books,  named  Moritz 
Goltz,  whose  house  was  the  resort  of  students  and  professors.  One 
day,  and  it  was  the  Monday  after  the  Quasimodo  geniti,  doctor  Martin 
had  just  been  lecturing  on  Genesis,  and  had  left  the  college  surrounded 
by  a  group  of  students,  when  he  paused  before  the  stalls  of  Moritz 
Goltz. — Well,  said  he  to  the  bookseller,  what  do  they  think  of  me  at 
Frankfort  ?     Do  they  still  wish  to  burn  the  great  heretic,  Martin  ? 

— Not  at  all,  responds  the  bookseller;  but  here  is  a  little  book 
which  comes  thence,  and  treats  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Its  author  is 
master  Johan  Calvin,  who  wrote  it  originally  in  French ;  Nicholas  des 
Gallars  has  translated  it  into  Latin.  It  is  said,  that  the  author  is  a 
young  man  quite  full  of  science  and  piety,  and  that,  in  this  book,  he 
has  manifested  how  your  honour  has  been  misled,  and  also  Zwingle 
and  (Ecolampadius,  regarding  this  article  of  the  sacrament. 

— In  verity  !  cried  Luther,  laughing,  let  me  see  it,  then,  Moritz,  that 
I  may  glance  through  it. 

Then  Moritz  went  to  the  shelves  of  his  shop,  and  took  down  an 
octavo  volume,  which  he  presented  to  the  doctor. 

Luther  seated  himself,  and  began  to  read  with  attention  the  first 
pages  of  the  pamphlet ;  then  he  glanced  rapidly  over  the  first  chapters 

♦  Luth.  in  3  parte  de  coena. — Tran.  de  Fl.  de  Remond. 

t  Non  dissimulanter  testamur  eum  nos  habere  pro  insigni  Christi  apostolo, 
cujus  maxime  opera  et  ministerio  restituta  hoc  tempore  fuerit  evangelii  puri- 
tas. — Quanta  doctrinas  efficacia  hactenus  ad  profligandum  Anti  Christi  regnura 
ac  simul  propagandam  salutis  doctrinam  iacubuitl 


408  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

and  the  table  of  contents.  When  lie  had  done,  he  returned  the  octavo 
to  the  bookseller,  observing  : 

— "  On  my  faith  !  Moritz,  this  is  a  man  of  faith  and  science  :  had 
(Ecolampadius  and  Zwingle  treated  the  question  as  he  does,  the  dispute 
would  neither  have  been  so  long  nor  so  bitter." 

Math.  Stoiuss,  then  a  disciple  of  Luther,  and  afterwards  a  doctor  of 
medicine,  has  often  recounted  this  anecdote  at  the  court  of  the  Mar- 
grave Albert  of  Prussia.* 

But  what  do  they  wish  to  prove  by  this  anecdote  ?  That  Luther  had 
passed  from  the  Saxon  reality  to  the  Genevese  trope,  and  that,  seduced 
by  Calvin'g  argumentation,  he  had,  in  his  old  days,  abandoned  his  cher- 
ished symbol,  and  lamented  the  ink  and  anger  which  he  had  expended 
in  his  dispute  with  the  Sacramentarians  ?  But,  before  descending  into 
the  tomb,  he  has  protested,  as  we  have  seen,  against  the  part  which  they 
want  to  make  him  play.  He  has  really  died  impenitent,  carrying  with 
:him  into  his  grave,  his  impanation,  his  adamantine  necessity,  his  serf- 
will,  and  his  anathemas  against  (Ecolampadius,  Zwingle,  and  the  Sacra- 
mentarians. If  a  person  were  willing  to  adopt  the  opinion  of  certain 
writers  of  the  Genevese  school,  he  must  sacrifice  Luther  to  Calvin,  and 
henceforward  regard  the  Saxon  reformer  as  a  renegade  from  Catholicism, 
and  from  the  church  which  he  had  founded  himself. 

And  how  is  it,  that  they  do  not  perceive  that  Luther's  apostacy  would 
not  prove  the  identity  of  the  Genevese  and  Saxon  symbols  ?  In  vain 
would  they  endeavour  to  make  us  believe  in  the  doctrinal  unity  of  the 
reformed  churches,  when  the  worm  of  the  Lutheran  sepulchre,  crushed 
by  the  heel  of  Emser,  separated  itself  into  sixty-four  different  pieces ; 
and  old  Ronsard  sang  loudly  in  France  : 

Comme  un  pauvre  vieillard  qui  par  la  ville  passe 
Se  courbant  d'uii  baton,  dans  une  poche  amasse 
De  vieux  haillons  qu'il  trouve  en  cent  mille  morceaux, 
L'un  dessous  un  egoust,  I'autre  pres  des  ruisseaux, 
L'autre  sous  un  I'umicr  et  I'autre  sous  un  antre, 
06  le  peuple  artisan  va  descliarger  son  ventre  : 
Et  puis  en  choissisant  tous  ces  morceaux  espars, 
D'un  fil  il  les  ravaude  et  coust  de  toutes  parts, 
Puis  s'en  fait  une  robe,  et  pour  neufve  la  porte: 
La  secte  de  Luther  est  de  la  meme  sorte. 

But  the  spectacle  of  those  intestine  divisions,  doctrinal  transforma- 
tions, antilogies,  of  those  prodigies  of  variations,  retractations,  and  con- 
tradictions, does  not  in  the  least  alarm  Protestant  historians,  who,  with 
great  coolness,  propound  the  statement : — That  there  is  unity  between 
the  two  churches,  the  reformed  and  the  protestant  church,  if  not  of 
teaching,  at  least  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  But  then  we  will  ask  Cal- 
vin's last  biographer,  to  explain  to   us  the   anger   of  John   of  Noyon 

•  This  recital  seems  to  be  taken  from  a  German  work,  entitled ;  AusfUhrli- 
che,  wahrhafte  und  bestandige  Erzahlung  vom  Sakramentsstreit,  durch 
Christoph  Pegel,  professor  at  Bremen,  in  1600.  He  was  a  crypto-Calvinist, 
and  is  known  for  his  quarrels  with  the  Lutherans,  and  his  book:  Examen 
Theologiae  Melancthonis  cum  explicationibus. — See,  Das  Leben  Johann  Cal* 
vins  von  Paul  Henry,  p.  501  and  the  following,  t.  II. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  409 

against  Westph alius,  Pighius,  and  Gentilis,  Protestants,  who  apparent- 
ly believed  in  Jesus  Christ  and  in  the  merits  of  his  blood  ? 

The  Protestant  and  reformed  churches  can  unite  in  a  common  hatred 
against  the  Catholic  church;  they  can  repeat  what  Luther  said  :  — 
**  Should  the  Pope  cast  aside  his  triple  crown,  should  he  descend  from 
his  seat,  acknowledge  that  he  is  a  heretic,  that  he  has  troubled  Christen- 
dom, and  shed  innocent  blood,  we  could  not  regard  him  as  a  member 
of  Christ's  communion  :  we  should  look  upon  him  as  tlie  Antichrist  in 
person."*  But  never  will  Geneva  and  Wittenberg  elevate  themselves 
to  a  common  affirmation,  and  present  us  a  uniform  symbol.  They 
will  never  deceive  us,  who  have,  with  our  own  eyes,  beheld  the  condi- 
tion of  those  dissident  sects,  agitated  by  rationalism,  mysticism,  panthe- 
ism, deism,  atheism,  and  all  those  negations,  which  spring  from  the 
principle  of  private  judgment.  Do  you  wish  to  be  acquainted  with 
the  two  churches  :  In  one,  the  Lutheran  church,  a  man  can  call  him- 
self a  christian  after  having  written  the  life  of  Christ  as  Strauss  wrote 
it;  in  the  other,  the  Genevese  church,  one  can  call  himself  disciple  of 
Jesus,  after  having,  like  M.  Cheneviere,  written  a  pamphlet  against  the 
•divinity  of  Christ.  Strauss  and  Cheneviere  !  behold  two  living  witness- 
es, sufficiently  magnificent,  it  seems  to  us,  to  prove  the  misery  of  the 
Protestant  principle. 


WESTPHALIUS. 

Pamphlets  of  Westphalius. — Dispute  with   Calvin. — Libels   of  the  Genevese 
reformer. — Various  citations. — Reflections  on  this  controversy. 

Calvin  did  not  meddle  with  the  disputations  of  the  Saxon  school 
concerning  mere  ontological  problems ;  whether,  because  the  fame  of 
them  never  reached  Geneva,  or,  because  he  had  need  to  collect  all  hia 
energies  in  order  to  combat  the  adversaries  of  the  Eucharistic  trope, 
which  was  attacked  by  the  German  Protestants  on  every  side.  Some 
of  the  theologians  of  the  school  of  Zurich  were  overcome  by  lassitude, 
such  as  BuUinger  and  his  disciples,  who  consented  to  be  reconciled 
with  Calvin.  Joachim  Westphalius  branded  this  alliance  with  the  stig- 
ma of  apostacy,  and  provoked  ardent  controversies. f 

The  signal  for  hostilities  was  given  by  the  pastor  of  Hambourg,  in  a 
Latin  pamphlet,  entitled  :  Farrago  confusanearum  et  inter  se  dissiden- 
tium  opinionum  de  CcBna,  ex  sacramentarioruni  libris  congesta. 
(Magdeburg).  This  libel,  written  with  vigour,  is  sown  with  personali- 
ties and  insults  most  manifest.  Opinion  hesitated.  Then  Westphali- 
us published  a  second  libel,  more  virulent   than  the  first,  in  which  he 

*  Wenn  der  Pabst  wlirde  seine  dreifache  Kron  weg  vkrerfen,  und  von  seinem 
rSmischen  Stuhl  weichen,  und  ofFentlich  bekennen,  dasz  er  geirret,  und  die 
Kirche  verwustet,  und  unschuldig  Blut  veegossen  hat,  so  konnen  wir  ihm  doch 
als  ein  Glied  der  christlichen  Kirchen  nicht  wider  aufnehmen,  sondern  wir 
tnQssenim  fOr  den  rechten  Antichrist  halten. — Tisch-Reden,  416,  417., 

t  Henke,  t.  Ill,  p.  325.  Honinghaus,  das  Resultat,  c.  8 

35 


410 


LIFE    OF   JOnm    CALVIH. 


announced,  in  positive  terms,  the  fall  of  Christianity,  if  Sacramentarian^ 
ism  weie  not  banished  from  all  the  cities  which  it  had  begun  to  infect. 
The  word  of  the  Hamburgher  was  no  vulgar  word  :  minds  were  excited, 
and  war  was  declared  between  the  Calvinists  and  the  Zwinglians. 

At  this  epoch,  a  colony  of  evangelists,  assembled  at  London,  under 
the  authority  of  John  de  Lasco,  debarked  on  the  coast  of  Denmark^  in 
the  midst  of  a  rigorous  winter,  and  received  orders  from  the  magistrate 
to  seek  an  asylum  elsewhere.  The  vessel  again  put  to  sea,  and  the 
evangelists  found  armed  men  to  prohibit  their  landing,  at  every  point  at 
which  they  desired  to  debark.  At  Lubeck,  at  Rosteck,  at  VVismar,.  at 
Hambourg,  orders  were  given  to  repulse  the  heretical  vessel  with  vio- 
lence, and,  beaten  by  waves  and  tempests,  it  went  to  pieces  upon  the 
rocks.  Some  persons  escaped  from  the  wreck  with  their  lives,  and,  to- 
find  pity,  were  compelled  to  be  silent  as  to  their  origin,  and  especially 
with  regard  to  the  name  of  John  de  Lasco,  who  was  accused  of  having 
adopted  the  ideas  of  Zurich  and  Geneva.* 

The  libels  of  Westphalius  were  offensive  to  the  Genevese  church. 
Calvin  had  to  intervene  for  the  defence  of  his  dearly  beloved  daughter. 
He  showed  himself  full  of  wrath  and  hatred.  He  was  not  acquainted 
with  his  adversary,  whom  insult  stimulated.  Westphalios  was  a  skill- 
ful colourist,  of  the  school  of  Luther ;  by  his  style,  he  invested  the 
most  vulgar  raillery  with  poetic  beauty.  He  accepted  the  combat,  and 
published  two  virulent  books  against  his  enemy.  What  is  remarka- 
ble in  this  controversy  is,  that  Calvin,  at  the  very  time  he  was  casting 
bar-room  insults  into  the  faces  of  the  pastors  of  Hambourg,  chants 
his  evangelical  charity,  his  dove-like  simplicity,  and  his  almost  girlish 
amiability. 

"Very  fine,"  said  Westphalius,  "I  could  exhibit  certain  pages  in 
which  thou  hast  included  more  than  thirty  falsehoods,  and  as  many 
atrocious  insults  ?  Each  word  is  impregnated  with  venom  :  moreover,, 
as  all  the  world  knows,  these  are  but  the  customary  ornaments  of  thy 
style."! 

And  Calvin  replies : 

"  How  could  I  do  otherwise  in  this,  than  as  the  proverb  runs  :  Let  a 
rough  ass  have  a  rough  rider,  that  he  may  not  exult  too  much  in  his 
fury.":j: 

"  True  it  is  that  Westphalius  bitterly  complains  of  my  evil-speaking, 
and  in  a  manner  for  me  very  odious,  were  there  any  colour  for  it.  I 
acknowledge  that  at  times  there  is  a  pungent  word  in  my  book  ;  but  I 
have  used  this  to  serve  as  a  grain  of  salt,  the  more  that  I  was  displeas- 
ed to  find  so  little  savour  in  this  man,  who  boasts  himself  a  minister  of 

*  Menzcl,  Neuere  Geschichte  dcr  Doutsclien,  t.  JV,  IIS. 

t  Possem  ostendere  aliquas  pajrellns  quae  singulse  contineant  plura  quarn 
triginta  nicndacia  et  convicia.  Alicubi  verl)a  pene  singula  sufTusa  sunt  Iioc 
veneno,  etc.  p.  418,  419. — Apologia  confessionis  do  coena  Domini  contra  cor- 
ruptelas  et  calumnias  Calvini  scripta  a  Joachimo  Wcstphalo,  Ecclesiaste  Ham- 
burgcnsi.     Ursellis.,  1558,  in-12. 

:|:  Collection  of  opuscules,  or  little  tracts  of  M.  John  Calvin,  in  fol.  Gene' 
va,  1566. 

Against  the  calumnies  of  Joacliim  Westphalius. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  411 

the  gospel But,  as  to  thee,  I  know  not  what  spirit  moves  thee  : 

for,  so  much  art  thou  inflated  with  wind,  that  if  thou  dost  not,  by  mouth- 
fuls,  cast  foam  on  all  sides,  it  seems  that  thy  stomach  is  full  of  it,  as  if 
thou  didst  retain  some  sad  thing  which  weighed  heavy  on  it. 

•'  Inasmuch  as  Westphalius  had  to  deal  with  a  Frenchman,  he  has 
brought  forward  one  of  my  country,  in  whose  person  he  renders  me  odi- 
ous. He  says  that  we  have  revived  anew  the  heresy  of  Berengariue. 
And  if  thou  dost  hold  this  one  to  be  a  heretic,  why  dost  thou  not  forth- 
with  give  the  countersign,  and  enter  into  the  Pope's  camp  ?  But,,  in- 
deed, we  are  not  to  care  much  in  what  place  thou  dost  reside,  inasmuch 
as  thou  esteemest  thyself  in  good  favour  with  the  band  of  Antichrist. 
Behold  a  hundred  and  fourteen  horned  bishops,  in  the  midst  of  whom 
presides  Pope  Nicholas.  These  force  Berengarius  to  contradict  him- 
self. Thou  mals.est  no  difficulty  to  give  thy  opinion  in  approbation  of 
their  tyranny,  as  if  they  had  justly  condemned  some  heresy." 

In  retracing  this  struggle  between  the  two  most  advanced  representa- 
tives of  the  reformation,  Westphalius  and  Calvin,  we  still  behold  the 
old  parchment  bound  volume,  with  its  corners  eaten  away  by  time, 
which  contains  the  acts  of  the  dispute.  It  belonged  to  a  lover  of  books, 
who,  to  enhance  its  price,  ornamented  it  with  the  portraits  of  the  two 
disputants.  The  head  of  Westphalius,  drawn  by  a  pupil  of  the  school 
of  Albert  Durer,  floats  amid  luminous  rays,  which  display  this  verse  of 
Horace  as  a  motto  ; 

Impavidum  ferient  ruinae. 

And,  to  say  the  truth,  the  Lutheran   champion   exhibits  no  semblance 
of  fear. 

Calvin  has  the  physiognomy  of  the  blessed ;  nothing  is  wanting  to 
him  but  the  halo;  the  engraving  of  the  Dutch  artist,  rem ar liable  for  its 
ingenuity,  has  succeeded  to  diffuse  life  over  features,  which  engravers 
have  rarely  animated.  Below  the  portrait,  are  read  these  four  Latin 
verses  : 

Angelas  e  caelo  veniat,  num  scribere  posset 
Clarius,  an  melius  verba  docere  Dei? 
Vox  tua  non  hominem  sonat,  et  qui  spiritus  ex  te 
Fatur,  olympigenos  ex?iiperat  genios. 

Was  this  an  epigram,  affixed  to  the  commencement  of  his  little  vo- 
lume by  the  lover  of  books  ?  In  reading  some  pages  farther  on,  we 
had  no  doubt  of  this. 

"  Dost  thou  hear,  dog !  dost  thou  hear,  madman  !  dost  thou  hear, 
brute  r'^and  similar  apostrophes,  addressed  by  Calvin  to  his  antagonist, 
who,  moreover,  listens  in  silence,  allows  "the  angel  who  has  descended 
from  heaven"  to  clamour,  and  rage,  and  afterwards  replies  to  him  : 

"  Very  holy  father,  why  then  dost  thou  preach  to  us  passive  obedi- 
ence to  thy  decrees?  Why  so  many  menaces,  and  a  hell  ready  pre- 
pared to  burn  us,  if  we  obey  not  thy  commandments  ?"* 

*  Cur  obedientiam  nobis  stricte  impcrat  beatissimus  pater?    Cur  et  nos  dam- 


412 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


Calvin  wanted  to  remain  master  of  the  field  of  battle.  He  wrote 
his  "last  warning,"  Ultima  admonitio,  in  which  insults  fall  thick  a3 
hail.     But  the  ardent  Lutheran  responded  by  new  pleasantries. 

'•No,  no,"  said  he,  "I  will  not  be  silent ;  thy  basilisk  may  vomit  on  mo 
its  venomous  drivel,  in  order  to  poison  me,  yet  I  speak,  and  I  will 
'   ■'* 

If  there  be  a  question  in  the  world,  in  treating  which  the  writer 
should  seek  for  mild  words,  in  order  to  convince  his  adversary,  it  is  the 
question  of  the  Eucharist,  that  sacrament  of  love.  And  yet  there  are 
no  vulgarisms,  sarcasms,  outrages,  with  which  Calvin's  Institutes  have 
not  inspired  the  partisans  of  the  reformation.  Beza,  in  defending  the 
opinion  set  forth  in  this  book  against  the  Saxon  dogma,  has  imitated  his 
master.  He  calls  Eilmann,  the  Lutheran  minister  who  advocated  the 
real  presence,  ''an  ape,  an  ass  with  a  doctor's  cap  upon  his  head,  a  dog 
swimming  in  a  bath,  an  asinine  sophist,  an  impudent  rogue,  a  sycophant, 
a  polyphemus,  a  monster,  half  monkey,  half  ogre;  a  carnivorous  animal, 
a  Cyclops,  a  papist."! 

Let  us  see  whether  science,  united  with  an  exquisite  politeness  of 
style,  will  meet  with  favour  from  Calvin.  Will  Castalion  be  more 
fortunate  than  Westphalius  ? 

nat  pro  lisereticis  si  non  obedienter  obtemjxeremus,  nisi  \it  deterritis  calamus 
«icidat?  Apologetica  aliquot  scripta  magistri  Joach.  Westphali  quibus  et 
sanam  doctrinam  de  Eucharistia  defendit,  et  fcedissimas  calumnias  sacramen- 
tariorum  diluit. — Ursellis,  apud  Nocol.  Henricum,  1558. 

*  Basiliscum  suum  ita  veneno  implevisse  se  putavit,  ut  facile  aspectu  inte- 
rimeret. 

fD'Arligny,  Nouveaux  memoires  d'histoire^  etc.,  t.  II,  p.  163» 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

CASTALION    AND    HUMAN    LIBERTY.* 

Castalion,  the  type  of  the  learned  man  of  the  sixteenth  century. — A  Poet, 
Rhetorician,  Philologist. — His  sojourn  at  Strasbourg. — Preceptor  at  Gen- 
eva.— Disputes  wiih  Calvin. — Is  exiled.- -Controversy  concerning  freewill. — 
Polemics  of  the  reformer. — Calvin's  pamphlets.— Calvin  accuses  Castalion 
of  stealing. — The  poet's  defence. — Castalion  dies  from  hunger. — His 
epitaph. 

His  real  name  was  Sebastian  Chateillon.  Spon  and  Led  give,  as 
his  place  of  birth,  a  little  town  of  Dombes,  of  which  St.  Vincent  of 
Paul  at  a  latter  period  was  cure.  Jn  his  childhood  he  was  fond  of 
reciting,  with  a  tragic  accent,  verses  which  fill  the  mouth,  and  cause  a 
great  noise  in  their  issue  from  tlie  breast. f  One  day,  when,  being  alone, 
he  was  amusing  himself  in  the  actor's  art  on  the  banks  of  tlie  Saone, 
some  person,  who  was  observing  the  poet,  began  exclaming  :  Castalio  ! 
Castalio !  Chateillon  imagined  himself  transported  into  Greece, 
saluted  the  muse  who  had  just  baptised  him,  and  henceforward  called 
himself  Castalion. J 

He  is  the  type  of  the  literary  man  of  the  middle  ages.  He  laboured 
twelve  hours  a  day,  arose  with  the  sun,  sang  Greek  in  the  morning, 
Latin  after  dinner,  and  Hebrew  in  the  evening. 

As  soon  as  he  had  attained  the  age  of  twenty,  he  began  roaming 
through  Germany,  the  land  of  science,  securing  means  of  subsistence 
by  vending  Virgil  or  Homer.  Purchasers  were,  numerous.  Castalion 
was  not  difficult  to  be  pleased.  He  tells  us  himself,  that  one  of  his 
grandest  repasts  was  black  bread  steeped  in  milk.  He^thus  lived  upon 
something  less  than  six  cents  of  our  money.  In  case  of  need',  after 
having  corrected  the  translation  of  liis  pupil,  he  took  a  saw  and  cut 
wood,  or  went  to  the  market  in  search  of  provisions  for  his  household. 
Providence  reserved  for  him  a  life  replete  with  sufferings,  which  he 
endured  like  a  philosopher. 

In  1545,  he  published,  at  Bale,  four  books  of  dialogues  upon  histori- 
cal  passages  selected  from   the  Bible.     Bale,  that  ancient  city,  quite 

*  Cast.  Dcfjnsio.  Scaligeriana  prima.  Bayle,  art.  CastaZio??.  David  Clement, 
Bibl.  cur. 

t  Poeta  et  Groscee  plane  levitatis  Musopatagus. 

X  Quod  ego  nomen  audiens  a  Musarum  fonte  Cnstalio  derivatum  adamavi 
alque  amplexus  sum,  mcque  omisso  deinceps  Castellionis  nomine  patrio,  Cas- 
taUonc  appellavi. — Cast.  def.  p.  21. 

35* 


414  LIFE    OF    JOEN    CALVIN, 

perfumed  with  Latin,  was  filled  with  wonder;  it  imagined  that  Casta- 
lion  had  never  lived  any  where  but  in  the  Rome  of  Augustus.  At  a 
later  period,  Melancthon,  on  receiving  a  copy  of  the  Greek  poem  of 
Sebastian  upon  St.  John  the  Baptist,  was  so  delighted,  that  he  began, 
reciting  long  extracts  from  it  to  his  auditors  of  Wittenberg.  But  for 
the  bibical  name  of  the  hero,  they  would  have  imagined  it  some 
antique  fragment  brought  into  Italy  by  some  of  those  Hellenists,  to 
whom  Rome  and  Venice  at  that  time  offered  a  refuge.  Unfortunately,, 
in  those  days  of  religious  agitation,  the  muses  themselves  aspired  to  be 
theologians.  Castalion's  muse  imitated  the  rest;  she  left  the  sweet 
shades  of  the  Tiber,  to  throw  herself  into  the  abyss  of  predestination. 
But  the  poet,  so  roughly  used  by  God,  doubts  neither  of  his  goodness 
nor  his  mercy  ;  like  Catholics,  he  represents  Providence,  as  an  affec- 
tionate and  tender  mother,  who  has  predestined  her  children  only  to 
eternal  happiness,  while  leaving  them  that  free-will,  which  Calvin  and 
Luther  have  changed  into  an  inexorable  necessity. 

On  the  arrival  of  Calvin  at  Strasbourg,  Castalion  went  to  visit  the 
reformer,  who  was  delighted  with  the  science  of  the  exile.  Then  be- 
tween these  two  souls  began  an  intercourse,  which  afterwards  was  to  be 
troubled  with  such  melancholy  contests.  Castalion,  with  his  rustic 
confidence,  bestowed  upon  his  friends  all  the  treasures  of  his  skill  in 
languages,  and  even  in  medicine ;  for,  in  his  perambulations  through 
the  mountains,  the  young  Bressian  had  studied  botany,  and  he  knew 
secrets,  for  the  cure  of  diseases,  which  few  practitioners  then  possessed. 
Calvin  had  rented  him  a  small  room,  for  which  Castalion  paid  his  rent 
regularly.*  One  day,  Calvin  having  use  for  his  little  chamber,  dis- 
missed the  poet;  but  the  poet  soon  returned  again.  The  valet  of  the 
grand  lady,  "  Miss  des  Vergers,"  who  had  taken  Castalion's  place,  fell 
sick.     He  was  a  native  of  Dombes;  Castalion  saved  him. 

After  his  recall  from  exile,  Calvin  invited  Castalion  to  Geneva,  and 
caused  him  to  be  appointed  regent  of  the  college.  The  reformer 
thought  he  would  find  in  the  poet  his  former  table  companion  of  Stras- 
bourg. But  several  years  had  glided  by,  and  the  poet  had  apostatized, 
and  turned  theologian.  Now,  figure  to  yourself  a  monk  of  Cologne, 
;,with  the  learning  of  Melancthon,  and  the  intemperate  tongue  of  Carl- 
stadt.  The  regent  set  to  work  to  study  the  Bible,  which  he  resolved  to 
translate.  While  labouring  at  his  version,  he  became  desirous  to  make 
a  noise  like  Luther;  and,  to  be  more  sure  of  agitating  the  religious 
world,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  denying  the  canonicity  of  the  Canticle 
of  Canticles,  which  he  represented  as  an  indecent  idyl  produced  by  the 
brain  of  some  libertine.  The  idea  was  admirable  !  Castalion  con- 
sidered himself  too  much  of  a  theologian  to  submit  his  manuscript  to 
the  eyes  of  the  reformer.  Calvin's  self-love  was  wounded.  Castalion, 
who,  when  the  pest  was  making  such  frightful  ravages,  had  offered  him- 
self to  nurse  those  infected,  while  the  other  ministers  were  concealing 
themselves,  for  fear  of  death,t  placed  as  slight   an   estimate  upon  the 

*  Castal.  defensio,  p.26. 

t  Chitillon,  regent,  presents  himself  to  be  minister  of  the  pest-hospital; 
several  ministers  refuse  to  go  there,  saying,  that  they  would  rather  go  to  the 
devil.     Fragments  biographiquos  des  registresde  la  ville,  1  mai,  1543,  p.  iO. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVJN.  4j5 

courage,  as  upon  the  theological  skill  of  the  Genevese.  He  sought  to  be 
made  minister,  but  was  refused  :  they  had  denounced  him  to  the  consis- 
tory. Upon  the  registers  of  Geneva,  under  date  January  14th,  1544, 
we  read  :  "  M.  Calvin  has  reported  that  Bastian,  regent  of  the  schools, 
is  a  very  learned  man,  but  has  some  opinion,  for  which  he  is  not  fit  for 
the  ministry;   and,  besides,  he  complains  of  his  salary  for  the  school.'' 

He  received  the  annual  sum  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  florins ;  Cal- 
vin, at  that  time,  had  double  this  amount. 

The  council  gave  orders  to  Castalion  to  content  himself  with  his 
emoluments,  and  to  exercise  greater  vigilance  over  his  pupils. 

Castalion  guessed  who  was  his  denouncer,  and  sought  to  be  re- 
venged. 

He  asked  to  have  a  discussion  with  Calvin.  The  council  decided 
that  the  discussion  should  take  place  ''between  them  secretly,  not  wish- 
ing that  such  things  should  be  published." 

In  his  catechism  the  minister  asked  : 

"  What  signifies  :  he  descended  into  hell  ?"  The  child  responded  : 
"  It  means  that  Christ  has  not  only  suffered  a  natural  death,  which  is  a 
separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body,  but  also,  that  his  soul  has  been 
distressed  with  wonderful  agonies,  which  St.  Peter  calls  the  pangs  of 
death."  The  minister  continued  :  "And  for  what  reason  was  this 
done,  and  how  ?"  To  which  the  child  answered  :  "  Because,  inasmuch 
as  he  presented  himself  to  God  to  make  satisfaction  in  the  name  of  sin- 
ners, it  was  necessary  that  he  should  feel  this  horrible  distress  in  his 
conscience  ;  and  even,  as  if  God  had  been  irritated  against  him,  while 
in  this  abyss,  he  exclaimed  :  My  God  !  my  God  !  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ?"* 

Castalion  had  chosen  for  his  text :  He  desended  into  hell,  (descendit 
ad  inferos.)  His  rival  was  teaching  publicly,  that  Jesus  had  suffered 
in  his  soul  the  pains  of  the  damned.  It  is  said  that,  in  this  discussion, 
the  poet  was  admirable  for  his  logic,  his  force,  and  his  sarcasm.  An- 
other time,  when  disputing  with  Calvin,  he  opened  his  bible  at  thi3 
passage  of  St.  Paul  ;  "Exhibiting  ourselves  the  ministers  of  God,  full 
of  charity,"  and  from  this  text  he  extemporized  an  exordium  ah  irato, 
replete  with  antitheses,  which  fell  like  real  tongues  of  fire  upon  the 
heads  of  all  present, 

"  We,  servants  of  God  !"  exclaimed  the  regent ;  "behold  the  real 
servant  of  God,  Paul ;  but  as  to  us,  we  are  the  slaves  of  our  appetites, 
and  of  our  passions.  Paul  passed  the  night  in  watching  over  his  be- 
loved church,  and  we  pass  the  night  in  play;  Paul  was  sober,  and  we 
are  drunkards ;  Paul  was  troubled  by  seditions,  and  we  occasion  them; 
Paul  was  chaste,  and  we  revel  in  debauchery;  Paul  was  cast  into 
chains,  and  we  bind  chains  on  those  who  have  oflfended  us  ;  Paul  lean, 
ed  upon  the  arm  of  the  Lord,  and  we  upon  an  arm  of  flesh;  Paul  suf- 
fered, and  we  torture  others."! 

The  ministers  looked  at  each  other,   rubbed   their  hands  across  their 

*  Oranes  poenas  sceleratorum  persolvit,    diros  cruciatus  damnati    ac  perdi'.i 
hominis  in  anima  pertulit,  omnia  irati  et  punieutis  Dei  signa  cxpertus  est. 
t  Farello,  30  maii  1544.  Manus.  Gen. 


416  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

brows,  and  essayed  to  disturb  the  orator,  who  did  not  permit  himself  to 
be  intimidated,  but  ended  as  he  had  begun,  and  as  Calvin  says,  like  a 
veritable  gladiator,  who  wanted  nothing  but  blood.* 

Caslalion  could  no  longer  remain  in  Geneva.  He  therefore  aban- 
doned  the  city,  but  decked  with  all  the  laurels  of  the  comb-ii.  He  car- 
ried with  him  a  certificate,  drawn  up  in  very  honorable  terms,  which 
Calvin  had  given  him.  The  reformer  dreaded  Sebastian,  and  he  had 
reai^on.  Beza  has  stated,  that  the  regent  was  obliged  to  expatriate  him- 
self; this  is  a  falsehood.  Beza  must  more  than  once  have  heard  Cal- 
vin repeat,  that  Sebesiian  had  left  the  republic  voluntarily,  without 
ihere  having  been  the  slightest  grounds  to  reproach  him  on  the  score  of 
morals  or  doctiine.t  Danasus  represents  him  as  a  demoniac,  a  scurvy 
fellow,  of  whom,  with  God's  aid,  Geneva  was  fortunate  enough  to  get 
t'ld.i     Hei  would  not  have  spoken  otherwise  of  a  Catholic. 

Castalion  took  refuge  at  Bale,  where  the  senate  appointed  him  pro- 
fessor of  Greek.  The  poet  was  forced  to  resume  the  monk's  cowl. 
Calvin  calumniated  him. 

On  the  appearance  of  a  work  of  Castalion,  on  predestination,  the 
dispute  blazed  forth  anew. 

The  theological  world  was  for  a  long  time  held  in  suspense,  by  the 
struggle  between  these  two  intelligences,  which  was  often  intermitted 
and  revived.  It  regarded  the  greatest  problem  of  philosophy  ever  agi- 
tated by  the  schools,  and  upon  the  solution  of  which  depended,  whether 
humanity  should  stand  forth,  free  or  enslaved.  It  was,  therefore,  a  ques- 
lion  of  moral  liberty  or  servitude. 

In  opening  Calvin's  book,  we  perceive  that  he  comprehended  all  the 
importance  of  the  combat ;  for  he  wants  to  slay  his  adversary,  even  be- 
fore he  has  seized  his  weapons,  and  upon  the  blank  page  of  his  libel, 
he  writes  :  "  Reply  to  a  calumniator."  From  the  very  beginning  of 
the  work,  he  hides  himself  in  God,  in  order  to  ward  off  the  strokes  of 
his  antagonist.  '*  The  blows  which  you  aim  at  me,"  says  he,  "shall 
pass  through  my  bosom  in  order  to  reach  the  Eternal  Truth  ;§  and  this 
it  is,  which  forces  me  to  weep." 

But  Castalion  is  not  like  those  German  monks,  who,  when  too 
strongly  pressed,  seek  refuge  as  quickly  as  they  can,  under  the  soutan 
of  Scotus  or  the  mantle  of  Aristotle ;  he  believes  in  himself,  and  only 
in  himself; 

•'  Without  liberty,  there  is  no  evil,  there  is  no  good;||  what,  then, 
becomes  of  morality  ?" 

— Morality,  responds  the  reformer,  is  in  the  will. 

Castalion  smiles  and  replies  :  "  But  who  operates  this  will ;  is  it 
God?" 

•  Fu'.t  omnino  sanguinaria  oratio. 

t  Non  aliqua  vitaj  macula,  non  impium  aliquod  in  fidei  nostras  capitibua 
djgnia. 

^  Tanqunm  spu  nd,  cxpiiUo,  cxpurgata  est  civitas.  Dangers,  Epist.  dedicat. 
de  ilasrcst,  ad  sLMi-it.    Gcncv. 

J  Hoc  tantiim  dolco  quod  per  latus  mourn  configitur  sacra  ilia  set srnaque 
Dei  Veritas.     Calv.,  in  Resp.  ad  calumniatoris  prasfationem. 

H  Cistal.,  apud  Cal.  Thcol ,  p.  629. 


LIFE    Of    JOHN    CALVm. 


417 


Calvin  proceeds  :  "  Good  results  not  from  the  act,  but  from  the 
thought :  pride,  avarice,  envy,  are  not  in  God,  but  in  man.  But  how 
does  he  allow  the  being,  whom  he  has  commanded  to  follow  the  way  of 
truth,  to  sin,  how  does  he  nail  this  being  to  error  ?  This  is  a  mystery 
which  he  has  concealed?"* 

But  Gastalion  laughed,  and  exclaimed  :   "  I  do  not  understand  thee." 

And  then  Calvin  did  like  Luther,  when  too  closely  pressed  by 
Emser  : 

"  Nor  do  I  comprehend,  nor  do  the  angels:  I  adore  ;  and  those^ 
who  will  not  humble  themselves,  are  rascals,  blackguards,  dogs,  who 
bark  at  virtue."! 

After  the  punishment  of  Servetus,  whose  defence  Castalion  wished  to 
undertake,  the  contest  was  renewed,  but  upon  a  different  arena  :  the 
question  was,  to  know  whether  the  reformer  had  the  right  to  shed  the 
blood  of  a  heretic.  Calvin  appealed  to  God,  to  sustain  the  privilege 
of  the  sword. 

In  order  to  destroy  the  ancient  regent,  he  wrote  two  libels,  in  which 
we  meet  with  full  pages  of  wrath  ;  one  of  them  is  entitled  :  "Response 
to  certain  calumnies  and  blasphemies;"  the  other  is  in  Latin  :  **Ca- 
lumniae  nebulonis  cujusdam."  They  constitute  a  double  rhetorical 
theme,  in  which  the  writer,  to  vilify  his  enemy,  transforms  him  into 
a  thief. 

Castalion  defended  himself  nobly.  This  time,  it  was  not  merely  his 
reputation  as  a  literary  man,  but  his  bread,  of  which  they  attempted  to 
rob,  not  only  himself,  but  his  wife  and  eight  children;  for,  if  Calvin 
spoke  the  truth,  the  poor  professor  of  Greek  was  obliged  to  leave  Bale, 
and  die  of  famine.     Happily,  Calvin  had  lied. 

Castalion's  reply  ought  to  be  noble,  its  language  without  violence, 
its  polemics  without  passion  :  that  is  to  say,  for  success,  it  was  necessa- 
ry for  him  to  avoid  resembling  Calvin.  This  was  what  he  had 
promised. 

The  humanist  first  responds  to  what  he  terms  i\\Q  farrago  of  the  ac- 
cusation. 

"In  thy  libel,  oh  Calvin!  thou  heapest  upon  me  all  the  insultd 
which  thy  hate  could  inspire;  I  am  a  blasphemer,  a  barking  dog,  an 
ignorant  being,  an  impudent  fellow,  an  impostor,  a  debauchee,  a  char- 
latan, a  blackguard!  Thou  cryest ;  May  God  close  the  mouth  of  this 
satan  !J  But  thou  forgettest  then,  Calvin,  that  thou  art  the  author  of 
the  Life  of  a  Christian,  {Vila  hominis  Christiani  ),  which  contains 
such  sage  precepts,  that  a  certain  person  has  advised  me  to  write  to  thee 
to  ask,  whether  the  Calumnies  of  a  blackguard  and  the  Life  of  a 
christian,  come  from  the  same  pen.§    What  then  !     Did  I  resemble  tha 

*  Deum  severe  prohibcre  et  vetare  constat  qulcquid  est  contrarium  suo  man- 
dato.  Cur  autem  volens  errare  sinat  et  arcano  decreto  errori  addicat  quern 
viam  rectam  tenere  jubet,  sobriae  modestiee  est  nescire,  Cal.,  de  JEierna  prte- 
destin. 

t  Hcec  mysteria  qui  non  capiunl  ea  revercnter  adorare  et  admirari  debcnt  et 
exclatnare:  o  altitudo....  sunt  improbi  et  irnpuri  nebulones,  blaterones,  canes, 
piotati  oblatrautes.... 

■f  Compescat  te  Deus,  satan. 

S  Castal.  Defensio,  p.  2. 


418  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALV2N. 

portrait  which  thou  hast  sketched  of  me ;  was  I  full  of  pride,  ingrati- 
tude, fraud,  impudence,  blasphemy,  and  impiety?  And  if  thou  didst 
know  all  these  defects,tell  me,  then,  why,  in  spite  of  my  repeated  re- 
fusals, thou  and  thy  friends  forced  me  to  accept  theregentship  of  the  col- 
lege of  Geneva  ?  How  !  hast  thou  selected  as  teacher  for  the  youth  of 
the  city,  which  thou  hast  decorated  with  the  name  holy,  a  man,  quite 
covered  with  vices,  though  thou  didst  know  me  so  well  ?  Tell  me, 
then,  why  that  fine  certificate  of  life  and  morals,  which  thou  didst  give 
me  Avhen  I  voluntarily  left  the  city?* 

"  Thou  reproachest  me  for  the  food  thou  gavest  me  at  Strasbourg  !  I 
lodged  with  thee,  it  is  true,  for  about  a  week ;  after  which  I  was  com- 
pelled to  give  up  my  room  to  Miss  des  Vergers,  who  came  to  thee  with 
her  son  and  her  valet ;  but  I  paid  thee  for  what  I  ate.f 

"  Thou  and  Beza  !  how  cordially  you  do  hate  me  !  Whatever  evil  is 
said  of  me,  you  believe  it,  or  feign  to  believe  it ;  but  of  the  good,  you 
will  believe  nothing.  Your  enemies  induce  you  to  accept  every  thing- 
regarding  me  they  please ;  you  deceive  them,  as  they  deceive  you,  in 
telling  to  them  a  thousand  fables  of  your  own  invention  concerning 
me.J  Have  you  not  represented  me  as  a  dangerous  cabalist,  having  ia 
his  employ  a  host  of  valets  dispersed  through  the  city  and  the  country ; 
in  such  sort,  that  certain  Frenchmen,  who  came  from  Strasbourg  to 
Bale,  expecting  to  find  me  like  a  satrap  in  the  midst  of  a  hedge  of  sate- 
lites,  quite  resplendent  with  gold,  were  greatly  astonished  to  meet  but 
a  poor  little  man,  quite  needy,  humbly  lodged,  and  only  thinking  of 
living  in  peace  with  all  the  world.  When  the  magistrates  are  unwil- 
ling to  listen  to  me,  you  strive  to  dishonour  me,  by  accusing  me  of 
things  infamous ;  you  pursue  my  books  with  your  wrath  and  your 
anathemas  ;  you  write  books  against  me,  and  you  labour  to  deprive  me 
of  the  means  of  reply." 

Having  come  to  the  charge  of  theft,  brought  against  Castalion  by 
Calvin,  the  defence  continues  the  same,  always  calm  ;  but  m  the  pro- 
fessor's reply,  there  is  a  revelation  of  poverty  which  brings  tears  from 
the  eyes  ;   and  Sebastian  aimed  not  at  this  effect. 

"  Tell  me,  then,"  asked  Calvin  :  "Sometime  ago,  with  thy  harpoon 
in  hand,  seated  upon  the  Rhine,  thou  wast  gathering  wood  to  warm  thy- 
self  at  home,  didst  thou  not  voluntarily  steal  what  belonged  to< 
others?"§ 

— "  And  who  has  told  thee  this?"  answers  Castalion,  with  tears  iri 
iiis  eyes ;  "thy  spies  have  deceived  theo.  Reduced  to  the  most  frightful 
misery,  and  not  wishing  to  abandon  my  translation  of  the  holy  books, 
(for  I  would  have  preferred  rather  to  beg  from  door  to  door),  I  took  a 
hook,  and  went  to  seek  the  wood  that  was  floating  down  the  Rhine, 
and  which  belonged  to  no  one ;  this  J  secured,  and  afterwards  burned 


**  Queero  ex  te  quorum' hominum  est  puerls  instituendis  praeficero  hominem^. 
q«em  tu  sccleratum  esse,  scires,  idque  in  ea  urbe  quam  vos  sanctam  etiam  im- 
pressis  libris  appcUatis?     Def.,  p.  18- 

t  Castal.  Def.,  p.  26.  _  t  ^^^f.,  p.  40. 

)  Qnaero  ex  te  dum  proximis  annis,  tibi  harpago  in  manu  erat  ad  rapienda 
ligna  quibusdomum  tuam  calefaceres,  an  non  te  propria  voluntas  ad  furanduni^ 
impulerit?  Calvin.,  in  Calumn.  nebulonis,  p.  748,  Tract,  TheoL 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  419 

at  my  lodgings,  in  order  to  warm   myself.      Is   this   what  thou  callest 
stealing  /"* 

Poor  Castalion  !  a  poet,  orator,  theologian  ;  acquainted  with  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  Latin,  and  yet  reduced,  in  order  to  warm  the  fingers  which 
age  has  begun  to  freeze,  and  his  poor  little  children  and  aged  wife,  to 
watch  for  a  morsel  of  wood,  whicl:i  the  tempest  has  uprooted  and  cast 
upon  the  waters  of  tlie  Rhine  !  He  tells  us  himself  that,  in  the  morn- 
ing,  when  the  Hauenstein  was  covered  with  dense  clouds,  he  thanked 
heaven,  and  waited  with  impatience  for  the  tempest,  in  its  might,  to 
strew  the  Rhine  with  the  ruins  of  the  Alpine  forests.  Did  not  this 
wood,  the  offering  of  that  good  God,  as  he  terms  him,  belong  to  the 
poet,  as  the  grain  of  wheat,  w^hich  the  wind  drops  upon  tlie  highway,  is 
the  property  of  the  bird  ?  Calvin,  the  former  friend  of  Sebastian,  was 
not  as  charitable  as  the  tempest :  in  place  of  sending  some  bread  to  his 
brother,  he  denounces  him  to  all  Germany  and  France,  as  a  robber  ! 
And  whilst  he  was  thus  leaving  the  former  school-master  of  Geneva  to 
die  of  hunger,  his  table  was  covered  with  white  bread,  made  expressly 
for  him  by  the  baker,  and  which  was  called  the  bread  of  M.  Calvin. 

And  Calvin  was  amusing  himself  by  railling  at  the  poor  old  man. 

'•'  When  master  Castalion  drinks,"  said  the  reformer,  "he  has  the 
custom,  before  tasting  his  wine,  to  say:  Tu  qiiis  es?  (who  art  thou?) 
If  the  wine  be  tolerable,  he  replies  :  Ego  sum  qui  sum ;  (I  am  who 
am);  If  it  be  excellent :  Hie  est  filius  Dei  vivi.''  (This  is  the  Son  of 
the  living  God.) 

But  God  also  abandoned  Castalion,  who  was  more  unfortunate  than  the 
bird  of  heaven,  which  has  its  nest,  its  foliage,  and  its  pastures.  The 
tempest  was  silent,  the  forests  of  Jura  were  no  longer  shaken  :  not  the 
slightest  morsel  of  wood  could  he  steal  from  the  river,  and  sell  at  the 
city  market,  if  not  needed  to  cook  his  food  !  Then,  he  took  a  line  and 
went  to  fish  in  the  river,  or  a  spade  to  dig  in  some  of  those  little  gar- 
dens, with  which  each  house  in  Bale  was  ornamented.  "  I  love  rather 
to  fish,"  he  said,  "for  while  waiting  for  the  fish,  I  study." 

Castalion  died  from  hunger,!  like  that  little  lamp  of  which  he  speaks 
in  his  Moses,  which  expired  for  want  of  oil.  Bale  understood  the  loss 
it  had  sustained  by  the  death  of  Castalion  ;  but  it  was  too  late.  Even 
the  very  earth  was  not  to  rest  lightly  upon  this  professor,  whom,  misery 
continually  pursued  !  He  had  been  deposited  in  the  tomb  of  Gryneus:  a 
tardy  homage  to  so  much  merit ;  but  a  professor  of  the  family  of  Gryne- 
us caused  the  tomb  to  be  searched,  and  was  guilty  of  the  impiety  of 
exhuming  the  body.  On  that  day  of  profanation,  three  Polish  gentle- 
men chanced  to  be  passing  through  Bale,  and  they  remembered  that 
Castalion  had  been  their  master,  and  caused  the  body  to  be  borne  into 
the  grand  church.  Whilst  placing  it  in  its  last  abode,  the  Latin  muse 
v/as  engaged  in  preparing  an  epitaph  for  one  of  her  most  cherished  vo- 
taries :  and,  in  this  funeral  chant,  she  included  the  whole  life  of  the 
poet  : 

♦  Capiebam  interdum  succesivis  horis  harpagone  ligna  quae  solet  dum  exun- 
dat  Rhenussecum  rapta  devehere,  quibus  domum  meam  calefacerem.  Hoc 
tu  furtum  interpretaris.  Certo  non  bonus,  neque  candidus  interpres.  Publica 
sunt  ilia  ligna  et  primi  occupantis.  Castal.  Def.,  p.  12. 

t  Mortuus  est  ex  paupertate.     Scaligeriana,  p.  45. 


420  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


Jejunas  crebro  ccenas  ct  praiuUa  nudo 

Suincre  cum  parva  prole  solcbat  agro. 
Quit!  ctiairi  urcntis  qiia^  posset  frigora  brumae 

PcUere,  vol  touues  rite  parare  cibos, 
Ex  Rheno  manibus  venientia  ligna  trahcbat, 

Cum  gravis  ingentcs  fuderat  imber  aquas. 
Ncc  pudor  interdum  pisccs  captare  sub  undls; 

Ncc  pudor  ct  rastris  findere  pingue  solum, 
Utcharam  uxorem  posset  sobolemque  tenellam 

Hiiic  alerc  ac  sortls  damna  levare  suee. 

Montaigne  has  offered  this  learned  man  a  tribute  of  piety,  whicfi  wc 
are  delighted  to  recite  : 

"  I  learn,  to  the  great  shame  of  our  age,  that,  under  our  view,  two 
persons  distinguished  for  their  learning  have  died  from  starvation  :  Lili- 
us  Gregorius  Giraldus,  in  Italy,  and  Sebastianus  Castalio,  in  Germany. 
And  I  believe  that  there  arc  a  thousand  men,  who  would  have  invited 
them  on  advantageous  terms,  and  aided  them,  had  they  known  of  it. 
The  world  is  not  so  generally  corrupt,  but  that  I  know  a  man, 
■who,  with  great  affection,  would  desire  to  use  "the  means  left  in  his 
hands  by  his  friends,  as  long  as  fortune  will  allow  him  to  possess  them, 
to  relieve  from  necessity  personages  remarkable  for  some  sort  of  worth, 
whom  misfortune  sometimes  pushes  to  extremity,  a  man,  who,  at  least, 
would  put  them  in  such  condition,  that,  except  for  the  want  of  good 
conversation,  they  would  be  contented."* 

*Essais,liv.  1,  eh.  34. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  principal  works  of  Castalion : 
Dialogorum  Sacrorum  libri  IV.  Bas.,  1545. — Version  of  the  Sybelline  verses 
with  notes. — A  Latin  translation  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  and  of  the  Canticles 
of  the  scriptures,  1547. — A  Greek  poem  on  John  the  Baptist,  and  a  Latin  para- 
phrase of  the  poem  of  the  prophet  Jonas,  1548.— A  partial  translation  of  Ho- 
mer, Xenophon,  and  St.  Cyril. — A  Latin  translation  of  the  XXX.  dialogues  of 
Ochino. — Latin  version  of  the  Bible,  Bale,  1551. — A  French  translation  of  the 
Bible,  Bale,  1555,  dedicated  to  Henry  IL  Theodore  Beza  pretends  that  the 
jargon  of  Poictou,  the  grossest  of  all  the  jargons  of  France,  would  seem  less 
barbarous  than  the  style  of  Castalion.  On  the  other  hand,  Richard  Simon  cer- 
tifies that  an  elegant  and  polished  style  is  found  in  Castalion's  translation, 
(Hist.  Crit.  du  vleux-Test  t.  II,  ch.  25). — A  Latin  translation  of  the  Theologia 
Gennanica,  under  the  name  of  Joannes  Theophilus. — Dialog!  de  praedestina- 
tionoj  de  electione,  de  libero  arbitrio,  de  fide. — Dcfcnsio  translationis  Novi 
Testament!  contra  Th.  Bczam. — In  capit.  9,  ep,  ad  Rom.  comment,  deprsedes- 
tinatione  et  justificatione. — De  non  puniendis  hasreticis,  also  attributed  to  So- 
cinus. — Defcnsio  contra  Calvinum  ot  Bezam. — Peter  Ramus  has  given  the 
following  testimony  to  Castalion:  "Utinarn  tanti  ingenii  tamque  bonis  artibus 
acliteris"  eruditi  vis  ilia  in  hoc  unico  graecee  professionis  argumento  versari 
raaluisset;  nihil  mcaquidem  sententia  in  isto  genero  laudis  Basilea  comparan 
dum  habuisset."    Peter  Ramus,  in  Basilea,  p.  52. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


BOLSEC,  THE  MERIT  OF  GOOD  WORKS. 

The  pastor  Saint-Andre  preaches  Calvin's  predestination  at  St.  Peter's.— -BoU 
sec  attacks  the  preacher,  who  is  defended  by  the  reformer. — Bolsec  is 
thrown  into  prison,  and  interrogated. — His  defence.— He  is  retained  in  irons. 
— Interference  of  the  churches  of  Bale  and  Berne. — Zurich  demands  the 
death  of  Bolsec— He  is  set  free,  leaves  Geneva,  and  is  pursued  by  the 
hatred  of  Calvin. — History  of  Calvin's  life  and  morals. — Bolsec  calumnia- 
ted.— He  is  vindicated  by  Protestant  writers. 

When  Luther,  seated  amidst  a  group  of  Germans  of  the  pure  blood, 
that  is,  copious  beer  drinkers,  heard  the  name  of  the  Pope  pronounced, 
his  brow  contracted,  his  eye  glowed,  and  his  lips  were  curled  with  a 
Satanic  smile;  and  then  began  to  fly  among  the  revellers  a  deafening 
volley  of  ridicule,  sarcasms,  jests,  against  the  Roman  pontiff,  that  is, 
against  the  precursor  of  the  Antichrist.  During  the  first  years  of  their 
joyous  meetings,  the  guests  of  the  Wittenberg  tavern,  nearly  all  rene- 
gade priests  or  monks,  amused  themselves  in  baptizing  the  then  reign- 
ing Pope  with  the  name  of  Antichrist  :  among  the  mountain  peasants 
of  Pollesberg,  it  was  an  article  of  faith,  that  Leo  X.  was  really  the 
man  of  sin  foretold  by  the  prophets.  After  the  death  of  Leo  X.,  Adri- 
an, his  successor,  was  saluted  with  the  same  name.  Adrian  having 
descended  to  the  tomb,  Clement  inherited  the  cursed  title.  But  then 
some  persons,  better  acquainted  with  history,  caused  the  revellers  to  re- 
mark, that,  in  the  space  of  twenty  years,  the  world  had  contained  three 
Antichrists  :  at  least  too  many  by  two,  if  we  would  not  accuse  the 
prophet  Daniel  of  falsehood.  Then,  for  a  moment,  the  Pope  was  no- 
thing but  the  precursor,  the  image,  or  the  mythos  of  the  Antichrist. 

To  the  Genevese  Protestants,  Bolsec  stood  in  the  same  relation  as 
the  Pope  did  to  Luther.  Drelincourt  saddles  him  with  all  the  sins 
which  a  human  being  can  ever  carry  in  this  world  :  he  makes  of  him 
a  blasphemer  of  the  holy  name  of  Jesus,  a  falsifier,  a  liar,  a  simoniac, 
a  man  without  faith  or  God. 

He  opens  the  pits  of  the  abyss,  and,  in  the  midst  of  dense  clouds  of 
smoke,  there  comes  forth,  "a  wicked  wretch,  sold  to  iniquity,  visibly 
possessed  by  a  lying  spirit ;  a  monster,  more  horrible,  and  more  worthy 
of  public  execration,  than  any  ever  produced  by  hell;  this  is  Bolsec."* 

This  wrath  can  be  explained. 

*  Drelincourt,  Defense  de  Calvin,  p.  100  et  passim. 
36 


422 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIH, 


Bolsec,  like  Westphalius  and  Castalion,  seduced  by  the  new  lan- 
guage which  the  reformation  spoke  in  France,  had  abandoned  Catholi- 
cism, and  sought  a  refuge  at  Geneva.  There,  he  went  to  work,  reading' 
the  holy  scriptures,  taking  seriously  the  advice  given  by  Calvin,  in  his 
sarmons  and  writings,  to  study  the  inspired  word.  Unfortunately,  after 
a  sufficiently  long  examination,  he  had  modified  the  articles  of  his  faitli, 
which  he  had  embraced  too  precipitately,  and,  upon  predestination,  he 
had  adopted  ideas  different  from  those  entertained  by  the  author  of  tha 
Christian  Institutes  :   he  had  not  comprehended  Calvin. 

One  day,  in  the  year  1542,  Saint-Andre,  pastor  of  Jussy,  who  would 
not  have  been  able  to  dust  the  books  of  a  monk  of  Cologne,  developed 
this  passage  from  the  pulpit,  at  St.  Peter's  :  "  Those  who  are  not  of 
God  hear  not  his  word."  Chained,  like  a  galley-slave,  hand  and  foot, 
to  the  fatalism  of  his  master,  the  preacher  maintained  that  the  soul 
which  God  has  not  regenerated,  resists  necessarily;  that  it  is  nailed  to 
sin,  sold  irremissibly  to  death,  inasmuch  as  it  does  not  possess  that  gift 
of  obedience  and  submission  which  the  Lord  gives  only  to  his  elect. 

We  here  behold  the  logical  chain  of  the  doctrines  taught  in  the  In- 
stitutes ':    Saint-Andre  was  repeating  the  part  he  had  learned. 

Now,  in  the  consistory  of  Geneva,  every  assistant  was  allowed  to 
present  his  objections  to  the  minister  who  had  occupied  the  pulpit. 

Bolsec  wanted  to  speak ;  and,  the  service  being  over,  he  arose  and 
said  : 

— "  Master,  I  hold  that  opinion,  regarding  the  justice  of  God,  to  be 
false  and  dangerous ;  it  springs  from  the  brain  of  Valle  ;  it  is  repug- 
nant to  the  scriptures,  to  the  fathers,  and  particularly  to  St.  Augus- 
tine." 

— "  Master  Bolsec,"  responds  the  minister,  "my  doctrine  is  entire- 
ly biblical." 

— "  Twist  the  scriptures  as  you  please,"  resumed  Bolsec,  "If  God, 
for  his  own  pleasure,  damns  some  and  saves  others,  he  is  a  tyrant,  and 
the  sinner  has  his  excuse  quite  ready  :  he  will  say  that  it  is  not  he  that 
is  guilty,  but  the  fantastical  divinity,  which  you  have  created  with 
your  own  hands." 

At  these  words,  a  lank,  lean  figure  was  seen  to  arise  amidst  the 
groups,  which,  casting  its  eyes  around  the  hall,  and  then  fixing  them  on 
Bolsec,  exclaimed  :  I  accuse  thee  of  calumny  and  falsehood  ;  for  the 
doctrine  of  Saint-Andre  is  my  doctrine.  Uost  thou  pretend  that  I 
make  God  the  author  of  sin  ? 

Then  one  of  the  auditors   approached   Bolsec  and  said  to  him  :   'T 
arrest  thee  !"  and  they  cast  him  into  prison.     He  had  msuUed  Calvin. 
The  ministers  assembled,    and,   in  common,  drew  up  seventeen  arti- 
cles,  upon  which  the  accused  was  to  be  interrogated. 

This  was  a  skillfully  composed  summary  of  Calvin's  dogmatic  teach- 
ing on  predestination,  where  they  constituted,  as  articles  of  faith,  the 
servitude  of  man  since  Adam's  fall,  the  damnation  of  a  part  of  the  hu- 
man  race,  decreed  by  God  even  antecedently  to  the  prevision  of  any 
demerit,  the  necessity  of  sinning,  imposed  as  a  law  upon  a  great  num- 
ber of  creatures  disinherited  beforehand,  and  that  of  doing  good,  im- 
posed on  some  others,  who  will  be  glorified  without  having  deserved  it : 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  423 

all  the  things  that  have  been  read  in  the  Christian  Institutes,  and  -which  at 
Geneva  must  be  believed*,  under  penalty  of  no  longer  belonging,  or 
rather  of  never  having  belonged,  to  that  choir  of  blessed  souls  imagin- 
ed  by  Calvin, 

Bolsec,  with  energy,  repudiates  this  despair-causing  and  absurd  doc- 
trine, falsified  by  the  ideas  which  God  has  given  us  of  himself,  and  by 
every  experience  of  our  intimate  sense.  According  to  the  view  of  the 
pliilosopher,  there  may  have  been  inequality  in  the  divine  gifts,  a 
greater  love  for  a  certain  number  of  elect  souls ;  but  towards  all,  there 
is  a  father's  love,  in  all,  an  entirely  free  faculty  to  do  good  or  evil,  to 
be  saved  through  grace,  or  lost  through  malice. — Do  you  deny,  said  he 
to  his  judges,  that  God  warns  us  by  the  cry  of  our  conscience,  by  the 
maladies  of  soul  and  body,  by  his  love  and  his  benefits  ?  And  what, 
then,  is  this  God,  who  would  deceive  us  thus,  who  would  cause  his  sun 
to  shine  upon  our  heads,  who  would  spread  upon  our  fields  the  treasures 
of  his  love,  who,  at  each  beautiful  thought,  would  cause  our  hearts  to 
leap  with  joy  ?  A  tyrant,  a  vulgar  tyrant.  With  your  God,  having 
a  heart  of  bronze,  who  himself  impells  us  to  crime,  and  afterwards 
laughs  at  our  tears  and  mocks  at  our  repentance,  justice  no  longer  ex- 
ists upon  this  earth  :  and  man,  coming  from  the  hands  of  the  Creator, 
is  but  a  bitter  derision  :   better  for  him  had  he  been  left  in  nothingness. 

It  was  difficult  to  reply  to  Bolsec.  However,  the  ministers  attempt- 
ed it,  but  they  involved  themselves  in  the  mazes  of  a  terminology,  where 
they  lost  what  modesty  and  reason  they  possessed. 

Bolsec  evidently  grew  greater,  as  all  these  champions  of  predestina- 
tion diminished  in  stature,  while  vainly  tormenting  th^iselves  to  avoid 
becoming  a  laughing  stock  to  the  whole  theological  world. 

In  prison,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  shifting  the  question,  in  order, 
body  to  body,  to  wrestle  with  Calvin  himself.  He  is  admirable  in  ar- 
gumentation, when,  illuminating  that  desolating  symbol  into  which  the 
reformer  sought  to  breathe  a  living  soul,  he  causes  to  issue  forth  from  it 
a  God,  the  agent  and  author  of  sin  !  His  accusation  is  brief,  senten- 
tious, constructed  of  dilemmas  which  uphold  each  other,  which  present 
a  seried  front,  and,  in  their  numberless  threads,  entangle  the  feet  of  his 
adversaries.  Calvin  needs  some  means  of  escape,  and  he  imagines  "a 
will  in  God,  which  cannot  fail,  and  an  irresistible  instinct  of  sin  in 
man.  But  man  wills,  and  hence  the  sin  and  responsibility.  So  that, 
if  he  do  good,  it  is  in  virtue  of  the  free  will  which  God  gives  him  by 
his  Holy  Spirit;  and  if  he  do  evil,  it  is  by  the  necessitating  impulse  of 
his  natural  will,  which  is  tainted  by  corruption.  Miserable  sophisms  ! 
As  if  that  will,  good  or  bad,  Vv^ere  not,  according  to  this  doctrine,  equal- 
ly God's  work. 

The  debates  were  concluded.  Bolsec  asked  to  be  restored  to  liberty; 
but  no  one  having  come  forward  to  go  his  security,  he  remained  in 
prison,  endeavouring  to  sweeten  the  long  nights  of  his  captivity,  by 
commending  himself  to  the  muses,  who  descended  into  his  dungeon  and 
lulled  him  to  rest;  the  unhappy  man,  forgetting  theology,  imagined 
himself  a  poet,  and  began  to  sing.* 

♦  i\'L  Picot,  in  his  history  of  Geneva,  gives  Bolsec's  verses. 


424: 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN", 


Calvin  feared  that,  once  the  poet  was  again  roused  from  his  revery, 
he  would  resume  his  disputatious  habits,  and  attack  the  dogma  of  pre- 
destination. He  procured  that  he  should  be  kept  a  prisoner  until  ad- 
vice should  be  received  from  the  churciies  of  Switzerland,  to  which  the 
proceedings  of  his  trial  had  been  forwarded.  Bolsec,  condemned, 
would  have  lost  his  head  on  the  scaffold  :  this  is  the  opinion  of  M. 
Thourel,*  who  knew  Calvin.  But  happily  for  the  prisoner,  Berne  and 
Bale  guessed  the  intention  of  the  reformer,  whose  dogmatic  intolerance 
had  long  disgusted  them. 

Consequently,  Berne  answered  —  that  care  should  be  taken  not  to 
use  violence  towards  disputatious  pilgrims;!  that  if  Christ  loves  truth, 
he  loves  charity  still  more  ;  that  Bolsec  was  neither  a  wicked  nor  an 
impious  man;  that  these  quarrels  were  only  calculated  to  trouble  con- 
sciences; that  care  should  be  taken  not  to  cast  them  as  food  before  an 
ignorant  people,  and  that,  moreover,  the  dispute  regarded  words  only. 

Bale  pursued  the  same  course  with  Berne,  and  recommended  mild- 
ness and  silence. 

But  Zurich  preached  violence,  and  clamoured  for  blood.  It  wanted 
the  law,  which  punished  the  crime  of  heresy  with  death,  to  be  applied  to 
the  criminal;  and  yet,  thirty  years  before,  Zurich  called  Zwingie  pas- 
tor,  who  had  revolted  against  ecclesiastical  and  civil  authority ! 

Bolsec  soon  learned  the  decision  of  the  Helvetic  churches,  and  then 
the  muses,  who  had  for  a  moment  abandoned  him,  again  descended 
into  his  prison,  and  the  theologian  commenced  to  give  thanks  to  God, 
and  to  chant  his  own  restoration  to  liberty. 

But  Calvin  was  watching  at  the  doors  of  the  dungeon ;  he,  only, 
could  open  them,  and  he  willed  that  they  should  stay  closed.  Then 
began  a  struggle,  or  rather  a  comedy,  between  the  council  and  the  min- 
isters :  the  council  thought,  that  full  and  entire  liberty  should  be  re- 
stored to  the  culprit,  that  no  brand  of  heterodoxy  should  be  put  on  him, 
and  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  live  in  quiet  at  Geneva.  Calvin  de- 
manded that  a  sign  of  infamy  should  for  ever  be  branded  on  the  brow 
of  Bolsec,  that  there  should  be  a  corporal  punishment.  They  scolded 
each  other.  The  counselors  assumed  the  air  of  soliciting  mercy  for 
the  criminal,  pretended  to  a  cold  charity  and  a  simulated  meekness ; 
Calvin,  affected,  ends  by  yielding,  and  the  council  rendered  the  follow- 
sentence  : 

We,  the  syndics,  in  the  prosecution  of  thee,  Jerome  Bolsec,  by  the 
criminal  lieutenant;  it  appears  that  thou  hast,  with  too  great  audacity, 
raised  thyself  in  the  holy  congregation  ;  thou  hast  proposed  an  opinion 
contrary  to  evangelical  truth  ;  it  has  been  made  manifest  to  thee  by  the 
word  of  God  and  by  the  sentence  of  the  churches,  that  thy  opinions  ar© 
false;  thou  hast  been  unwilling  to  acknowledge  it :  therefore,  thou  art 
worthy  of  grievous  punishment.  Nevertheless,  we  are  desirous  to  act 
towards  thee  with  mildness,  and  to  commute  thy  punishment;  hence,, 
we  banish  thee  for  ever  from  the  territory  of  Geneva.."^ 


*  Hist,  de  Geneve. 

+  Calvin  k  Geneve,  p.  218. 

^  Calvin  a  Geneve,  219.. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  .  425 

Bolsec  packed  up  some  books,  which  constituted  his  library,  and  the 
poetical  inspirations  of  his  prison,  and  went  away,  cursing  a  city  that 
banished  him  for  having  rebelled  against  a  mystery,  which  the  reformer 
himself  acknowledged  that  he  did  not  comprehend,  "nor  even  the  an- 
gels  of  heaven,"  as  he  had  elsewhere  declared. 

He  was  living  at  Thonon,  engaged  in  his  medical  profession,  when 
he  learned  that  the  question  of  predestination  was  again  agitated,  and 
that  Calvin  was  labouring  to  obtain,  from  the  judges  of  Berne,  a  decree 
of  exile  against  him.  Then  he  left  his  patients,  and  started  for  Berne, 
where  he  soon  arrived.  "  And  Avhile  passing  on  horseback  with  the 
postillion,  he  was  perceived  by  Raymond  Chauvet,  a  companion  of  said 
Calvin,  who  went  forthwith  to  give  notice  to  his  friend.'"*  The  dispute 
threatened  to  be  violent;  if  Bolsec  is  to  be  credited,  Calvin  deserted 
the  arena.  But  the  reformer  should  not  here  be  accused  of  cowardice. 
If  he  left  Berne,  the  reason  was,  because  the  spirit  of  that  city  was 
hostile  to  the  Genevese  dogma  regarding  predestination,  and  because  a 
dispute  on  that  subject  would  have  been  displeasing  to  the  ministers. 

Some  days  after,  one  of  the  magnificent  seigniors  came  to  implore 
Bolsec  "to  evacuate"  the  Bernese  territory. 

Calvin  had  been  more  skillful  than  his  adversary,  upon  whom,  in  the 
dark,  he  inflicted  a  double  stroke  with  the  stylet :   exile  and  silence. 

Never  had  man  been  more  bitterly  punished  for  his  apostacy  than  the 
physician  of  Lyons.  Seduced  by  the  honied  word  of  the  reformation, 
he  had  believed  that  it  came  to  bring  liberty  to  fallen  man  ;  but,  vain 
soul,  and  amorous  of  noise,  no  sooner  have  his  lips  opened  tQ  lisp  some 
doubts  against  the  Genevese  symbol,  than  he  is  cast  into  prison,  hum- 
bled, ignominiously  chastised  !  And  the  one  who  pursues  him  with  such 
cruel  perseverance,  is  that  young  man,  whom  formerly  he  beheld,  at  Par- 
is, hiding  himself  under  the  robe  of  an  ancient  philosopher,  in  order  to 
whisper  into  the  ear  of  Francis  I.  a  few  pale  words  of  a  dead  language 
in  favour  of  the  Lutheran  innovators.  The  trial  had  been  very  severe; 
his  heart  no  longer  holds  to  the  illusion;  he  wn  11  re-enter  the  fold  of 
Catholic  unity,  sufficiently  tried  by  the  reformation  to  justify  a  belief 
in  the  sincerity  of  his  conversion. 

He  had  seen  this  reformation,  represented,  in  the  temple,  by  those  min- 
isters of  whom  Calvin  exhibits  so  sad  a  portrait;  in  the  consistory,  by 
those  titled  spies,  whose  denunciations  w^ere  rewarded  by  fines  collected 
from  the  accused ;  in  the  pretorium,  by  that  CoUadon,  who  tortured  his 
victims  to  their  last  breath ;  in  the  councils,  by  those  citizens  who  had 
laved  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  Gruet ;  in  the  doctor's  dwelling,  by  a 
young  man,  ready  to  perjure  himself  in  order  to  immolate  a  man  odious 
to  the  reformer ;  and  in  the  state,  by  that  theocrat,  the  living  personifi- 
cation of  hypocrisy,  intolerance,  and  fanaticism.  How  could  he  avoids 
with  face  crimsoned  with  shame,  to  return  to  Catholicism  ? 

But  before  dying,  he  wished   to   write    Calvin's   life.f     When  this 

*  Vie  de  Beze,  par  Bolsec. 

t  Histoire  de  la  vie,  moeurs,  actes,  doctrine,  Constance  et  mort  de  Jean  Cal- 
vin, jadis  ministre  de  Geneve,  imp.  a  Lyon,  in  8vo.,  par  Jean  Patrasson,  1577. — 
The  work  met  v^'ith  s^reat  success.  It  was  reprinted  the  same  year  by  Mallet, 
at  Paris,  (  Lelong.  Bib.  p.  78,  No.  1741  );  at  Cologne,,  in  1580..    It  was  trans- 

36* 


426  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIBT. 

book,  for  the  first  lime,  fell  into  our  hands,  we  cast  it  from  us  as  a 
shameful  libel^  after  we  had  glanced  over  the  first  chapters.  All  testi- 
mony was  against  Bolsec  :  Catholics  and  Protestants  equally  accused 
him.*  But,  after  a  patient  study  of  the  reformer,  we  are  now  com- 
pelled to  admit,  in  part,  the  recital  of  the  physician  of  Lyons.  Time 
has  declared  for  Bolsec  ;  each  day  gives  the  lie  to  the  apologists  of  Cal- 
vin.  Had  they  not,  up  to  this  day,  denied  the  existence  of  that  letter, 
in  which  the  reformer,  in  1545,  prophesied  the  fate  of  Servetus,  if  ever 
he  came  to  Geneva  ?  That  letter  has  been  found  again  :  Bolsec  had 
not  lied  about  it. 

Beza  has  vaunted  the  meekness  and  logic  of  his  friend,  in  the  tourna- 
ment with  the  pamphleteer  ;  and  three  centuries  later,  a  voice  is  heard 
exclaiming :  "  1  have  detected  the  wrongs  of  Calvin  :  Bolsec,  in  his 
theological  duel,  showed  himself  wise  and  enlightened."!  When  Bol- 
sec demands  theireformer  to  account  for  the  blood  af  Gruet,  Beza  pre- 
sents himself  to  accuse  the  writer  of  blasphemy  ;  and  to-day,  M.  Ga- 
liffe,  after  having  collected  the  documents  of  the  prosecution,  cries  out 
10  Calvin  :  "  It  is  thou  who  hast  killed  Gruet !"  and  he  says  the  truth. 
Bolsec  evokes,  one  by  one,  the  souls  of  those  patriots  whom  John  of 
Noyon  put  in  irons,  drove  into  exile,  or  hurried  to  the  tomb  ;  and  Be- 
za, to  every  name,  ever  repeals  the  same  formula:  "  a^  falsehood  !" 
But  M.  Galiffe,  in  his  turn,  also  awakes  those  shades,  by  shaking  that 
dust  in  which  they  are  slumbering  in  the  archives  of  the  republic  ;  and, 
like  Shakspeare's  ghosts,  they  throng  round  in  funeral  array,  and  each, 
in  passing,  howls  his  cry  of  reprobation  against  the  reformer.  Refuse, 
if  you  dare,  such  witnesses  !  Who  knows  ?  perhaps  at  length  will  be 
found  at  Noyon  that  fleur  de  lis,  the  stigmas  of  which  Bolsec  accused 
Calvin  of  carrying  on  his  shoulders.  J 

We  have  arrived  at  the  epoch  of  a  literary  resurrection  :  the  dead  are 
coming  to  life  again.  Drelincourt  and  Beza  had  chanted  the  sanctity 
of  all  those  pretended  evangelical  labourers,  whom  Calvin  had  invited 


I'ated  into  Latin,  at  Cologne,   in  1580,    and'  into   German,  in  the   sarae  city, 
in  1581. 

•Upon  his  copy,  Bunemann  had  written:  "Bolsec  et  Rescius  sunt  nobile 
par  calumniantium,  quorum  verbis  nemo,  nisi  nullius  fidei  homOj  fidem  adjun*- 
1461." — In  the  acts  of  the  national  Synod,  .held  at  Lyons,  in  tjie  month  of  Au- 
gust, 1563,  we  read:  "Jerome  Bolsec,  an  infamous  liar." — Aymon.  Syn. 
nationaux,  in  4to.,  t.  I,  part.  2,  p.  49 — Varillas  says  of  the  history  of  Calvin, 
that  it  is  written  in  an  extravagant  style,. 

tCalvin  a  Geneve,  219-220..  Picot  writes:  "The  too  absolute  charncter  of 
Calvin  manifested  itself  in  a  striking  manner  in  this  quarrel.  It  is  difficult  to 
brlieve  that  Calvin  well  understood  the  arguments  which  he  employed." — 
Histore  de  Geneve,  t.  II,  p.  18. 

!  For  the  examination  of  this  question,  which  we  have  not  the  courage  tO' 
agitate,,  consult:  1st.  Ombre  de  Rousseau  ^Calvin,  in  8vo,  printed  at  Gene- 
va.— 2(1.  Discours  sur  le  crime  contre  nature  et  Ih  fletrissure  reproches  a  Jean 
Calvin  par  Rolsselet  de  Sauclieres,  fils,  de  Nimes,  Montpellier,  1839;  a  pam- 
phlet of  107  p  vges,  in  which  the  writer  proves  that  the  accusation  had  been 
made  long  bef.)re  Bolsec:  by  Surius,  in  1558;  byTurbes,  under  Francis  I.  and 
Henry  II.;  by  Simon  Fontaine,  in  1557;  by  Stapleton,  in  1558;  byLaVacque- 
rie,  in  1560  or  6L;,  by  de  Mouchi,  in  1562;  by  Du.Preau,  ia  1560;  by  Whita-- 
ker„  before  1570.. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  427 

to  Geneva ;  but  a  Protestant  hand  has  shaken  the  manuscripts  of  the 
republic,  and  one  morning,  by  the  light  of  the  sun,  rising  behind  the 
Saleve,  we  read  these  lines  by  M.  Galiflfe  :  "  Several  of  the  reformer's 
colleagues  gave  grounds  for  certain  scandalous  histories,  the  details  of 
which  cannot  he  admitted  into  a  ivork  designed  for  the  perusal  of  both 
sexes :  I  shall  be  able  to  publish  some  of  them  in  Latin  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  hypocrites".* 

M.  Galitie  is  as  indiscreet  as  that  Lutheran  poet,  who,  speaking  of 
Wittenberg  in  the  first  days  of  the  reformation,  said  : 

'•  Whoever  passes  through  this  gate  is  sure  to  meet  a  hog,  a  student, 
or  a  prostitute. "t 

M.  Galiffe's  hypocrites  are  not  monks  of  Cologne,  but  beings,  knead- 
ed out  of  the  clay  of  Drelincourt,  who  devoutly  believe  the  story,  told 
by  Luther,  about  the  six  thousand  skulls  of  new-born  infants,  found, 
near  Rome,  in  the  pond  of  a  convent.  J 

Bolsec  himself  awakes,  after  a  sleep  of  three  centuries,  and  comes 
forth  from  his  tomb  to  listen  to  this  glorious  judgment  from  the  mouth 
of  an  adversary  : 

"  Most  of  the  facts,  recounted  by  the  physician  of  Lyons,  are  per- 
fectly true."§ 

*  Galiffe,  Notices,  t.  Ill,  p.  381,  note. 

fKomm  zu  Wittenberg  ins  Thor,  so  begegnet  dir  ein  Schwein,  Student  odcr 
Hare. 

:|:  Tisch-Reden,  p.  464....  Hiitte   in   demselbigen    Teiche    bei   sechstausend 
Kinderkopfe  gefunden. 
■    \  Galiffe,  t.  Ill,  p.  547,  note. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

MICHAEL     SERVETUS. 1553.* 


'Those  V ho  accuse  Calvin  of  having  been  cruel  and  sanguinary,  should  examine  them- 
selves, and  should  name  some  one  against  whom  this  holy  man  has  practised  cruelty,  and 
whose  blood  he  has  shed.— They  reproach  him  with  the  death  of  Michael  Servetus,  the 
Spaniard  of  cursed  memory  ;  but  this  is  with  great  injustice.  On  this  score,  not  a  word 
can  be  said  against  Calvin."— Drelincourt,  Defence  of  Calvin,  in  12mo.,  1667,  p. 
282-283. 


John  Frellon,  printer  at  Lyons,  forms  Calvin's  acquaintance. — Servetus,  at 
Hagenau,  writes  against  the  Trinity. — His  erratic  life. — He  arrives  at  Lyons, 
and  attaches  himself  to  Frellon. — Leaves  Lyons,  and  establishes  himself  at 
Charlieu. — Afterwards  at  Vienne. — Peter  Palmier  protects  Servetus. — The 
Ptolemy. — The  Bible  annotated. — Frellon  brings  Servetus  into  relation  with 
Calvin. —Questions  of  Servetus  to  Calvin. — Disagreement. — Correspond- 
ence.— The  Christianismi  Rtstitutio. — Some  quotations  from  this  work. — '• 
Calvin  denounces  the  book  to  the  police  of  Lyons. — Fruitless  pursuit  of  the 
official  of  Vienne. — Calvin's  denunciation. — Arrest  of  Servetus. — His  flight. 
— He  arrives  at  Geneva,  is  denounced,  and  imprisoned. — His  request  to  the 
council. — Interrogatory. — Calvin's  insults. — Prosecution  and  death  of  Ser- 
vetus. 

In  the  year  1540,  at  the  sign  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  Cologne,  in  the 
street  Merciere,  at  Lyons,  there  dwelt  one  Jehan  Frellon,  printer  and 
bookseller. t  This  was  the  worthy  counterpart  of  Froben,  the  book- 
publisher  of  Bale,  who,  in  the  morning,  corrected  a  proof  of  (Ecolam- 
padius,  and  in  the  evening  put  to  press  a  manuscript  of  Erasmus. 

Calvin,  on  his  return  from  Ferrara,  had  passed  by  way  of  Lyons, 
and  bought  some  new  works  from  Frellon.  The  street  Merciere,  was 
then,  as  in  our  days,  a  long,  narrow,  crooked  street,  damp  and  gloomy, 

*  L'abbe  d'Artigny,  Nouveaux  m^moires  d'histoiro,  de  critique  et  de  littera^ 
ture,  Paris,  1749,  t.  II,  p.  55. — Henri  ab  AllwcErden,  Vita  Michaelis  Serveti, 
Helmstadii,  1728,  in  4to.— Johann  Lorenz  von  Mosheim,  Geschichte  des  be- 
rtthmten  spanischen  Arztes  Michael  Serveto.     Helmstadt,  1748. 

t  John  Frellon  for  a  long  time  had  his  brother  as  partner.  Father  C^lonia, 
in  the  literary  history  of  the  city  of  Lyons,  says,  that  both  of  them  "were  at- 
tached to  the  Catholic  religion."  But  Jehan  had  an  inclination  for  the  new 
notions,  as  may  be  inferred  from  his  connection  with  Calvin;  this  is  Mo- 
sheim's  opinion :  Allein  unter  der  Hand  wax  er  Reformitt  gesinnet  und;  Kal- 
vins  starker  Freuad,  p.  37. 


LIFE    Of    JOHN    CALVIN.  429 

overhung  on  either  side  by  tall  houses,  which  shut  out  the  sunlight  from, 
those  who  frequented  it  as  purchasers.  At  the  farther  end  of  the  store^ 
in  which  new  pamphlets  were  spread  out  upon  two  large  oaken  coun^ 
ters,  there  was  a  chamber  which  was  made  to  serve  alike  for  eating- 
room,  parlor,  and  work  cabinet.  There  it  was  that  Frellon  kept  all 
suspected  books,  which  he  procured,  for  strangers,  from  Germany  or 
Switzerland.  He  would  have  taken  great  care  not  to  sell  any  of  them 
to  his  fellow  citizens,  so  much  dread  had  he  of  cardinal  de  Tournon,  arch- 
bishop and  governor  of  Lyons,  and  especially  of  Mathew  Ory,  "peni- 
tentiary of  the  Apostolic  See,  and  general  inquisitor  of  the  kingdom  of 
France  and  all  Gaul."  It  appears  that  Calvin  was  deceived  in  regard 
to  the  bookseller,  and  mistook  for  religious  zeal,  tendencies  that  were- 
purely  mercantile. 

Calvin,  at  Paris,  forgot  Frellon.  But  on  returning  to  Geneva,  after 
his  exile,  an  epistolary  correspondence  was  established  between  the 
minister  and  the  merchant.  Calvin  sent  to  Frellon  heretical  books, 
which,  secretly,  Frellon  sold  for  high  prices ;  and  for  which,  most  of  the 
time,  he  either  paid  the  reformer  nothing  or  very  little  :  both  were  look- 
ing to  the  interests  of  their  profession. 

At  this  epoch,  Frellon  was  often  visited  by  a  stranger,  who  was  born 
at  Tudelle,  in  the  kingdom  of  Aragon,  and  was  about  forty  years  of 
age ;  a  veritable  literato  of  the  mediceval  ages,  quite  crammed  with 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew;  a  physician,  theologian,  and  alchymist : 
Michel  de  ViUerieufve.  This  was  not  his  real  name  ;  when  they  were 
alone,  Frellon  called  him,  master  Michael  Servetus.  But  it  is  proba- 
ble that  he  was  ignorant,  that  ^^his  friend  was  the  author  of  a  book  pub- 
lished at  Hagenau,  in  1531,  under  the  title  :  De  Trinitaiis  errorihus  ;^ 
for  Frellon,  the  merchant,  would  not,  in  open  daylight,  have  received  a 
heretic,  who,  had  he  been  known,  would  have  been  imprisoned  by  the 
inquisition.  This  pamphlet  is  the  work  of  a  sectary  who  had  lost  his 
senses,  in  which  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity  is  brutally  attacked,  and 
treated  as  a  papistical  vision,  a  mythological  chimera,  a  metaphysical 
ideality. 

At  Hagenau,  the  bookseller,  the  poet,  and  the  author  had  been  em- 
barrassed by  their  fears.      The   work,   printed  in  a  hurry,  was  full  of 

*  Here  is  the  complete  title :  De  Trinitatis  erroribus  libri  septem.  Per 
Michaelem  Servetum,  alias  Reves  ab  Arragonia  Hispanuni.  Anno  MDXXXI, 
in-8,  119  sheets.  There  is  no  name,  either  of  city  or  printer:  it  is  a  work  ex- 
tremely rare. 

In  the  fifth  book  are  found  different  passages  which  prove  that  Servetus  had 
divined  the  circulation  of  the  blood.     We  shall  cite  two  of  these. 

Fit  autem  communicatio  haec  non  per  parietem  cordis  medium,  lit  vulgo 
creditur,  sed  magno  artificio  a  dextro  cordis  ventriculo;  longo  per  pulmones 
ductu,  agitatur  sanguis  subtilis.  A  pulnionibus  prseparatur,  flavus  efficitur, 
et  a  vena  arteriosa  in  arteriam  venosam  transfunditur:  deinde  in  ipsa  arteria 
venosa  inspirato  aeri  miscetur  et  exspiratione  a  fuligne  expurgatur.  Atque 
ita  tandem  a  sinistro  cordis  ventriculo  totum  mixtum  per  diastolen  attrahitur, 
apta  supellex  ut  fiat  spiritus  vitalis. 

lUe  itaque  spiritus  vitalis  a  sinistro  cordis  ventriculo,  in  arterias  totius  cor- 
poris deinde  transfunditur,  ita  ut  qui  tenuior  est  prsecipue  in  plexu  sub  basi 
cerebri  sito,  ubi  ex  vitali  fieri  incipit  animalis,  ad  propriam  rationalis  animse 
rationem  accedit. 


430 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIIT. 


faults.  Do  you  imagine  that  Michael  Servetus,  admonished  by  the  ery 
of  indignation  which  the  perusal  of  his  book  awakens,  is  going  to  re- 
pent ?  You  are  mistaken.  In  his  advertisement  of  his  dialogues  on 
ilie  Tiinity,* — another  libel,  which,  the  year  following,  he  published 
in  the  same  city, — he  asks  indulgence,  not  for  the  blasphemies  which 
he  has  spread  through  the  De  Trinitatis  error ibus,  but  for  the  faults 
which  the  ignorance  of  his  proof-reviser  allowed  to  remain  uncorrected. 
He  weeps  over  the  barbarisms  of  his  style,t  but  has  not  the  least  chagrin 
on  account  of  his  bold  impieties. 

Germany,  which,  since  the  advent  of  Luther,  seized  upon  every  hu- 
man teaching,  in  order  to  quiet  the  doubt  which  devoured  it,  recoiled, 
alarmed  at  the  audacity  of  Servetus.  Melancthon  was  afflicted  with 
sadness,  and  v/rote  to  the  senate  of  Venice  to  denounce  the  follies  which 
sullied  the  book  of  the  sectary. J 

Then,  for  the  Spaniard,  commences  a  lifie  of  torments,  struggles,  and 
despair.  At  Bale,  he  disputes  with  (Ecolampadius,  and  leaves  that 
city,  exulting  in  his  triumph,  and  begging  his  bread  upon  the  highway. 
Arrived  at  Strasbourg,  his  teeth  chattering  with  cold,  and  not  having 
eaten  any  thing  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  his  most  pressing  business 
is  to  hurl  defiance  at  Bucer  and  Capito.§  The  challenge  is  accepted. 
They  discuss  the  Trinity,  the  consubstantiality  of  the  word,  which 
Servetus  boldly  denies,  without  dread  of  the  magistrate.  Bucer,  who  had 
heard  Munzer  and  Carlstadt,  is  shocked  at  the  language  of  the  stranger, 
and  in  place  of  replying  to  him,  he  curses  him,  devotes  him  to  the  tor- 
ments of  futurity,  to  the  vengeance  of  the  judges  of  this  world,  and  de- 
clares that  he  will  never  dispute  with  a  demon  disguised  in  human  form, 
and  whose  bowels  ought  to  be  torn  out  by  the  executioner.  1| 

The  next  morning,  Michael,  quite  proud  of  having  excited  such  a 
tempest  of  wrath,  and  regardless  of  body  and  soul,  journeyed  towards 
Paris.  On  the  way,  the  idea  seized  him  of  renouncing  theology,  in 
order  to  practice  medicine,  and  some  days  after,  he  was  studying  under 
Sylvius  and  Fernel,  the  two  celebrities  of  the  epoch.  When  he  had 
acquired  a  sufficiency  of  science,  he  took  it  into  his  head  to  make  a 
noise,  and  wanted  to  dispute  with  the  faculty.  The  combat  was  pro- 
tracted, and  ink  flowed  in  floods Seivetus   must   have  a  great 

victim  :  he  selected  Galien.  The  quarrel  grew  so  fierce,  that  the  par- 
liament had  to  interfere,  and  give  orders  to  the  physicians  to  live  in 
peace  with  the  Spaniard. IF 

*  Dialogorurn  de  Trinitatc  libri  duo,  de  justitia  roacni  Christi  capitula  qua- 
tuor,  per  Michaelem  iServeto,  alias  Reves,  ab  Arragonia  Hispanum.  MDXXXII, 
in-8. 

t  Quod  autcm  ita  barbarus,  confusus  et  incorrectus  prior  liber  prodierit,  im- 
peritiee  ineee  actypographi  adsciibendum  est. 

if  Melanchihonis  Epistolee,  1539. 

^  D'Artigny,  p.  60. 

ll  All  the  liistorians  speak  of  a  dispute  with  Capito:  we  do  not  comprehend 
this.  Capito  was  an  Anti-trinitarian  himself,  as  is  proved  by  Sandius,  inhis 
Bibliotheca  antUrinitariorum.  Freistadii,  1684,  in-8vo. 

ITServetus  published  at  Paris :  Syruporum  universa  ratio  ad  Gnleni  censuram 
dilio-onter  exposita:  cui  postintsgrani  de  concoctiouc  disceptationem,  prtescrip- 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  431 

Servetus  then  turned  professor  of  astrology.  Students  flocked  to  hear 
him  in  crowds.  He  foretold  the  future.  One  day,  he  announced  to 
his  auditory  that,  on  the  following  night,  Mars  would  be  eclipsed  by 
the  moon,  and  that  this  occultation  indicated  a  general  conflagration, 
the  death  of  potentates,  the  ruin  of  the  church,  pests,  and  other  things, 
*'etali(S.'"  The  faculty  of  medicine,  through  the  ministry  of  M. 
Seguier,  had  Servetus  summoned,  and  injunction  was  laid  on  the  astrol- 
oger, as  "on  all  those  who  meddle  with  making  almanacs,  not  to  speak 
and  write  de  eventibus  rerum  exlernarum,  who  ought  to  be  satisfied  with 
writing  and  speaking  only  de  ordine  rerum  iiaturalium* 

Disgusted  with  medicine,  and  still  more  with  physicians,  Servetus 
threw  himself,  body  and  soul,  into  the  geographical  sciences,  which 
they  were  then  beginning  to  cultivate.  Bilibald  Pirkheymer,  that  dia- 
mond of  Germany,  according  to  Periander,  gemma  soli  teutonici,  had 
quite  recently  (1525)  published  a  Latin  edition  of  Ptolemy.  It  is  this 
work  that  Servetus  revises,  elucidates,  arranges,  and  desires  to  present 
to  the  Parisian  world  :  but,  among  the  publishers  of  the  capital,  he  does 
not  find  conditions  sufficiently  advantageous,  and  negociates  with  a 
printer  of  Lyons,  where  his  Ptolemy  appears  in  1535. 

His  wanderings  recommence.  This  man,  whom  doubt  harrasscs, 
finds  rest  nowhere.  On  his  way  to  Lyons,  his  star  guides  him  to  the  house 
of  John  Frellon,  who,  finding  the  stranger  a  man  of  science,  attaches 
him  to  his  printing  office,  in  quality  of  proof  corrector.  It  would  have 
been  a  lucky  thing  for  Frellon,  had  Michael  Servetus,  who  knew 
every  thing,  even  to  the  cabalistic  art  itself,  loved  repose  and  quiet. 
But  his  erratic  fancy  struck  her  tent  almost  as  soon  as  it  was  erected ; 
ever  dissatisfied  with  God,  with  men,  and  with  herself,  being  like  that 
Athelsian  of  the  German  poet,  who  is  seeking  for  happiness  in  the 
clouds,  Avhen  it  would  have  been  so  easy  for  him  to  find  it  in  his  own 
heart. 

After  a  few  days  sojourn  at  Lyons,  Servetus  embraces  his  friend  Frel- 
lon, embarks  on  the  Rhone,  and  lands  at  Avignon,  the  city  of  the  popes. 
Soon  again  his  vagabond  whim  seizes  him  :  he  returns  to  Lyons,  and 
there,  like  the  swallow,  remains  one  whole  summer;  and,  the  winter 
having  arrived,  he  goes  to  build  his  nest  at  Charlieu,  a  little  city  adja- 
cent, where  he  resumes  the  practice  of  medicine. 

In  this  little  town,  which,  like  Tud&lle,  his  own  Aragonese  city,  was 
crowned  with  mountains,  verdant  in  spring,  and  cool  during  summer, 
it  would  seem  that  he  was  happy.       Bolsec  has  written  :   "This  Serve- 

ta  est  vera  purgandi  methodus  cum  expositione-  apliorismi:  concocta  medicari. 
in-8, 1537.     Reprinted  at  Venice  in  J  545,  at  Lyons  in  1546. 

*  Seguier,  for  the  rector  and  University  of  Paris,  and  the  dean  and  faculty  of 
medicine  in  said  city. — Lc'febure,  for  the  dean  and  rectors  in  the  faculty  of 
medicine.— Marlhac,  for  Villanovanus. — The  decree  runs:  Prohibition  and 
defense  to  all  printers  to  print  an  almanac  and  prognostications  forbidden  by  the 
divine  and  canonical  constitution,  and  the  said  court  has  ordained,  and  does 
ordain,  that  all  the  ephemerides  and  prognostications  of  this  year  shall  be 
taken  and  seized,  wheresoever  they  shall  be  found,  and  shall  be  brought  to  the 
clerk  of  said  court.  Done  this  8th  of  March,  1538,  Cited  by  Boulay :  Historia 
academiaB  Parisiensis,  t.  VII,  p.  321 ;  contra  astrologiam  judiciariam. 


432  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

tus,  who  was  atrogant  and  insolent,  as  those  certify  who  knew  him 
at  Charlieu,  dwelt  there  near  Rivoire,  about  the  year  1540;  being 
forced  to  leave  there  on  account  of  his  extravagances,  he  withdrew  to 
Vienne  in  Dauphiny."*  What  extravagances  ?  Bolsec  does  not  in- 
form us.  Perhaps  Servetus  was  merely  obeying  that  impetuous  passion 
for  moving,  which  drove  him  hither  and  thither,  like  another  wandering 
Jew,  Since  he  had  abandoned  truth,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  keep 
marching  ;   this  was  his  chastisement. 

It  was  at  Lyons,  and  not  at  Vienne,  that  the  unhappy  man  sought 
refuge.  As  he  was  entering  that  city,  his  eyes  were  attracted  by  a 
figure  in  violet  robes  :  he  once  more  beheld  Peter  Palmier,  archbishop 
of  Vienne,  whom  he  had  known  at  Paris  :  a  noble  prelate,  who  was 
fond  of  patronizing  the  votaries  of  learning,  and  whose  purse  had  so 
frequently  been  opened  to  Michael  de  Villeneufve,  as  Servetus  called 
himself.  Henceforward,  Michael  had  an  assurance  of  repose  for  his 
declining  years  ;   the  prelate  gave  him  lodgings  in  his  palace  at  Vienne. 

Blessings  never  come  singly.  Beside  the  archiepiscopal  palace, 
stands  the  printing  office  of  Gaspard  Treschsel,  who  had  been  attracted 
to  Vienne  by  the  liberal  patronage  of  Peter  Palmier.  This  establish- 
ment, managed  by  a  skillful  man,  is  rich  in  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Ro- 
man characters.  What  more  could  be  desired  by  the  Spanish  pilgrim? 
While  speaking  with  the  prelate,  he  dreams  of  a  second  edition  of  his 
Ptolemy,  long  since  exhausted,  and  which  he  will  dedicate  to  his 
Mecenas.  Already  he  even  arranges  in  his  brain  a  fine  Latin  epistle, 
in  which  shall  be  read  : — "  Princes,  who  command  the  world,  must  be 
acquainted  with  the  world;" — an  allusion  to  Francis  L,  who  so  gene- 
rously  opened  an  asylum  to  the  muses.  "  And  this  knowledge  is  useful 
to  those,  who  like  you,  have,  in  quality  of  ambassador,  visited  the 
■different  states  of  Christendom." — A  beautiful  eulogy,  which  the  man  of 
learning  addresses  to  the  prince  of  the  church. f 

The  very  morning  after  their  interview,  Servetus  takes  passage  on 
the  barge  of  Vienne,  a  miserable  bark,  which,  in  those  distant  times, 
as  in  our  days,  plied  daily  between  the  two  cities.  Servetus,  in  the 
spirit  of  a  Roman  poet  saluted  the  hospitable  city,  whither  he  was 
going  to  find  such  sweet  leizure,  such  warm  friends,  and  such  ardent 
sympathies.  At  Vienne,  and  at  Lyons,  he  had  soon  won  all  hearts; 
for,  a  man  of  the  world,  he  knew   how  to  please  and  to  gain  affection. 

But  soon  the  demon  of  vanity  came  to  visit  him  in  his  new  country. 
Servetus  could  not  resist  the  temptations  of  his  enemy.  He  neglected 
his  patients,  in  order  to  attend  to  that  dogma  of  the  Trinity  which  he 
was  solicitous  to  overthrow.  His  Ptolemy  had  made  its  appearance, 
with  the  dedication  to  the  archbishop,    and  had  won  for  him  abundant 

•  Vie  de  Calvin,  p.  9.  Ed.  de  1664. 

t  The  Ptolemy  met  with  great  success  in  the  learned  world.  But  the  friends 
of  Servetus  never  forgave  him  for  an  adulatory  correction  of  a  text  of  the 
first  edition.  In  his  description  of  France,  speaking  of  the  gift  possessed  by 
the  king  to  cure  the  king's  evil  by  a  simple  touch,  he  had  at  first  said :  "I 
have  seen  the  king  touch  a  great  number  of  sick.  Were  they  cured?  This 
is  what  I  have  not  seen."  The  reflection  savoured  of  Rabelais.  Servetus, 
in  his  revision,  wrote :  "Have  ihey  been  cured?     I  have  be-en  told,  yes." 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  433 

eulogies.  But  he  wanted  noisy  honours ;  the  laurels  of  Calvin  would 
not  permit  him  to  sleep.  Therefore,  to  work  !  the  work  of  an  annota- 
tor.  Hugues  de  La  Porte,  another  publisher  of  Lyons,  was  then  pre- 
paring a  Latin  Bible,  for  which  Servetus  undertook  to  write  notes.  For 
his  labour,  La  Porte  gave  him  five  hundred  francs.  The  Bible  appear- 
ed, says  Calvin,  with  ''impertinent"  marginal  notes.*  Servetus  was  a 
rationalist,  who  rejected  the  prophetic  sense  of  the  holy  books. 

He  had  known  Calvin  at  Paris.  Both  had  agreed  to  enter  into  a  dis- 
putation on  theological  subjects;  the  judges  of  the  tournament  were 
selected.  If  we  are  to  credit  Beza,  the  Spaniard's  courage  suddenly 
gave  way,  and  he  dared  not  come  to  the  rendezvous.  Beza  affirms, 
that  he  failed  through  cowardice  ;t  Servetus,  from  dread  of  the  lieuten- 
ant :  the  excuse  is  sufficiently  good.  Calvin  did  not  spare  him,  whom 
he  termed  a  '-'paltry  disputer."  Servetus  had,  since  then,  read  the 
Christian  Institutes,  "a  badly  composed  book,"  he  said,  "witliout  origi- 
nality, unworthy  of  the  noise  it  has  made  in  the  world;"  and  he  longed 
to  measure  himself  with  the  author. 

Chance  came  to  furnish  him  the  opportunity.  Frellon  brought  him 
into  relation  with  the  reformer.  At  first,  Servetus  proposed  certain  doubts 
to  the  Genevese  minister,  in  the  form  of  questions  : — Is  the  man,  Jesus, 
who  was  crucified,  the  Son  of  God,  and  what  is  the  reason  of  this  filia- 
tion ? — If  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  (the  church)  be  established  on 
earth,  how  does  a  person  enter  it,  and  how  is  man  regenerated  ? — Must 
the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  be  received  by  faith,  like  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  why  these  institutions  in  the  new  alliance  ?  J 

Servetus  was  playing  the  part  of  the  tempter ;  but  Calvin  had  divined 
the  ruse.  He  responded  with  a  self-importance  which  displeased  the 
physician.  Servetus,  in  his  reply,  assumed  the  tone  of  a  master.  Cal- 
vin no  longer  restrained  himself,  but  treated  his  correspondent  as  a 
mere  pupil.  From  that  moment,  their  epistolary  correspondence  was 
but  an  interchange  of  insults,  after  the  fashion  of  the  literati  of  the 
epoch.  The  reformer  did  not  disguise  his  hatred  of  Servetus.  **  If 
ever  he  come  to  Geneva,  he  shall  not  go  thence  alive,"  did  he  write  to 
Viret;  "this  is  my  fixed  resolution. "§  Servetus  was  not  so  wicked. 
He  amused  himself  with  joyous  heart  over  the  system  of  predestination 

•  Traites  theologiques,  p.  826.     Getneve  1576, 
t  Histoiredes  Eglises  reformees  de  France,  t.  I  p.  14. 

:}:  1.  An  homo  Jesus  crucifixus  sit  filius  Dei,  et  quae  sit  hujus  filiationis 
ratio  1 

II.  An  regnum  Christi  sit  in  liominibus;  quando  quis  ingrediatur  et  quan« 
do  regeneretur? 

III.  An  baptisma  Christi  debeat  in  fide  fieri,  sicut  coena,  et  quorsum  htee 
instituta  sint  foedere  novo? 

^  Servetus  cupit  hue  venire,  sed  a  me  accersitus.  Ego  autem  nunquam 
committam  ut  fidem  meam  eatenus  obstrictam  habeat.  Jam  enim  constitutum 
spud  me  habeo,  si  veniat,  nunquam  pati  ut  salvus  exeat.  Bolsec  adds:  The 
letter  of  said  Calvin  has  come  into  my  hands,  and  I  have  exhibited  it  to  several 
honourable  persons,  and  I  know  where  it  is  still.  We  shall  speak  of  another 
letter   to   Farel. 

Bolsec  had  seen  that  addressed  to  Viret,  and  the  superscription  of  which 
was  :  Eximio  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi  servo  Petro  Vireto,  Lausann.  Eccl»- 
siae  pastori,  symmystse  charissimo, 

37 


434  LIF*    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

and  the  logic  of  the  Christian  Institutes,  and  \eiUghediA  the  free  necessity^ 
invented  at  Geneva,  in  order  to  explain  the  sin  of  the  first  man  ;  but  he 
would  not  have  touched  a  single  hair  of  Calvin's  head.  He  is  a  man  of 
bad  judgment,  but  good  heart-  To-morrow,  if  hs  meet  the  reformer,  h© 
will  shake  hands  with  him.  What  proves  how  little  gall  there  was  in 
this  soul,  is,  that  he  was  unable  to  comprehend  that  Calvin  had  given 
over  writing  to  him.  He  complains  of  the  reformer's  silence.  Frellon 
asks  an  explanation  of  Calvin,   whose  answer    was  not  long  delayed- 

*'  Seignior  Jehan,  as  your  last  letters  were  brought  to  me  at  the  mo- 
"  ment  of  my  departure,  I  had  not  leisure  to  reply  to  their  contents, 
"  Since  my  return,  I  avail  myself  of  the  first  leisure  I  have,  to  satisfy 
"  your  desires ;  not  that  1  have  great  hope  to  benefit  sach  a  man  in  the 
"  least,  perceiving  what  are  his  dispositions ;  but  to  essay  if  there  shall 
"  be  any  means  to  reclaim  him,  which  will  happen  only,  when  God 
"  has  so  operated  in  him,  that  he  becomes  another  man.  Because  he 
"  wrote  to  me  in  so  proud  a  spirit,  I  wished  somewhat  to  abate  his 
"  pride,  speaking  to  him  more  harshly  than  is  my  custom.  But  I 
"  could  not  do  otherwise.  For  I  assure  you  that  there  is  no  lesson  for 
"  him  more  necessary  than  to  learn  humility.  This  will  come  to  him 
"  from  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  not  otherwise.  But  we  also  should  lend 
"  a  helping  hand.  If  God  accord  this  favour  to  him,  and  to  us,  that 
"  the  present  answer  should  benefit  him,  I  shall  have  occasion  to  re- 
"  joice.  If  he  persevere  in  a  style  such  as  he  has  used  hitherto,  you  lose 
"  time  in  urging  me  to  exert  myself  for  him,  for  I  have  other  duties, 
"  which  are  more  pressing.  And  I  should  make  it  a  matter  of  con- 
"  science  to  attend  to  them,  persuaded  that  lie  is  but  a  satan,  coming  to 
"'  distract  me  from  other  more  useful  reading.  And  yet,  I  pray  you,  be 
''contented  with  what  I  have  done;  if  you  behold  no  improvement, 
"  Whereupon,  after  hfiving,  with  sincere  heart,  recommended  myself  to 
"  you,  I  beseech  our  good  God  to  keep  you  under  his  protection.  This 
"  Xlll.  February,  1546.  Your  servant  and  devoted  friend,  Charles 
"  Despeville." 

The  address  is  :  "  To  sir  Jehan  Frellon,  bookseller,  residing  at  Ly- 
ons, in  the  street  Merciere,  at  the  sign  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  Cologne." 

John  Frellon  immediately  sent  Calvin's  answer  "to  his  brother  and 
friend,  master  Michael  Villanovanus,  doctor  of  medicine  at  Vienne," 
with  the  following  letter  ; 

<«  Dear  brother  and  friend,  the  reason  why  a  response  has  not  sooner 
"  been  sent  to  your  letter,  you  will  discover  from  the  enclosed,  and  bo 
"  assured  had  it  been  sooner  received,  I  should  not  have  failed  to  send 
"  it  by  an  express  messenger,  as  I  had  promised.  You  may  be  certain 
"  that  1  wrote  to  said  person,  and  do  not  think  that  it  was  from  my  fail- 
"  ing  to  write  :  however,  I  think  you  will  now  be  as  well  contented  as 
"  if  it  were  sooner ;  I  send  you  my  man,  express,  in  default  of  having 
"  any  other  messenger ;  if  there  be  other  things  that  I  can  do  for  you^  you 
"  will  always  find  me  at  your  command,  and  ready  to  serve  you.  Your 
"  sincere  brother  and  friend,  Jehan  Frellon.''  And  on  the  envelope  ; 
*'  To  my  good  friend  and  brother,  Michael  Villanovanus,  doctor  of 
medicine,  be  this  present  delivered  at  Vienne." 

Servetus  prepared  his  revenge ;  a  large  octavo  volume  of  700  pages, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  435 

at  which  he  laboured  four  years,  and  in  which  the  Trinity  is  not  better 
used  than  the  reformer.*  At  Bale,  Marrin,  the  bookseller,  had  been 
seized  with  fear.  After  having  glanced  over  a  few  pages  of  it,  he  sent 
back  the  manuscript. 

Another  person  would  have  been  discouraged,  and  then  have  return- 
ed thanks  to  Providence.  Servetus  rushed  upon  death.  At  that  time, 
Vienne  was  a  commercial  and  literary  city.  In  it,  were  several  fine 
printing  establishments;  among  others,  that  of  Balthasard  ArnoUet, 
directed  by  his  brother-in-law,  William  Gueroult,  to  whom  Servetus 
brought  his  manuscript.  ArnoUet  and  Gueroult  perused  it.  It  treated 
of  theological  matters  which  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  comprehend. 
They  looked  at  the  author,  without  replying.  Servetus  interrupted  the 
silence  :  "  It  is  a  book,"  said  he  to  them,  "which  I  have  written  against 
Calvin  and  Melancthon,  but  to  which  I  do  not  want  to  put  either  my 
name,  or  that  of  the  city,  or  that  of  the  printer.  I  will  pay  expenses 
and  correct  the  proofs.  And,  besides  the  price  of  printing,  I  will  give 
a  hundred  dollars,  as  a  bonus."  Arnollet  and  Gueroult  allowed  them- 
selves to  be  taken  in  the  snare ;  and,  three  months  after,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  1553,  the  work  was  completed.  They  had  struck  off  eight 
hundred  copies,  of  which  Servetus  made  six  packages ;  five  with  this 
address  :  "  Let  the  present  bales  be  sent  by  direction  of  M.  Michael 
Villeneufve,  doctor  of  medicine,  to  Peter  Merrin,  type  founder,  near 
Notre  Dame  de  Comfort,  at  Lyons  ;"t  the  sixth,  to  M.  Jehan  Frellon, 
bookseller,  in  the  street  Merciere ;  who  was  to  forward  it  to  that  vast 
depot  of  the  sixteenth  century,  for  heretical  books,  Frankfort  on  the 
Mein.  Frellon,  curious,  opened  the  package  and  took  out  several 
copies,  which  he  hastened  to  transmit  to  Calvin.  This  indiscretion 
was  to  cost  Servetus  his  life. 

In  perusing  some  lines  of  the  thirty  letters  of  the  ninth  book  of  this 
work,  one  comprehends  the  wrath  of  Calvin.  Servetus  has  taken  Lu- 
ther for  his  model.  You  will  not  find  in  it  merely, — as  some  have  said, 
because  they  never  read  the  work, — irony,  sarcasm,  and  sometimes  gross 
peals  of  laughter ;   but  the  style  and   imagination  of  an  artist.    In  hia 

♦  Christianismi  restitutio,  totius  Ecclesiae  apostolicae  est  ad  sua  limina  yoci- 
tio,  in  integrum  restitutacognitione  Dei,  fidei  christianse,  justificationis  nostrae, 
regsnerationis,  baptismi  et  Gcense  Domini  manducationis,  restitute  denique 
nobis  regno  coelesti,  Babylonis  impiae  captivitate  soluta,  et  antichristo  cum 
fiuis  penitus  destructo. 

This  worlc  is  divided  into  six  parts  : 

I.  De  Trinitate  divina,  quod  in  ea  non  sit  invisibilium  trium  rerum  illusio, 
sed  verse  substantias  Dei  manifestatio  et  communicatio,  libri  7.  The  two  last 
in  form  of  dialogue. 

II.  De  fide  et  justitia  regni  Christi  legis  justitiam  superantis  et  de  charitate; 
libri  3. 

III.  De  r€generatione  et  manducatione  superna  et  regno  antichrist!,  libri  4. 

IV.  Epistola  XXX  ad  Joannem  Calvinum  Gebennensium  concionatorem. 

V.  Signa  LX  regni  antiehristi  et  revelatio  ejus  jam  nunc  praesens. 

VI.  De  mysterio  Trinitatis  et  veterum  Disciplina,  ad  Phil.'  Melanchthonein 
et  ejus  coUegas  apologia. 

The  volume  forms  734 'pages  in  8vo. 

t  Interrogatory  of  Peter  Merrin,  extracted  from  the  archives  of  the  bishopric 
4»f  Vienne,    D'Artigny,  p.  117.  . 


436  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN, 

thirty  epistles,  he  has  condensed,  in  a  few  pages,  the  i»ost  graphic  refu- 
tation ever  made  of  the  Calvinistic  fatalism.  And  at  the  conclusion 
of  his  reasoning,  he  throws  into  his  adversary's  face,  this  contemptuous 
phrase : 

*'  Yes,  in  Cain  and  the  giants,  who  were  animated  by  a  divine  breath, 
there  remained  a  potent  liberty,  capable  of  mastering  sin,  therefore  it 
is  in  thee,  unless  I  be  speaking  to  a  mere  stone  or  block  of  wood."* 

In  the  twentieth  letter,  Servetus  confronts  the  scripture  and  tha 
church,  and  defends  authority  against  the  mere  letter,  as  Prierias,  mas- 
ter of  the  sacred  palace,  would  never  have  dared  defend  it.f 

Sometimes,  as  we  have  seen,  he  takes  his  inspiration  from  Luther,, 
and  treats  Calvin  as  the  Saxon  monk  did  Tetzel ;  but  Calvin  was  a 
more  wily  foe  than  the  Dominican. 

The  Genevese  fox  had  been  long  watching  his  prey :  it  came  to 
throw  itself  into  his  clutches. 

Among  the  French  refugees  who  were  at  Geneva,  was  a  man  named 
Trie,  who,  bavins:  been  guilty  of  some  misdeeds  at  Lyons,  liad  fled  tO' 
escape  the  consular  justice.  Trie  had  given  himself  out  for  an  evan- 
gelist, concealing  himself  from  the  persecution  of  the  Catholics,  and 
had  obtained  some  aid  from  the  reformer.  This  refugee  had  a  cousin 
at  Lyons,  a  merchant,  and  a  good  Catholic,  Anthony  Arneys,  who  wish- 
ed, at  every  cost,  to  win  back  the  strayed  soul  to  the  bosom  of  the 
church.  There  was  an  active  correspondence  between  the  two  cousins. 
Trie  exhibited  the  letters  of  Arneys  to  Calvin,.  \sh&  dictated  the-  an- 
swers. It  is  Trie,  who  is  to  denounce  Servetas.  The  ruse  is  admira- 
ble. Not  a  line  of  the  letter  of  the  poor  merchant  should  be  lost ;  he 
speaks  theology  like  one  who  has  devoted  his  whole  life  to  the  study 
of  it.t 

"  Monsieur,  my  cousin,  I  thank  you  greatly  for  so  many  beautiful 
remonstrances  which  you  have  made  me,  and  doubt  not  that  you  are- 
actuated  by  sincere  friendship,  when  you  try  to  bring  me  back  to  the 
place  I  have  left.  Though  1  am  not,  like  you,  a  man  versed  in  letters, 
I  undertake  to  satisfy  you  regarding  the  poiuts  anid  articles  which  yoii 
allege.  So  much  is  there  in  the  knowledge  which  God  has  given  me, 
that  I  have  plenty  to  reply ;  for,  God  be  thanked,  I  am  not  so  poorly 
grounded,  but  that  I  know  that  the  church  has  Jesus  Christ  for  Ijer 
head,  from  whom  she  cannot  be  separated,  and  that  she  has  no  life  of 
salvation,  and  cannot  at  all  subsist,  except  in  the  truth  of  God,  which 
is  contained  in  the  holy  scriptures.  Wherefore,  I  shall  hold  all  you^ 
shall  be  able  to  allege  to  me  concerning  the  church  as  a  phantom,  if 
Jesus  Christ  do  not  preside  therein,  as  having  aiithority,  and  the  word  of 
God  does  not  reign  in  it,  as  the  substantial  foundation;  without  this,  all 
your  formalities  are  worth  rwthing.     1  beg  you  to  reffect,  that  the  liberty 

*  In  ipso  Cain  neqiiissimo  et  in  gig^antihus  ex  insito  et  ab  origine  inspirato 
deitatis  halitu,  supererat  libera  vis  aliqua  et  dominium  in  peccatum,  teste  Deo, 
Ergo,  in  te  quoque  superest,  nisi  sis  tu  sarum  et  truncus.  p.  638. 

t  De  Ecclesia  potestate.  Ejus  potestas  quamvis  ooeultetur,  supra  omnes 
mundi  poteslates,  adeo  ut  angeli  et  dcemones  ei  pareant.  p.  652. 

^  D'Artigny  has  discovered  tbe  corresp>o.ndence  in  the  archives  of  thft  axohr- 
bishopric  of  Vienne. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  437 

!  use  towards  you,  is  not  only  to  sustain  ray  cause,  but  also  to  give  you 
occasion  to  think  better  within  yourself.     But,  to  be  brief,  I  am  aston- 
ished how  you  dare   reproach   me,    among  other  things,  that  we  have 
neither  ecclesiastical  discipline  nor  order,    and  that  those  who  teach  us 
have  introduced  a  licentiousness  which   causes  general  confusion  :  yet, 
God  be  thanked,  I  perceive  that  vices   are    better  corrected  here,  than 
ihey  are  under  the  rule  of  all   your   officials.     And  as  to  doctrine  and 
the  concerns  of  religion,  though   among   us   there    be  greater  liberty, 
nevertheless,  they  do  not  suflfer  the  name  of  God  to  be  blasphemed,  nor 
bad  doctrines  and  opinions  to  be  spread  abroad,  without  endeavouring 
to  repress  them.     And  I  can  adduce  an  example  to  your  great  confusion, 
since  I  must  say  so.     It  is,  that  with  you,  a  heretic  is  maintained  who 
well  deserves  to  be  burned,   wherever   be   shall   be   found.     When  I 
speak  to  you   of  a  heretic,  I  mean  a  man   who  will  be  condemned  by 
the  papists  as  much  as  by  us,  or  at  least  who  ought  to  be.    For,  although 
we  be  different  in   many   things,   yet  hold   we  in  common,  that  there 
is  only  one  essence  in  God,  that  there   are  three  persons,  and  that  the 
Father  has  begotten  his  Son,  who,    before   all   time  is  his  eternal  wis- 
dom, and  that  he  has  had   his   eternal  virtue,   w^ho  is  his  Holy  Spirit. 
Now,  when  a  man  shall   say,   that  the    Trinity,   which  we  hold,  is  a 
cerberus  and  monster  of  hell,  and   shall  vomit  forth  all  the  villainies, 
which  it  is  possible  to  imagine,  against   every   thing  that  the  scripture 
teaches  us  concerning  the  eternal  generation  of  the   Son  of  God,  and 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  virtue  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  shall 
scoff,  with  beastly  mouth,  at  every  thing   the  ancient  doctors  have  said, 
I  pray  you  in  what  place  and   esteem   will   you  hold  him  ?     I  say  this 
to  obviate  all  the  replies  you  might  make  me,  that  you  would  not  re- 
gard as  error  every  thing  we  say  is  such  :     what  I  tell  you,  you  not  only 
confess  to  be  error,  but  detestable  heresy,    tending  to  subvert  all  Chris- 
tianity.    I  must  speak  frankly.     What   a   shame  is  it  that  they  put  to 
death,  those  who  shall  say  that  we  are  to  invoke  one  only  God,  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ;  that  there  is  no  other  satisfaction,  save  that  which 
was  made  in  the  death  and   passion   of  Jesus   Christ ;  that  there  is  no 
other  purgatory,  save  in  his  blood ;  that  there  is  no  other  service  agree- 
able to  God,  but  that  which  he  commands   and   approves  by  his  word ; 
that  all  pictures  and  images,  which  men  counterfeit,  are  so  many  idols 
that  profane  his  majesty;  that   the  sacraments  ought  to  be  kept  in  such 
use  as  has  been  ordained  by  Jesus  Christ ;  besides,  they  are  not  satisfied 
with  simply  putting  such  persons  to  death,  but  they  cruelly  burn  them  ? 
Yet,  behold  one  who  will  call  Jesus   Christ  an  idol ;  who  will  destroy 
all  the  foundations  of  faith  ;  who  will  scrape  together  all  the  dreams  of 
the  ancient  heretics ;   who,  even,   will   condemn  the   baptism  of  little 
infants,  calling  it  a  diabolical   invention;  such  a  person  will  have  full 
swing  with  you,  and  he  will  be   borne   with,  as  if  he  had  not  defeated 
your  zeal.     1  pray  you,  where  is  what  you  pretend,  where  is  the  police 
of  this  fine  hierarchy  which  you  magnify  so  much  ?     The  man  of  whom 
I  speak  has  been  condemned  in  all  the  churches  which  you  reprobate. 
Yet  is  he  suffered  amongst  you ;  even  allowed  to  print  his  books  there^ 
which  are  so  full  of  blasphemies,  that   I  need  say  no  more  of  them. 
He  is  a  Portuguese  Spaniard,   named  Michae-l  Servetus,  as  to  his  real 
37* 


438  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

name,  but  he  calls  himself  at  present  Villeneufve,  and  plays  the  part  of 
physician.  He  has  lived  for  some  time  at  Lyons,  and  now  is  at  Vienne, 
where  the  book  of  which  I  speak  was  printed,  by  one  Balthazard  Ar- 
noUet,  who  there  has  established  a  printing  establishment.  And,  that 
you  may  not  imagine  that  I  speak  from  rumour,  I  send  you  the  first 
sheet,  as  a  sample.  You  say  that  books,  which  contain  nothing  else 
than  that  we  should  adhere  to  the  simplicity  of  the  holy  scriptures,, 
poison  the  world  ;  and  if  they  come  from  other  places,  you  cannot  tole. 
rate  them  ;  and  yet  you  hatch  there,  poisons  designed  to  annihilate  the 
holy  scripture,  and  even  all  that  you  have  of  Christianity.  I  have,  as 
it  were,  forgotten  myself,  in  recounting  this  example,  for  I  have  been 
four  times  as  long  as  I  intended ;  but  the  enormity  of  the  case  makes 
me  exceed  due  measure,  and  for  this  reason  I  shall  not  say  much  to  you 
upon  other  topics.  As  also,  in  fact^  it  does  not  seem  important  to  re- 
spond to  you  in  regard  to  each  article.  I  shall  merely  entreat  you  to 
enter  more  deeply  into  your  conscience,  to  judge  yourself,  that  when 
you  shall  be  summoned  before  the  Great  Judge,  you  may  not  be  con- 
demned. For,  to  say  all  in  one  word,  our  only  debate  is,  that  God 
may  be  heard.  Wherefore,  coming  to  a  conclusion  at  present,  I  shall 
beseech  him  to  give  you  ears  to  hear  and  heart  to  obey.  In  the  mean 
time,,  may  he  hold  you  under  his  holy  protection,  and  i  recommend  my- 
selC  with  sincere  heart,  to  your  good  favour,  and  that  of  my  cousin, 
your  brother.     Geneva,  this  XXVI.  of  February,  1553." 

Calvin,  as  you  perceive,  knows  every  thing  and  tells  every  thing, 
even  to  the  very  name  of  the  printer.  And  yet,  as  if,  after  such  very 
formal  indications,  he  still  feared  not  to  be  understood,  he  adds  to  his 
letter  the  title  and  first  four  leaves  of  the  Chrisiianismi  restitutio. 
Lieutenant  Morin,  about  whom  Beza  made  such  a  noise,  would  not 
have  been  more  adroit. 

Now^  it  is  for  the  police  to  do  its  duly,  and  it  goes  to  work  promptly. 

The  letters  of  Calvin,  and  the  detached  leaves  of  the  book  of  Serve- 
tus,  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  Mathew  Ory,  the  inquisitor,  who  com- 
missions Benedict  Buatier,  official  of  St.  Paul,  to  examine  the 
affair.  This  having  been  done,  they  gave  information  of  the  matter  to 
cardinal  de  Tournon,.  who  was  then  at  his  chateau  of  Roussillon,  at 
some  leagues  distance  from  Vienne.  This  was  on  the  11th  of 
March,  155-3. 

On  the  12th,  Mathew  Ory  denounces  the  libel,  the  printer,  and  the 
author  to  the  sieur  de  Villars,  the  cardinal's  auditor. 

On  the  13th,  Benedict  Buatier  leaves  Lyons  to  visit  his  lordship,  th* 
cardinal. 

On  the  15th,  the  cardinal  sends  his  two  general  vicars,  Buatier  and 
Louis  Arzellier,  with  a  letter  to  M.  de  Maugiron,  "knight  of  the  order, 
and  lieutenant  general  for  the  king  in  Dauphiny."  The  cardinal  de- 
mands prompt  and  due  justice. 

On  the  16th,  Louis  Arzellier  and  Anthony  de  la  Cour,  vice  bailiflf, 
by  order  of  Maugiron,  call  on  the  sieur  Peyrollier,  chief  official.  Bene- 
dict Buatier  gives  his  deposition. 

It  imported  :  "That  about  fifteen  days  since,  certain  letters  had  been 
received  from  Geneva,  addressed  to  a  person  Jiving  at  Lyoas,  froia 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    GALVIN.  439 

which  it  appeared  that,  at  Geneva,  they  were  greatly  surprised,  that  a 
certain  M.  Michael  Servetus,  alias,  de  Villeneufve,  a  Portuguese 
Spaniard,  was  here  tolerated,  in  face  of  reasons  moie  fully  specified  in 
said  letters  :  that  from  said  Geneva  had  been  received  four  leaves  of  a 
book  composed  by  said  Villeneufve;  that  M.  Ory,  inquisitor  of  the 
faith,  having  examined  them  in  the  presence  of  himself,  (Buatier),  had 
become  assured  that  they  are  heretical,  and  had  written,  in  consequence, 
to  the  sieur  de  Viliars,  auditor  of  his  lordship,  cardinal  de  Tournon  ; 
that  said  deponent  was  also  there  present,  when  the  cardinal,  having 
sent  for  the  general  vicar  of  Vienne,  recommended  to  him  and  charged 
him  to  give  orders  for  the  verification  and  correction  of  the  above,  and 
wrote  concerning  it  to  his  lordship,  de  Maugiron,  to  aid  therein,  and 
«end  for  the  vice  bailiff,  in  order  that  consultation  might  be  had,  and 
measures  taken,  the  most  promptly  possible." 

On  the  same  day,  the  general  vicar,  the  vice  bailiff,  the  secretary  of 
Maugiron,  make  a  visit  to  the  house  of  Villeneufve  :  they  search  his 
papers,  but  discover  nothing,  except  some  copies  of  his  apology  against 
the  physicians  of  Paris.  They  interrogate  Servetus,  who  responds  in 
the  most  unconcerned  manner ;  William  Gueroult,  who  denies  every 
thing ;  the  journeymen  printers,  who  know  nothing  about  it.  They  had 
to  give  up  further  pursuit. 

But  Mathew  Ory  does  not  allow  himself  to  be  discouraged.  There 
is  a  heretic,  and  he  must  ferret  him  out.  Behold  the  stratagem  which 
he  devises  : — Arneys  shall  write  to  his  cousin  of  Geneva,  to  forward 
to  him  the  complete  volume  of  the  Christianismi  restitutio.  Ory  die- 
tates  the  letter. 

Poor  inquisitor !  the  Genevese  reformer  understands  the  matter  better 
than  thou.  When  thou  shalt  have  obtained  the  complete  book  of 
Michael  Villeneufve,  what  wilt  thou  do  with  it  ?  The  title  page  dis- 
plays neither  the  name  of  the  author,  the  name  of  the  printer,  nor  the 
name  of  the  city.  Shouldst  thou  show  it  to  Servetus,  he  would  say  ; 
1  am  not  acquainted  with  it. 

Patience  !  Calvin  will  come  to  the  aid  of  Mathew  Ory.  ''Here  are 
two  dozen  pieces  written  by  the  hand  of  the  person  in  question,  in 
which  some  of  his  heresies  are  contained ;  he  will  not  be  able  to  deny 
his  handwriting." 

And  Calvin  set  to  work  to  search  his  correspondence,  and  to  rum- 
mage  the  letters  he  had  received  from  Servetus,  for  the  one  in  which  the 
anti-Trinitarian  doctrine  is  defended  in  the  same  terms,  with  those  of  the 
Christianismi  restitutio. 

But  Servetus  replies  : —  Master  Mathew  this  is,  in  fact,  my  writing, 
but  these  are  propositions  maintained  in  the  epistolary  form  between 
Calvin,  "whom  some  called  a  learned  man,  and  myself,  sub  sigillo 
wcrefi,  (under  seal  of  secresy),  and  after  the  fashion  of  a  disputation, 
to  see  if  he  would  be  able  to  shake  my  opinion,  or  I  his."* 

Wait  a  moment,  Calvin  is  rich  in  autographs  :  "  Here  are  two  leavw 
printed  on  both  sides,  with  writing  on  them,  in  which  Servetus  teachea 
various  heresies." 

•  Voyez  dans  I'abbe  d'Artigny  Tinterrogatoire  de  Servet, 


440 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


— But  this  book,  printed  in  Germany,  responds  the  physician,  is  from 
a  person  of  the  name  of  Servetus,  a  Spaniard,  and,  besidea,  I  know 
not  from  what  part  of  Spain  he  is,  and  also,  I  know  not  where  he  lives 
in  Germany,  except  that  I  have  heard  said  that  he  is  at  Aganon  (Hage- 
nau). 

Mathew  Ory  becomes  impatient. — This  Servetus,  the  Spaniard,  who 
is  he? 

The  reformer  answers : 

<«  This  Villeneufve,  at  present  physician  at  Vienne,  is  no  other  than 
Servetus,  alias,  Reves,  who  has  been  driven  away  by  the  churches  of 
Germany,  to  whom  (Ecolampadius  has  addressed  various  letters  with 
this  title,  which  belongs  to  him  :  Serveto  Hispano  neganti  Christum 
esse  Dei/ilium  consubstantialem  patri,  and  about  whom  Melancthon 
has  spoken  in  many  passages  of  his  epistles.  As  to  the  printer,  there 
are  two  of  them,  Balthasard  Arnoullet,  and  William  Gueroult,  his  bro- 
ther-in-law. The  work  was  printed  at  the  expense  of  the  author,  and 
the  book  issued  from  the  shop  of  Vienne." 

Would  not  a  person  call  this  a  romance  ?  here  are  two  letters  of  Cal- 
vin, which,  by  chance  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  inquisitor. 

"  When,  my  cousin,  I  wrote  to  you  the  letter  which  you  have  com- 
municated to  those  who,  in  it,  were  taxed  with  indifference,  I  did  not 
imagine  the  matter  was  to  be  pushed  so  far.  My  intention  was  only 
to  show  you  what  is  the  fine  zeal  and  devotion  of  those  who  call  them- 
selves pillars  of  the  church,  though  they  suffer  such  disorder  in  their 
midst,  and  yet  so  rudely  persecute  the  poor  christians,  who  desire  to 
follow  God  in  simplicity.  As  the  example  was  remarkable,  and  I  was 
aware  of  it,  it  appeared  to  me  that  the  occasion  was  opportune  for 
touching  upon  it  in  my  letters,  as  appropriate  to  the  subject  I  was  treat- 
ing. But,  inasmuch  as  you  have  manifested  what  I  thought  myself 
writing  to  yourself  alone  privately,  may  God  deign  profit  thereby  to 
purge  Christendom  of  such  filth,  nay,  of  such  deadly  pestilence.  If 
they  have  been  pleased  to  exert  themselves  for  this,  as  you  inform  me, 
it  appears  to  me  that  the  thing  is  not  so  very  difficult,  though  1  be  not 
able  to  furnish  you,  as  you  request,  the  printed  book  :  for  I  will  put 
in  your  hand  more  to  convict  him,  viz  :  two  dozen  pieces  written  by 
the  hand  of  the  person  in  question,  in  which  some  of  his  heresies  are 
contained.  If  the  printed  book  were  brought  before  him,  he  could 
deny  it,  and  this  he  cannot  do  in  regard  to  his  handwriting.  Where- 
fore, the  persons  of  whom  you  speak,  having  the  matter  clearly  proved, 
will  have  no  excuse,  if  they  dissemble  longer,  or  neglect  to  look  to  it. 
All  the  rest  is  indeed  here,  as  well  the  large  book  as  the  other  tracts, 
written  by  the  hand  of  the  author;  but  I  will  confess  one  thing  to  you, 
that  1  have  had  great  difficulty  to  obtain  from  M.  Calvin  what  I  send 
to  you ;  not  that  he  is  not  anxious  that  such  execrable  blasphemies 
should  be  suppressed,  but  because  it  appears  to  him  to  be  his  duty,  since 
he  has  not  the  sword  of  justice,  rather  to  convict  heresies  by  doctrine, 
than  to  pursue  them  by  such  measures;  but  I  have  so  im*portuned  him, 
manifesting  to  him  what  reproach  of  levity  might  be  made  me,  if  he 
came  not  to  my  aid,  that  at  length  he  has  consented  to  give  me  what 
you  will  see.    As  to  the  rest,  when  the  case  shall  be  brought  into  good 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  441 

train,  I  hope,  with  time,  to  recover  from  him  a  ream  of  paper  or  there- 
abouts, which  is  what  this  fellow  has  caused  to  be  printed.  But  it 
seems  to  me  that,  for  the  present,  you  have  a  sufficient  pledge,  and  that 
now  there  is  no  necessity  for  more,  in  order  to  seize  upon  his  person, 
and  institute  proceedings  against  him.  For  my  part,  I  implore  God  to 
be  pleased  to  open  the  eyes  of  all  those  who  speak  so  badly,  that  they 
may  learn  to  judge  better  of  the  desire  which  animates  us.  And  since, 
from  your  letter,  it  appears  that  you  are  unwilling  to  entertain  further 
the  proposal  you  before  made  me,  I  dismiss  it  also,  in  order  not  to 
trouble  you,  hoping,  nevertheless,  that  God  at  length  will  cause  you  to 
perceive  that  I  have  not  hastily  embraced  the  party  to  which  1  hold, 
commending  myself  to  your  kind  favour,  I  pray  God  to  keep  you  under 
his  protection.     Geneva,  this  26th  of  March." 

The  second  letter  is  still  more  important,  and  it  reaches  Mathew 
Ory  in  a  manner  equally  mysterious, 

"  I  trust,  my  cousin,  that  1  shall,  in  part,  have  satisfied  your  demand, 
by  sending  you  the  handwriting  of  him  who  has  composed  the  book, 
and  even  in  the  last  episile,  which  you  have  received,  you  will  find 
what  he  declares  about  his  name,  which  he  had  disguised,  for  he  ex- 
cuses himself  for  having  caused  himself  to  be  called  Villeneufve, 
though  his  name  be  Servttus,  alias  Reves,  saying  that  he  has  taken  his 
name  from  the  city  in  which  he  was  born.  As  to  the  rest,  I  will,  if 
God  please,  keep  the  promise,  that,  should  there  be  need,  I  will  fur- 
nish you  the  tracts  which  he  has  caused  to  be  printed,  which  were  writ- 
ten  with  his  own  hand,  as  well  as  his  epistles.  I  should  already  have 
taken  the  trouble  to  secure  them,  had  they  been  in  this  city ;  but 
for  the  last  two  years,  they  have  been  at  Lausanne.  Had  they  been  in 
the  possession  of  M.  Calvin,  I  doubt  not,  for  all  they  are  worth,  he 
would  have  sent  them  back  to  the  author;  but  as  he  had  also  addressed 
ihem  to  other  persons,  these  have  retained  them.  Nay,  from  what  I 
have  formerly  heard,  the  said  gentleman,  having  answered  what  should 
have  been  sufficient  to  content  a  reasonable  man,  and  having  seen  that 
this  was  of  no  use,  in  regard  to  such  a  work,  did  not  deign  to  read  the 
rest,  because  already  he  was  too  much  annoyed  by  the  foolish  reveries 
and  babbling,  which  the  other  merely  reiterated,  ever  singing  the  same 
song.  And,  that  you  may  know,  that  it  is  not  now  for  the  first  time 
that  this  wretch  endeavours  to  trouble  the  church,  trying  to  seduce  the 
ignorant  into  the  same  confusion  with  himself,  twenty-four  years  since, 
he  was  rejected  and  driven  from  the  principal  churches  of  Germany, 
and  had  he  been  found  in  the  place,  never  would  he  have  left  it. 
Among  the  letters  of  (Ecolampadius,  the  first  and  second  are  addressed 
to  him,  with  this  title,  which  belongs  to  him  :  "  To  Serveius,  the  Span, 
iard,  who  denies  Christ  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  consubstantial  with  the 
Father."  Melancthon  also,  in  some  passages,  speaks  of  him.  But  it 
seems  to  me  that  you  have  an  easy  task  to  furnish  proof  from  what  I 
have  already  sent  you,  not  only  to  commence  the  whole,  but  to  push 
the  matter  forward.  As  to  the  printer,  I  do  not  send  you  the  grounds 
upon  which  we  have  concluded  that  the  work  was  printed  by  Baltha- 
sard  Arnoullet,  and  William  Gueroult,  his  brother-in-law;  but  we  are 
well  persuaded  of  this;  and  in  fact,  it   cannot  be  denied.     It  is  very 


442  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

possible  that  it  will  have  been  done  at  the  author's  expense,  and  that^ 
with  his  own  hands,  he  will  have  received  the  copies;  but  you  will  cer- 
tainly find  that  the  impression  came  from  ihe  office  which  I  indicate- 
Inasmuch  as  the  messenger  requests  to  be  despatched  quickly,  having, 
besides,  presented  your  letters  very  late,  for  fear,  as  I  believe,  of  being 
solicited  to  do  well,  I  have  made  my  answer  brief,  and  I  beg  you  to  ex- 
cuse haste.  It  appears  to  me  that  I  forgot  to  write  to  you,  that,  after 
you  shall  have  made  what  use  you  please  of  the  epistles,  you  would  not 
lo.se  or  destroy  them,  but  return  them  to  me.  Here  I  will  conclude  for 
the  present,  ever  commending  myself  to  your  kind  favour,  without  for- 
getting my  cousin,  your  brother,  being  rejoiced  that  God  has  blessed 
him  with  issue,  as  you  write  to  me.  Also,  I  desiire  to  be  recommended 
to  all  the  family,  praying  God  to  direct  you  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  to  do 
what  may  be  agreeable  to  him.     Geneva,  this  last  of  March." 

Servetus  is  now  in  the  hands  of  ecclesiastical  justice  :  Mathew  Ory 
must  perform  the  functions  of  his  office  ;  the  laws  of  the  country  re- 
quire it,  and  he  has  no  means  of  evading  it.  But,  thanks  to  Calvin, 
the  inquiry,  the  interrogatory,  the  re-examination  of  the  criminal,  the 
proof  of  the  crime, — all  these  things  will  take  but  a  moment.  Whilst 
preparations  were  in  progress  for  the  commencement  of  the  prosecution^ 
Servetus  was  confined. 

In  the  prison,  there  was  a  garden,  with  a  platform,  whence  a  person 
could  leap  into  the  court-yard  of  the  pretorium,  the  door  of  which  was  al- 
ways  open.  What  bungling  jailors  were  these  inquisitors,  who  placed 
Servetus  in  a  prison,  open  on  every  side,  left  with  him  his  servant,  aged 
fifteen  years,  and  ordered  that  he  should  be  treated  "honestly,  and  ac- 
cording to  his  station  !"*  In  our  days,  justice  would  take  other  pre- 
cautions ;  she  would  not  allow  the  sum  of  three  hundred  crowns  to  b^ 
given  to  the  accused,  as  was  done  by  the  grand  prior.  Let  an  angel 
now  come  to  liberate  him  :  one  appears,  having  assumed  the  features  of 
the  only  daughter  of  the  vice  bailiff,  a  child  of  fifteen,  whose  life  the 
physician  had  saved,  and  who,  with  clasped  hands,  and  weeping,  suc- 
ceeds in  softening  the  heart  of  her  father.  The  vice  bailiff  gave  orders 
to  the  jailor  to  shut  his  eyes,  and  he  was  obeyed.  Perhaps,  also,  and 
this  is  believed  at  Vienne,  Peter  Palmier  favoured  the  escape  of  the 
prisoner. 

He  shall  be  free  ;  may  God  guide  and  reclaim  this  poor  silly  man,  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  for  one  of  the  most  beautiful  ascetic  books,  pos^ 
sessed  by  Catholicism,!  whose  brain  has  been  injured  by  the  perusal  of 
the  pamphlets  of  the  reformation,  and  who,  like  Luther,  Melancthon, 
and  Calvin,  wanted  to  become  the  head  of  a  sect,  from  a  love  of  glory. 
He  said  to  himself:  *' Carlstadt  and  Zwingle  have  attacked  the  real 
presence ;  (Ecolampadius  and  Capito  have  made  war  on  the  sacraments 
of  the  church  ;  Calvin  has  blasphemed  the  divine  foreknowledge ;  I 
will  attack  the  Trinity,  and  the  world  will  talk  about  me."     This 


*  D'Artigny,  p.  100. 

t  The  Thesaurus  anima.  Christiana^  which  Servetus  published  under  ih© 
name  of  DesideriusPeregrinus,  at  first  in  Spanish,  and  which  since  has  been 
translated  into  Latin,  French,  Flemish,  and  reprinted  a  thousand  times. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVllf.  443 

world,  which,  as  yet,  had  only  reached  the  edge  of  the  abyss  of  ration- 
alism,  was  afflicted  with  sorrow,  and  it  abandoned  Servetus. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  then,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  with  a 
night-cap  on  his  head,  and  concealing  his  hat  and  doublet  under  his  morn- 
ing-gown, Serveius  asks  the  jailor  for  the  key  of  the  garden,  and  ob- 
tains it.  He  has  soon  leaped  from  the  platform,  scaled  the  wall,  tra- 
versed the  palace  court-yard,  and  reached  the  gate  of  the  pont  du 
Rhone.  Whither  shall  he  now  direct  his  steps  ?  It  is  his  plan  to  go 
to  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  there  live  by  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession. But,  whether  because  he  dreaded  to  fall  into  Catholic  hands, 
or  feared  to  inquire  his  way,  he  takes  the  route  for  Switzerland,  instead 
o{  that  to  Piedmont ;  and  after  about  three  months  of  traveling,  alarms 
and  sufferings,  he  enters  Geneva,  on  the  15th  of  July,  and  stops  at  the 
tavern  de  la  Rose.  He  had  already  spoken  to  the  hostess,  and  given 
her  commission  to  procure  for  him  a  barge  to  transport  him  to  a  point, 
whence  he  might  easily  reach  the  road  to  Zurich ;  but,  the  lake  being 
in  commotion,  his  departure  was  delayed  to  the  next  day.  What  kept 
Servetus  at  Geneva  on  this  and  the  following  days  ?  This  has  never 
been  known. 

On  the  13lh  of  August,  the  chanter,  followed  by  a  syndic  selected  by 
Calvin,*  presents  himself  at  the  lodgings  of  the  stranger,  arrests  him, 
and  conducts  him  to  prison.  Servetus  was  making  preparations  for  his 
departure.  The  person  who  denounced  him  was  an  infamous  being, 
formed  from  the  same  clay  with  that  Nicholas  de  Trie,  whose  acquaint- 
ance we  have  made.  He  was  called  Nicholas  de  la  Fontaine,  former 
cook  for  the  family  de  Falaise.f  Calvin  called  him  "my  Nicholas. ":|: 
In  the  Genevese  legislation,  the  denouncer  had  to  give  himself  up  as 
prisoner,  and  submit  to  the  penalty  of  the  Talion,  or  law  of  retaliation, 
in  case  he  had  lied  :  this  was  done  by  Nicholas.  The  judges  assem- 
bled, and  the  accusation  was  produced,  containing  thirty-nine  articles 
upon  which  he  desired  Servetus  to  be  interrogated.  These  thirty-nine 
articles,  drawn  up  by  the  reformer,  were  selected  here  and  there  from 
the  writings  of  the  prisoner :  the  block  and  stone  of  the  Christianismi 
restitntio  had  not  been  omitted. 

Servetus  responded  calmly.  His  judges  were  entirely  unacquainted 
with  religious  matters.  La  Fontaine  had  accused  the  Spaniard,  "that, 
in  the  person  of  M.  Calvin,  minister  of  God,  in  the  church  of  Gene- 
va, he  had,  in  a  printed  book,  defamed  the  doctrine  which  is  preached, 
pronouncing  all  the  insults  and  blasphemies  which  it  is  possible  to  in- 
vent." But  Avhen  Servetus  had  demanded  that  these  insults  and  blas- 
phemies should  be  specified,  the  valet,  embarrassed,  knew  not  what  to 
answer. 

*  Tandem  hue  mails  auspiciis  appulsum  unus  ex  syndicis,  me  auctore,  in 
carcerem  duci  jussit. — Calv.  ep.  ad.  Sulzerum.  9  septemb. 

Nee  sane  dissimulo  mea  opera  eonsilioque  in  careerem  fuisse  conjectum. — 
Ref.  err.  Serveti,  p.  187. 

t  Is  famulus  fuit  aliquando  coquus  nobilis  cujusdam  nomine  Falesii. — ^Hist. 
demort  Mich,  Serveti.  Mosheim,  448. 

■\.  Nicolaus  meus  ad  eapitale  judicium  poenSB  talionis  se  ofTerons  ipsura  voca- 
Tit.— Genevae,  20  aug.  1553.  Cal.  Farell. 


444  LIFE    OF   JOHN    CALVIN. 

On  the  16th,  the  interrogatory  was  resumed,  but  this  time  in  presence 
of  the  ministers,  wiiom  the  judges  had  called  to  their  aid.  Servetus, 
on  beholding  Calvin,  could  not  repress  a  shudder  of  terror  :  the  session 
was  stormy.  If  we  must  credit  the  reformer,  Servetus  there  developed 
and  defended  pantheistical  ideas.  Calvin,  scandalized  by  these  doc- 
trines, was  unable  to  restrain  his  wrath  ! — How  then,  wretch,  he  ex- 
claimed ;  if  every  thing  be  God,  this  pavement  which  we  trample  under 
foot  is  also  God  ? — Yes,  undoubtedly,  replied  the  Spaniard,  this  floor 
and  every  thing  that  Ave  behold  around  us,  is  but  the  substance  of  the 
Divinity  ! — So,  then,  resumed  Calvin,  the  devil  would  be  God  ?— And 
do  you  doubt  of  this  !  murmured  the  prisoner,  smiling.* 

Servetus  desired  an  arena  Avhere  he  could,  at  leisure,  hurl  his  thun- 
derbolts of  wrath  into  the  face  of  Calvin.  On  the  open  field,  he  loud- 
ly accused  his  enemy,  called  him  calumniator,  spy,  informer,  and  man 
of  blood. — He  has  in  such  sort  pursued  me,  he  exclaimed,  that  it  de- 
pended not  on  him,  that  I  have  not  been  burned  alive.  He  added  :—- 
that  Calvin  had  several  times  insulted  him,  and  even  by  printed  books. f 

On  that  day,  and  during  the  entire  duration  of  the  prosecution,  Cal- 
vin mounted  the  pulpit  in  order  to  insult  his  enemy.}  In  his  prison, 
they  had  left  him  paper,  pen,  and  ink  ;  but  its  doors  were  closed  against 
all  who  might  have  had  either  the  pity  or  courage  to  visit  the  heretic. 

For  La  Fontaine's  counsel,  Calvin  had  selected  Germain  Colladon,  a 
fiery  apostate,  a  bloodthirsty  man,  who  often  discharged  the  double  office 
of  jurist  and  hangman's  valet.  The  books  of  Servetus  were  in  Latin, 
and  not  one  of  the  judges  understood  that  language.  §  Colladon  chose 
the  passage  which  he  translated  before  the  accused,  who  had  been  un- 
able to  obtain  counsel.  On  the  16th  of  August,  Colladon  and  La 
Fontaine  asked  to  be  allowed  to  read  various  writings  of  Melancthon 
and  (Ecolampadius,  regarding  the  doctrine  of  Servetus,  who  vainly  pro. 
tested  against  the  reading  of  them. 

They  opened  the  Ptolemy,  published  at  Lyons,  and  edited  by  Serve- 
tus, and  Colladon  commented  on  the  passage,  where  "the  holy  land  is 
represented  as  a  sterile  country,  in  opposition  to  the  account  of  Moses, 
who  boasts  of  its  fertility."  "  An  atheistical  speech,"  repeated  the 
judge. — Listen  to  the  response  of  Servetus  :  I  have  done  nothing  but 
translate ;  it  is  Ptolemy  who  is  the  atheist. 

You  imagine,  perhaps,  that  this  is  unanswerable.  Calvin  speaks  : 
"  I  was  very  glad,"  says  he,  *'to  stop  the  mouth  of  this  miscreant,  and 
I  asked  him  why  he  had  endorsed  the  labour  of  another  ?  and  so  much 
was  this  vile  dog  confounded  by  such  pressing  reasons,  that  he  could 
only  snarl,  and  say  :   let  us  proceed,  there  was  no  harm  in  this."]] 

»  Si  quis  pavimentum  hoc  calcando  se  Deum  calcare  tuum  dicat,  an  non  te 
pudebit  tantee  absurditatis?  Tunc  ille,  ego  vero  et  scamnum  hoc,  et  quicquid 
ostendes,  Dei  substantiam  esse  non  dubito. — Refut.  err.  Serveti,  p.  703. 

t  Interroff.  Mosheim,  157. 

^  Ipse  cum  in  carcere  absentem  quotidianis  concionibus  ad  populum  inti» 
diosissime  traduxit,  etc. — Contra  libellum  Calvini,  p.^  25. 

^  Sicuti  Genevenses  magistratus  ex  opinione  Calvini  Servetum  judicarunt, 
ipsi  ignari  totius  rei,  quippe  homines  illiterati.— Contra  libell.  Calvini,  p.  62. 

Q  Traites  th^ologiques,  p.  846. 


LIFE    Of    JOHN    CALVm.  /t45 

Tliey  passed  to  the  examination  t>f  the  Bible.  They  interrogated 
the  accused  upon  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaias,  the  prophetic  sense  of 
•which  they  charged  him  with  having  perverted,  by  attributing  to  Cyrus 
what  regards  Christ,  "as  to  the  effacing  of  our  sins,  and  the  bearing  of 
our  iniquities." 

"  To  which  the  said  Servetus  responded,  that  the  principal  is  to  be 
understood  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  as  to  the  history  and  the  literal  sense, 
it  must  be  understood  of  Cyrus,  and  that  ancient  doctors  have  given  to 
the  Old  Testament  two  significations;  viz:  the  literal  and  mystic 
sense." 

Calvin  pressed  the  accused  :—"  Vere  languores  noslros  ipse  tulit ; 
dolores  nostres  ipse  portavit^  afflictus  est  propter  peccata  nostra:'* 
Truly  he  hath  borne  our  griefs >  he  hath  carried  our  sorrows;  he  was 
afflicted  for  our  sins  :  The  blackguard,  says  the  reformer,  continued 
obstinately  to  behold  in  these  prophetic  words  concerning  Christ,  no- 
thing but  his  king  Cyrus  !* 

The  dispute  ispon  the  Trinity  was  long  and  animated.  Servetus 
admitted  three  persons  in  God,  but  to  personality,  he  gave  a  signification 
very  similar  to  that  given  it  by  the  ancient  Sabellians.  In  his  opinion, 
the  hypostasis  represented  a  quality,  and  not  an  entity.  With  all  the 
energy  of  his  soul-,  he  repelled  the  blasphemy  which  they  attributed  to 
bim,  in  a  comparison  of  the  Trinity  with  the  head  of  Cerberus.f 

If,  in  the  unity  of  the  Divine  nature,  there  be  not  three  realities  of 
persons,  what  theia  is  Christ  ?— The  man  Jesus,  responds  Servetus,  is 
called  the  Son  of  God,  because  he  is  composed  of  the  three  elements 
which  are  found  in  God, — fire,  air,  and  water;  which,  moreover,  are 
only  in  God  in  the  condition  of  iclea,  as  are  all  other  substances.  And 
he  proceeds  to  explain  his  philoso^phic  system,  in  which  God,  the  uni^ 
versal  essence,  absorbs  all  bodies,  is  the  fountain  and  principle  of  ©very 
thing  that  exists,  the  whole  and  part,  commencement  and  end ;  who  is 
not  diffused  through  existence  by  fractions,  but  reposes  therein  in  all  his 
plenitude. 

La  Fontaine  demanded  his  liberation,  J  according  to  the  terms  of  t^e 
law  :  the  tribunal  accorded  it,  as  Calvin  had  foreseen.  § 

In  the  interrogatory  of  the  21st  of  August,  the  dispute  again  turned 
upon  the  Trinity.  In  the  mean  time,  Servetus  had  time  to  collect  a 
host  of  texts  from  the  writers  of  the  primitive  church,  to  prove  the 
orthodoxy  of  his  doctrine.  Calvin  brought  forward  a  passage  from 
Justin,  which  was  to  settle  the  question.  "But,"  says  the  reformer, 
* 'Servetus  did  not  know  Greek  !  Seeing  himself  thus  caught,  he  be- 
,gan  to  exclaim  :  Give  me  a  Justin  in  Latin !  And  how  is  this  ?  I 
said  to  him,  there  is  no  Latin  translation ;  what,  then,  dost  thou  not 
understand  Greek,  and  pretendest  to  be  perfectly  acquainted  with  Jus- 

*  Calv,  Refut.  errorum  Serveti,  p.  703. 

t  Calv.  Refut.  err.  Serveti. 

\  Dismissus  est  e  careers  Nicolaus  die  tertio  quum  frater  meus  so  sponso* 
tern  dedisset:  quarto  absolutus  est. 

\  Auctor  ipse  tenetur  in  carcere  A  magistratu  nostro  et  prope  diem,  ut  speto, 
daturus  est  poenas.— Calv.  Eccles.  JPrancoford.  Pastorlbus  S.  D,  Genevae,  $ 
•cal.  sept.  \55t. 


446  MFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIjr. 

tin  !  Where,  then,  are  all  those  fine  testimonies  with  which  thou  ex- 
ertest  thyself  to  ovenvhelm  me  ?" 

Servetus,  "a  paltry  scholar,  who  is  not  even  acquainted  with  the 
alphabet  of  his  own  language  !"*  Observe  that,  in  order  to  publish 
his  Ptolemy,  he  had  to  collate  a  large  number  of  Greek  and  Latin 
manuscripts,  a  fact  well  known  to  the  reformer ,'  and  further,  that  in 
his  theological  writings,  he  frequently  quotes  the  Septuagint,  and  for 
the  explanation  or  illustration  of  passages  of  the  New  Testament,  he' 
searches  Greek  writers  not  yet  translated.  But  Calvin  then  had  never 
opened  the  Christianisimi  restitutio?  On  the  title  page  of  the  booky 
there  is  an  epigram  in  two  languages  :   Greek  and  Hebrew. 

Servetus  was  conducted  back  to  prison.  If  we  shall  credit  the  au- 
thor of  the  Contra  libellum  Calvini,  they  resolved  to  cause  the  unhap- 
py man  to  die  amid  the  torments  of  the  torture  ;  the  instrument  wa» 
already  prepared,  but  Peter  Vandel,  one  of  the  members  of  the  coun- 
cil, threatened  to  reveal  the  crime,  if  it  were  accomplished  If 

Servetus,  who  had  faith  in  the  justice  of  men,  had  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing supplication  to  the  magnificent  seigniors  : 

"  Michael  Servetus,  accused,  humbly  supplicates,  setting  forth,  thai 
it  is  a  new  invention,  unknown  to  the  apostles  and  disciples  of  the 
ancient  church,  to  institute  criminal  prosecution  for  the  doctrines  of  the 
scriptures,  or  for  questions  antecedent  to  them.  This  is  manifest,  first, 
from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  chapters  18  and  19,  where  such  accusers 
are  dismissed  and  sent  to  the  church,  when  there  is  no  other  crime  but 
questions  of  religion.  Likewise,  from  the  time  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  when  there  were  great  heresies  of  Arians,  and  criminal  accusa- 
tions, as  well  on  the  part  of  Athanasius,  as  of  Arius,  the  said  emperor^, 
by  his  counsel  and  that  of  all  the  churches,  decreed  that,  according  to 
ancient  doctrine,  such  accusations  should  not  have  place,  even  when 
there  should  be  a  heretic  such  as  Arius  was.  But  that  all  their  ques- 
tions should  be  decided  by  the  churches,  and  that  whoever  should  ]}e 
convicted  or  condemned  by  these,  and  was  not  willing  to  return  by 
repentance,  should  be  banished  :  which  punishment  has  been,  at  all 
times,  observed  against  heretics  in  the  ancient  church,  as  is  proved  by 
a  thousand  other  histories  and  authorities  of  doctors.  Wherefore,  my 
lords,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles  and  disciples,  who  never 
permitted  such  accusations,  and  according  to  the  d'octrine  of  the  an- 
cient church,  in  which  such  accusations  were  not  allowed,  the  said  sup- 
plicant begs  that  the  criminal  accusation  against  him  be  dismissed. 

"  Secondly,  ijiy  lords,  he  begs  you  to  consider,  that  he  has  never  of^ 
ended  on  your  territory,  or  elsewhere,   and   has  neither  been  a  disturb- 

*  Atqui  graecnm  sermonem  nihil  magis  legere  qnam  puer  alphabetarius 
potuit.  Turn  se  turpiter  deprehensum  videns,  stomachose  latinam  translatio- 
nem  sibi  dari  petiit.— Ref.  Err.  703. 

t  Idem  facere  probabant  Genevenscs  Serveto,  si  verum  audivi.  Cum  emm 
de  libro  et  de  omni  veritate  sua  sponte  confessus  esset,  admotus  est  insuper  ad 
gehennam,  sic  vocant  illi  patrio  sermons  tormentum,  et  excarnificatus  esset, 
nisi  intercessisset  Fetrus  Vandalus  senator  et  idera  Calvino  summus  inimicus: 
ut  intelligatis  eos  qui  sunt  paulo  clementiores  non  posse  esse  Calvini  araicos.— 
Contra  Calv.  lib.,  p.  63. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  447 

er  nor  a  seditious  person.  For  the  questions,  treated  by  him,  are  diffi- 
cult, and  addressed  only  to  learned  persons.  And  during  the  whole 
time  he  was  in  Germany,  he  never  spoke  of  these  questions  to  any  but 
(Ecolampadius,  Bucer,  and  Capito.  Also,  in  France,  he  has  spoken 
of  them  to  no  man.  Besides,  he  has  ever  reprobated  and  reproved  the 
Anabaptists,  who  were  seditious  against  the  magistrates,  and  desirous 
of  making  all  things  common.  Therefore,  he  concludes,  that,  for  hav- 
ing brought  forward  certain  questions  of  the  ancient  doctors  of  the 
church,  he  ought  in  no  wise  for  this  to  be  molested  and  detained  by  a 
criminal  accusation. 

*'  Thirdly,  my  lords,  inasmuch  as  he  is  a  stranger,  and  unacquainted 
with  the  customs  of  the  country,  and  ignorant  how  to  speak  or  pro- 
ceed in  trial,  he  humbly  supplicates  you  to  give  him  an  advocate,  who 
may  plead  for  him.  Doing  this,  may  it  be  well  with  you,  and  may  our 
Lord  prosper  your  republic. 

"  Done  in  your  city  of  Geneva,  August  22,  1553. 

"  Michael  Servetus,  de  Villeneufve, 
''  In  his  own  cause, ^' 

The  judicial  tribunal  being  in  session  on  the  23d  of  August,  the  lieu- 
tenant read  thirty  questions,  which  he  was  about  to  address  to  Servetus  ; 
they  regarded  his  family  connections,  his  literary  relations,  and  his 
U'avels. 

They  asked  him  :  ''  If  he  has  been  married,  and  if  not  married,  how, 
in  his  virility,  he  has  been  able  so  long  to  refrain  from  marrying  ?" 

Servetus  replies  :  "That  he  has  never  married,  quia  imyotens  erat, 
quum  ex  una  parte  ablatus,  ex  altera  ruptus  esset."' 

They  wish  to  know  why,  in  his  writings,  he  has  declaimed  so  violent- 
ly  against  Calvin. 

Servetus  excuses  himself,  maintaining  that  Calvin's  language  has 
been  greatly  more  violent. 

On  the  27th,  he  reappeared  before  the  tribunal  for  the  last  time. 
They  required  all  the  intervening  period  to  prepare  a  reply  to  the  suppli- 
cation of  the  accused.  The  response  was  the  work  of  Calvin  :  it  is 
brief,  dry,  and  dogmatic* 

Servetus  said:  ''  Secondly,  my  lords,  he  begs  you  to  consider  that  he 
has  never  offended,  on  your  territory  or  elsewhere,  that  he  has  neither 
been  a  disturber  nor  a  seditious  person." 

The  judge  replies  :  ''  That  the  heretic  is  not  like  the  disturber,  that 
his  crime  troubles  society,  which  has  the  right  to  punish  him  any  where 
he  is  found." 

Servetus  resumes  :  "  but,  at  least,  my  lords,  inasmuch  as  I  am  a 
stranger,  and  ignorant  of  the  customs  of  this  country,  and  how  to  plead, 
you  will  allow  me  an  advocate  who  will  speak  for  me." 

They  answer  him,  that  a  heretic  is  outside  the  pale  of  the  common 
law. 

And  the  interrogatories  recommence.  This  time,  they  proceed  to 
scrutinize  the  private  life  of  Servetus,  to  find  some  folly  of  his  younger 
years,  some  scene   of  debauchery,   some   grand   infraction  of  the  sixth 

*  Act.  Jud.  MSS. 


4.48  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

commandment.  The  lieutenant  wants  to  discbarge  the  physician's  of- 
fice ;  he  seeks  to  find  out  whether  the  accused  lias  not  represented  him- 
self incorrectly,  and  asks  him,  ubi  absoluivs  fuit  hicimpotentice casus, 
and  he  is  not  satisfied  with  the  answer :  "  When  I  was  very  young." 
He  wants  to  know  whether,  in  him,  the  flesh  never  has  been  rebel- 
lious.* 

Servetus  answers :  Never. 

And  the  lieutenant  pursues  the  matter  : 

— In  joking  with  the  hostess  of  la  Kose,  you  said  to  her  that  there 
were  "plenty  of  women,  without  marrying." 

— "  Truly,"  said  Servetus,  "I  made  that  speech,  and  joked  in  order 
to  create  an  impression  quod  impotens  non  eram,  for  I  had  no  reason 
to  let  it  be  known. 

What  magistrates  !  what  a  tribunal ! 

In  the  mean  time,  fear  or  remorse  had  seized  some  of  the  judges. 
In  order  to  renew  their  courage,  they  requested  Calvin  to  furnish  a  for- 
mal refuftation  of  the  errors  of  Servetus. 

The  minister  employed  nearly  fifteen  days  in  this  work  :  his  letter 
to  Sadolet  had  cost  him  only  a  few  hours  labour.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  unhappy  Spaniard  lay  upon  straw,  devoured  by  vermin.  On  the 
15th  of  September,  he  addressed  a  new  supplication  to  liis  very  dear 
seigniors :  his  letter,  after  the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  still  has  the 
power  to  cause  tears  to  flow. 

"My  VEEY    HONOUEED   SeIGNIORS, 

"  I  very  humbly  entreat  you  to  be  pleased  to  abridge  these 
long  delays,  or  liberate  me  from  this  prosecution.  You  perceive  that 
Calvin  is  at  the  end  of  his  devices.  Not  knowing  what  to  say,  he,  for 
his  own  gratification,  seeks  to  keep  me  in  prison,  that  I  may  rot  here. 
I  am  devoured  alive  by  lice ;  my  breeches  are  torn,  and  I  have  no 
change  of  doublet,  and  no  shirt,  but  a  very  mean  one.  I  had  presented 
to  you  another  supplication,  which  was  drawn  up  according  to  God  ; 
and  to  defeat  it  Calvin  has  alleged  Justinian.  Certes,  he  is  unfortw- 
nate  in  citing  against  me  what  he  does  not  himself  belreve.  This  is  a 
great  shame  for  him,  and  still  greater,  because  now  have  elapsed  five 
weeks  that  he  has  kept  me  here  strongly  imprisoned^  and  never  has 
brought  forward  a  single  passage  against  me. 

"  My  lords,  I  had  also  demanded  of  you  a  lawyer  or  advocate,  as 
you  had  allowed  to,  my  opponent,  who  did  not  need  one  so  much  as  I  do, 
since  I  am  a  stranger  and  ignorant  of  the  customs  of  the  country. 
Nevertheless,  you  have  allowed  one  to  him,  and  not  to  me,  and  have 
liberated  him  from  prison  before  the  cause  has  been  investigated.  I  re- 
quest my  case  to  be  transferred  to  the  council  of  the  Two  Hundred;  to- 
gether with  my  supplications;  and  if  T  can  appeal  there,  I  do  appeal, 
protesting  for  all  expenses,  diamages,  and  interests,  and  for  the  pcena 

*  Zii  welcher  Zeit  er  denn  so  jrebrcchlicli  ^eworden  ware,  wenn  mfin  ihn 
jjeschnitten,  wenn  er  den  Bruch,  liber  den  er  klagte,  bekommen  habe?  Die 
Antwort  war:  er  wisse  dieses  so  eigentlich  nicht,  dorcli  mogte  er  ohngefahr 
fUnf  lahr  alt  gewesen  seyn^  da  ihn  dieses  UnglUck  betroffen  hatte....  Ob  er 
nieraal's  Unzu'cl)t:g:etriebea;habe?  Sie  ward  k^uiz  mit  I?,.eia  beaawortQt.— »M5t»'- 
sheieftvp.  IB2. 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIIT.  449 

talionii,   ( law  of  retaliation )  as  well  against  the  first  accuser^  as 
against  his  master,  Calvin,  who  has  made  the  cause  his  own. 

"  Done  in  your  prisons  of  Geneva,  this  15th  of  September,  1553. 

"Michael  Sekvetus, 
"  In  his  own  cause. '^ 

Tiberius  would  have  been  softened.  The  council  desired  that  a 
shirt  and  some  linen  should  be  given  to  Servetus,  but  Calvin  opposed 
it,  and  he  was  obeyed.*     It  is  not  a  Catholic  who  says  this. 

Then  the  unhappy  man,  bewildered  in  mind,  seized  a  pen,  and  drew 
up  the  articles  upon  which  he  wished  to  be  interrogated  : 

1.  If,  in  the  month  of  March  past,  he  (  Calvin  )  caused  a  letter  to 
be  written  to  Lyons  by  William  Trie,  full  of  things  about  Michael 
Villanovanus,  called  Servetus.  What  are  the  contents  of  the  letter, 
and  wherefore  ? 

2.  If,  with  said  letter,  he  sent  the  half  of  the  first  form  of  the  book 
of  said  Servetus,  on  which  were  the  title,  the  index  or  table,  and  some 
of  the  commencement  of  said  book,  entitled :  diristianisimi  Res- 
titutio. 

3.  If  all  this  were  not  sent  to  be  exhibited  to  the  officials  of  Ly- 
ons, to  have  the  said  Servetus  accused,  as  actually  happened. 

4.  If,  about  fifteen  days  after  said  letter,  he  sent  immediately, 
through  the  same  Trie,  more  than  twenty  epistles  in  Latin,  which  said 
Servetus  had  written  to  him  :  and  sent  them  in  consequence  of  the  re- 
quest of  those  persons,  that  the  said  Servetus  might  the  more  surely  be 
accused  and  convicted,  as  in  fact  followed. 

5.  If,  afterwards,  he  have  not  heard  that,  because  of  said  accusa- 
tions, the  said  Servetus  has  been  burned  in  effigy,  that  his  goods  were 
confiscated,  and  that  he  would  have  been  burned  in  person,  liad  he  not 
made  his  escape  from  prison. 

6.  If  he  be  not  well  aware  that  it  is  not  the  office  of  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  to  be  criminal  accuser,  or  to  prosecute  a  man  to  death  in  a 
court  of  justice. 

My  lords,  there  are  four  great  and  infallible  reasons  why  Calvin 
should  be  condemned. 

The  first  is,  because  matters  of  doctrine  are  not  subject  to  criminal 
prosecution,  as  I  have  shown  you  in  my  supplications,  and  as  I  could 
more  amply  prove  by  the  ancient  doctors  of  the  church.  Wherefore, 
he  has  greatly  abused  criminal  justice,  and  sinned  against  the  office  of 
minister  of  the  gospel. 

The  second  reason  is,  because  he  is  a  false  accuser,  as  the  present 
inscription  shows  to  us,  and  as  will  be  easily  proved  by  the  perusal  of 
my  book. 

The  third  is,  that,  by  frivolous  and  calumnious  reasons,  he  seeks  to 
oppress  the  truth  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  shall  be  manifested  to  you  by  refer- 
ence to  our  scriptures,  into  which  he  has  introduced  great  falsehoods, 
and  most  wicked  things. 

The  fourth  reason  is,  that,  in  great  part,  he  follows  the  teaching  of 
Simon  Magus,  contrary  to  all  the  doctors  that  ever  were  in  the  church. 

*  Galiffe,  Notices  ge.iealogiques,  t.  Ill,  p.  442. 

39* 


450 


LIFE    OF    J  OHM    CALVIN,. 


Wherefore,  magician  as  he  is,  he  ought  not  only  to  be  condemned,  but 
he  ought  to  be  exterminated   and   rooted   out   of  your   city.     And  his 
goods  ought  to  be  adjudged  to  me,  in  recompense  for  my  own,  which  he 
has  caused  me  to  lose,  for  which  thing,  my  lords,  I  entreat  you. 
Done,  the  abov«  day,   22d  September. 

Michael  Servetus, 
"  Jn  his  own  cause." 
No  answer,  was^  returned   to   his  petition.     He   again  wrote  to  his- 
judges : 

Very  honoured  seigniors, 

I  am  detained  under  criminal   prosecution  on  the  part  of  John 
Calvin,  who  has  falsely  accused  me,  saying  that  Lhave  written  : 

I.  That  souls  are  mortal ;  also, 

II.  That  Jesus  Christ  took  from  the  Virgin  Mary,  only  the  fourth 
part  of  his  body. 

These  are  horrible  and  execrable  blasphemies.  Among  all  here- 
sies, among  all  crimes,  none  is  so  great  as  to  make  the  soul  mortal,  for, 
to  all  others,  there  is  hope  of  salvation,  but  not  to  this.  Whoever  says- 
this,  does  not  believe  tlrnt  there  is  a  God,  and  admits  neither, justice,  the 
resurrection,  Jesus  Christ,  the  holy  scriptures,  nor  any  thing  else,  hold- 
ing that  every  thing  perishes,  and  that  man  is  one  with  the  brute.  Had 
I  said  this,  and  not,  only  said,  but  publicly  written  it,  to  deceive  the' 
world,  I  would  condemn  myself  to  death. 

Wherefore,  my  lords,  I  demand  that  my  false  accuser  be  punished  by- 
the  pcena  talionis,  and  be  detained  a  prisoner  like  myself,  till  the  cause- 
be  defined  by  death  to  him  or  myself,  or  some  other  penalty.  And  to 
effect  this,  I  inscribe  myself  against  him,  under  the  said  law  of  retalia- 
tion. And  I  am  satisfied  to  die,  if  he  be  not  convicted,  as  well  of  this- 
as  of  other  things,  for  which  I  shall  arraign  him.  I  ask  of  you  justice^ 
my  lords,  justice,  justice,  justice. 

Done  in  your  prisons,  September  22d,,l 553-. 

Michael   Servetus,. 
"  In  his  own  cause." 

Ever  the  same  silence. 

And  still  once  more  Servetus  cries  out  in  behalf  of  that  body,  which 
they  abandon  to  "miseries,"  that  he  dares  not  even  name. 

Magnificent  seigniors  : 

For  the  last  three  weeks,  I  have    been  desiring   and  entreating 
you  to  give  me  a  hearing,  and  have  never  been  able  to  obtain  one.     1 
beg  you,  for  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  do  not  refuse  me  what  you  would 
not  refuse  to  a  Turk,  who  asked  you  for  justice,     I  have  some  very  im-- 
portant  and  necessary  things  to  say  to  you. 

As  to  what  you  had  ordered,  that  something  should  be  done  to  keep 
me  clean,  no  attention  has  been  paid  to  it,  and  I  am  in  a  worse  con-' 
dition  than  ever.  And,  besides,  the  cold  torments  me  greatly,  be,cause 
of  my  colic  and  rupture,  which  brings  upon  me  other  miseries,  which 
I  should  be  ashamed  to  describe  to  you.  It  is  extreme  cruelty  that  I 
have  not  even  permissian  to  go  out  to  remedy  my  necessities.      For  the 


LTFE    OF    JCHN    CALVTi:-.  451" 

love  of  God,  my  lords,  give  ordeps  for  this,  or  else  from  pity  or  a  sense- 
of  duty. 

Done  in  your  prisons  of  Geneva,  October  the  tenth,  1553. 

Michael  Servetus. 

Always,  the  same  silence. 

On  the  21st  of  October,  the  tribunal  assembled  :  the  deliberations 
lasted  during  three  days.  Some  of  the  judges,  but  these  were  few  in 
number,  were  of  opinion,  that  the  punishment  should  be  imprisonment ; 
nearly  all  decided  for  capital  punishment.  The  kind  of  death  remain- 
ed to  be  determined  :  death  by  fire  obtained  the  majority.  At  first, 
Ami  Perrin  had  affected  to  be  sick,  in  order,  at  the  day  of  judgment, 
not  to  have  to  answer  for  the  blood  of  Servetus ;  but  this  blood  at 
length  clamoured  so  loudly,  that  Ami  arose  from  his  bed  and  came  to 
the  council. 

Calvin  has  dared  cast  a  stigma  on  this  glorious  action. 

"  Our  tragic  comedian,"  he  writes,  "after  having  feigned  to  be  sick 
during  three  days,  came  to  the  council,  in  order  to  save  this  wretch,  and 
blushed  not  to  demand  that  the  case  should  be  called  before  the  council 
of  the  Two  Hundred;  but  the  sentence  was  rendered  without  contro- 
versy.'^* 

"  The  sentence  having  been  passed,  with  the  advice  of  the  ministers 
of  the  churches,  they  handed  over  the  said  accused  Michael  Seivetus, 
to  the  good  will  of  Messieurs,  and  to  show  cause  from  day  to  day." 

On  the  morning  of  the-  26th  of  October,  they  came  to  warn  Serve- 
tus  that  the  sentence  of  the  judges  would  be  executed  on  the  next  day. 
At  this  terrible  information,  the  prisoner  began  to  weep  and  to  sue  for 
mercy.     Calvin  has  found  means  to  insult  these  tears. 

''  Let  not  blackguards,"  says  he,  *'boast  of  the  obstinacy  of  their 
hero,  as  if  it  were  a  martyr's  constancy.  It  is  the  stupidity  of  a  brute 
beast  that  he  exhibited^  when  they  came  to  inform  him  of  his  fate.  As 
soon  as  he  had  heard  the  sentence,  he  was  seen,  sometimes  with  fixed 
eye  like  an  idiot,  and  again  howling  like  a  madman.  He  ceased  not, 
after  the  manner  of  Spaniards,  to  bellow,  mercy  !  mercy  !"t 

Be  thou  praised,  Castalion  !  thou  hast  found  some- noble  words  with 
which  to  brand  Calvin. 

"  But  the  warrior  also>  trembles  at  the  sight  of  death,  and  his  alarm 
is  not  that  of  a  brute  !  Ezechias  sighed  when  they  came  to  announce 
to  hini)  a  death  less  cruel  than  the  one  destined  for  Servetus  !  Job, 
that  hero  of  patience,  caused  lamentations  to  resound  like  the  meanings 
of  a.  dove,  when  his  enemies  brought  him  infomiation  less  frightful  than 

*  Caesar  comicus,  simulato  per  triduum  morbo,  in  curiam  tandem  adscendit 
ut  sceleratum  istum  poena  eximeret.  Neque  enim  erubuit  petere  ut  cognitio 
sd  ducentos  veniret.     Sine  controversia  tamen  damnatus  est. — Ep-  ad  Far. 

t  Ceeterum  ne  male  feriati  nebulones,  vecordis  hominis  pervicacia  quasi 
martyrio  glorientur,  in  ejus  morte  apparuit  bcUuina  stupiditas^,  unde  judicium 
facere  liceret  nihil  unquam  serio  in  religionem  ipsum  egisse.  Ex  quo  mors 
ei  denuntiata  est,  nunc  attonito  similis  heerere,  nunc  alta  suspi'ria  edere,  nunc 
instar  lymphatici  ejulare.  Quod  postremum  tandem  sic  invaluit  ut  tantum 
hispanico  more  reboaret  wtSfirtcorfiiV,  misericordia, — Cal.  op.  Gen..  1597*  All.' 
woerden,  p.  101.. 


452  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVm.. 

that  heard  by  Servetus.     And  did  not  Christ,  from-  the  tree  of  the  cross^ 
exclaim  ;   My  God !  my  God  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?" 

On  the  next  day,  the  day  of  the  execution,  William  Farel,  by  order 
of  the  council,  presented  himself  to  accompany  Servetus  to  his  punish- 
ment. After  some  vain  words  to  procure  a  recantation,  the  minister  ad- 
vised  him  to  reconcile  himself  with  Calvin,  before  dying.  Servetus 
consented  to  see  the  reformer,  who  soon  made  his  appearance,  attended 
by  two  members  of  the  council. — What  do  you  want  with  me  ?  said 
Calvin  to  the  Spaniard. — To  ask  you  to  pardon  me,  if  I  have  offended 
you  ?* 

"  God  is  my  witness,"  replied  Calvin,  "that  I  have  not  retained 
memory  of  the  evil  that  may  have  been  done  me.  Towards  my  ene- 
mies,  I  have  only  employed  mildness ;  towards  yourself,  I  have  mani- 
fested  nothing  but  good  will,  and  you  have  responded  only  by  outrages. 
But  I  beg  you,  let  us  not  speak  of  me  :  you  have  no  time  except  to 
think  of  God,  and  to  recant." 

Servetus  kept  silence  :  Calvin  believed  his  part  ended,  and  took 
leave  of  the  unhappy  man  without  embracing  him. 

The  doors  of  the  prison  were  thrown  open.  The  people  were  moved 
to  compassion,  on  beholding  that  living  skeleton,  whose  head  had  be. 
come  white  amid  his  chains,  gazing  from  side  to  side,  as  if  he  had  ex- 
pected the  angel  of  the  Lord.  Some  eyes  were  even  moistened  with 
tears. 

The  procession  paused  before  the  city  hall,  and  the  clerk,  with  a 
loud  voice,  read  the  sentence  of  death.  Servetus  listened  in  silence. 
*'  We,  the  syndics,  judges  of  criminal  causes  and  of  the  city,  having 
seen  the  process  drawn  up  in  form,  and  brought  before  us,  at  the  in- 
stance of  our  lieutenant,  in  said  causes,  against  thee,  Michael  Serve- 
tus de  Villejieufve,  of  the  kingdom  of  Aragoii  in  Spain,  by  which, 
and  by  thy  voluntary  confessions  made  in  our  hands,  and  several  times 
reiterated,  and  books  produced  before  us,  it  is  to  us  manifest  and  evi- 
dent that  thou,  Michael  Servetus,  hast  for  a  long  time  set  forth  false 
and  fully  heretical  doctrine;  despising  all  remonstrance  and  correc- 
tion, thou  hast,  with  malicious  and  perverse  obstinacy,  perseveringly 
sown  and  propagated  it,  even  to  the  printing  of  public  books,  against 
God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  in  short,  against  the 
true  foundations  of  the  christian  religion,  and  for  this  hast  tried  to 
cause  schism  and  trouble  in  the  church  of  God,  whereby  many  souls 
may  have  been  ruined  and  lost :  a  thing  horrible  and  dreadful,  scan« 
dalous  and  infectious,  and  thou  hast  not  had  sham.e  or  horror  in  op- 
posing thyself  totally  to  the  Divine  Majesty  and  Holy  Trinity,  but 
hast  taken  pains,  and  exerted  thyself  obstinately  to  infect  the  world 
with  thy  heresies  and  thy  stinking  heretical  poison.  A  case  and  crime- 
of  grievous  heresy,  detestable,  and  meriting  grievous  corporal  punish- 
ment. For  these  causes,  and  other  just  ones  moving  us  to  this,  be- 
ing desirous  to  cleanse  the  church  of  God  from  such  infection,  and  to  cut 
ofif  from  it  such  a  rotten  member;  having  consulted  with  our  fellow 

*  Dasz  er  ihm  alles  dasjenige,  womit  er  ihm  b«leidiget»  verz^iken  mSge..— 
Mosheim»  p.  223. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  453 

"  citizens,  and  invoked  the  name  of  God,  to  give  a  righteous  judgment^ 
"  sitting  as  a  tribunal  in  the  place  of  our  elders,  having  God  and 
"  his  holy  scriptures  before  our  eyes,  saying  :  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
"and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  by  this,  our  definitive  sen- 
"  tence,  which  we  here  render  in  writing,  we  condemn  thee,  Michael 
"  Servetus,  to  be  bound  and  taken  to  the  place  de  Champel,  and  there 
"  to  be  attached  to  a  stake,  and  burned  alive,  with  thy  book,  as  well 
"  written  with  thy  hand  as  printed,  until  thy  body  be  reduced  to  ashes ; 
"  and  thus  shall  thy  days  be  ended,  to  give  an  example  to  others,  who 
"  might  wish  to  commit  like  offence.  And  to  you,  our  lieutenant,  we 
"  commend  our  present  sentence,  commanding  you  to  put  the  same 
"  into  execution." 

When  the  reading  of  the  sentence  was  concluded,  a  valet  struck, 
with  his  staff,  the  condemned  man,  who  fell  upon  both  knees  exclaim- 
ing :  *-'The  sword !  in  mercy  !  and  not  fire  !  or  I  might  lose  my  soul 
in  despair!  ....  If  I  have  sinned,  it  is  through  ignorance/'  Farel 
raised  him  up  and  said  to  him,  urging  him  :  ''confess  thy  crime  and 
God  will  have  mercy  on  thy  soul." — I  am  not  guilty,  replied  Servetus, 
I  have  not  merited  death  ;  may  God  be  ray  help  and  forgive  me  my 
sins.  "In  that  case,  said  the  minister,  I  must  abandon  thee."  Ser- 
vetus, became  afraid,  and  was  silent.  At  intervals  he  lifted  up  his 
eyes  to  heaven,  and  murmured  :  "  0  Jesus,  son  of  the  living  God, 
mercy  !  mercy  !"  * 

Having  reached  the  place  of  punishment,  Servetus  fell  on  his  face 
upon  the  earth,  uttering  frightful  yells. 

Farel  turned  towards  the  people,  to  whom  with  his  finger  he  indicated 
the  unhappy  man,  who  was  biting  the  dust  with  his  lips. — "Behold  ! 
said  he  to  the  spectators  :  that  man  whom  they  are  about  to  burn,  is  a 
learned  man,  who  perhaps  wanted  to  teach  nothing  but  the  truth  ;  but 
behold  him  in  the  hands  of  the  devil,  who  will  not  release  his  grasp. f 

*  Die  Geschichte  des  Michael  Servetus.  1.  Buch.  p.  222,  and  the  followingr: 
The  account  of  the  last  moments  of  this  heresiarch  is  taken  from  an  unedited 
letter  of  Farel  to  Ambrosius  Blauren,  which  Henr.  Hottinger  has  cite  1  in  his 
history  of  the  Swiss  reformation,  p,  804,  and  from  the  Historia  demorte  trucu- 
lenta  Michaelis  Serveti  hispani,  inserted  in  the  work  entitled  :  Contra  libel- 
lum  Calvini  quo  ostendere  conatur  haereticos  jure  gladii  coereendos  esse,  p. 

t  The  anonymous  writer,  who  has  refuted  the  book  of  Calvin  Je  harelicis. 
vuniendls,  makes  use  of  the  recital  of  Farel  to  prove  that  Servetus  was  not 
guilty  of  error.  "Si  quid  male  scripserat  errans  fecerat,  sicut  ipsemet  Farel- 
lus  ad  populum  ante  rogum  Serveto  testatus  est."  Contra  libellum  Calvini, 
p.  68. 

This,  moreover,  is  not  the  only  Protestant  testimony  which  is  favourable  to 
Servetus. 

M.  R.  Watson,  author  of  a  history  of  the  life  of  Wesley,  several  times  re- 
printed, quotes  a  passage  extracted  from  a  manuscript  journal,  in  which  Wes- 
ley affirms  that  he  had  read  in  the  collection  of  the  acts  in  the  prosecution  of 
Servetus,  found  in  the  Bodleian  library,  this  confession  of  the  unfortunate 
Spaniard:  "  I  believe  that  the  Father  is  God,  that  the  Son  is  God,  that  the 
Holv  Ghost  is  God." 

Wesley,  after  a  confession  so  formal,  believes  himself  justified  in  accusing^ 
Calvin  of  calumny. 

From  this  account  of  Watson,  it  would  appear  that  the  acts  of  the  trial  of 


454  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Keep  good  watch  over  yourselves,  for  fear  satan  should  do  the  same 
with  you." 

Then  the  minister  bending  down  to  the  ear  of  Servetus,  who  had 
risen  and  was  kneeling,  said  to  him  :  "  Servetus,  there  is  still  time, 
wilt  thou  make  the  avowal  of  thy  crimes,  and  recommend  thyself  to 
the  eternal  Son  of  God  ?" — Servetus  murmured  :  "  To  Gcxl !  to  God"  ! 
— "  Is  that  all  ?  resumed  Farel."  The  victim  looked  at  him  fixedly 
and  replied.  *'  What  do  you  want  from  me  ?  To  whom  can  I  better 
recommend  my  soul  than  to  God,  my  creator  ?"  Farel  continued  :. 
"  There  is  a  notary  here  who  will  note  thy  last  wishes  ;  hast  thou  left 
a  wife  and  children  ?"  The  victim  shook  his  head.  The  minister  ad- 
ded :  "Dost  thou  not  wish  to  recommend  thyself  to  the  prayers  of 
those  assisting?"  Servetus  said,  yes,  and  Farel  exclaimed  :  "Servetus 
here  asks  you  to  pray  for  his  soul ;"  and,  drawing  near  to  the  sentenced 
man,  he  conjured  him  for  the  last  time  to  confess  Jesus  Christ  the  eter- 
nal  Son  of  God  :  the  Spaniard's  lips  remained  closed.  Then,  Farel, 
turning  towards  the  people,  said  with  a  loud  voice ;  "  Hearken,  Satan 
is  about  to  seize  upon  this  soul  ;"*  and  he  went  away  to  some  distance.. 

At  Ghampel  there  was  a  stake  deeply  fixed  in  the  ground.  To  this 
they  bound  Servetus  by  means  of  an  iron  chain.  His  neck  was  fast- 
ened with  four  or  five  turns  of  a  thick  rope ;  his  head  was  covered 
with  a  crown  of  straw  well  sprinkled  with  sulphur;  the  book  of  the 
Trinity  was  suspended  to  the  stake.  He  remained  a  long  time  in  this 
attitude,  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  an  immense  crowd.  He  besought  the 
executioner  to  abridge  the  preparations  for  punishment.  The  execu. 
tioner,  whose  hand  trembled  while  amassing  round  the  victim,  in  the 
form  of  a  circle,  fagots  of  green  wood,  was  unable  to  proceed  faster. 
He  put  fire  to  the  pile,  which  ignited  slowly,  and  the  flame  of  which 
blazed  and  enveloped  the  Spaniard  with  a  luminous  net-work.  The 
feet  of  the  sufferer  were  concealed  in  the  fiery  focus,  his  head  swam 
amid  clouds  of  sulphur  and  smoke,  through  which  his  lips  could  be 
seen  moving  in  prayer.  At  the  moment  that  the  flames  rose  up  to 
devour  his  face,  he  uttered  a  IjowI  so  frightful,  that  the  silence  of  death 
fell  upon  the  iiTimense  multitude.  Some  of  the  people,  moved  with 
compassion,  ran  to  aid  the  executioner,  and  to  stiffle  Servetus  under 
flaming  fagots.  But  one  more  murmur  was  heard  :  •'  Jesus,  eternal 
i>on,  have  mercy  on  me."  Servetus  appeared  before  God — and  Cal- 
vin closed  the  window  where  he  had  come  to  seat  himself  to  assist  at 
the  last  agonies  of  his  enemy.f  In  returning  to  his  lodgings,  the  re- 
former collected  in  his  mind  the  elements  of  the  book  destined  to  just^ 
tify  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  reformed  world.  The  book  made  its 
appearance  in   1554,    under  the   title  :     A  faithful  exposition  of  the 

Servetus,  have  passed  from  Geneva  to  England;  but  at  what  epoch,  and  how? 
This  is  not  indicated. 

The  proceedings,  against  Servetus  which  formerly  existed  in  the  archives 
of  the  Archbishopric  of  Vienne,  are  no  longer  found  there.  The  revolution  (\ 
93,  has  dispersed  all  the  records. 

♦  Calvin  a  Geneve,  p.  230-231 . 

t  James  Fazy,  Essai  d'um  precis  sur  I'hist.  de  la  republique  de  Geneve,  t»  ,' 
p.  276;  d'Artigny,  p.  152. 


LIFE    or    JOHIf    CALVIN.  455 

errors  of  Michael  Servetus,  and  a  brief  refutation  of  the  same,  ivherein 
is  taught  that  heretics  are  to  be  coerced  by  the  right  of  the  sword. 

He  stood  in  need  of  absolution  from  the  guilt  of  blood,  shed  in  con- 
tempt of  all  laws  human  and  divine ;  for,  a  usurper,  at  Geneva,  of  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  power,  stained  with  heresy,  a  stranger  to  the 
city,  he  had  no  right  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  Servetus,  whose  crime, 
moreover,  ought  to  have  been  punished  only  in  the  place  where  it  had 
been  committed. 

The  people,  horrified,  withdrew  in  silence,  and  Farel  left  Geneva 
and  returned  to  Neuchatel. 

Some  days  previously  he  had  written  to  Calvin  :  "  I  cannot  com- 
prehend how  you-  could  hesitate  to  kill  corporally  a  wretch,  who  has 
killed  so  many  christians  spiritually  !  I  cannot  believe  that  there  are 
judges  sufficiently  wicked  to  ispare  the  blood  of  that  infamous  heretic."* 

The  copy  of  the  Christianisimi  Restitutio,  which  we  have  used  in 
writing  this  biography,  belonged  to  CoUadon,  one  of  the  judges  of 
Servetus,  "who  decided  for  the  torture,  even  after  the  confession  of  the 
accused,  in  order  to  learn  something  more."!  Upon  the  title  page  is 
found  the  name  of  the  jurist.  The  heart  is  wrung  with  compassion  on 
beholding  this  mute  witness  of  the  agonies  of  the  Spaniard.  In  it, 
we  behold  the  heretical  passages  which  the  eye  of  Calvin  has  detected 
in  the  volume,  and  which  are  recognized  by  the  transversal  lines  traced 
by  the  pen  of  CoUadon.  What  hand  has  rescued  the  pamphlet,  the 
margins  of  which  still  bear  the  marks  of  the  flames  ?±     We  know  not. 


»  FarelL  Calv.,  8  septembre  1552.  Calv.  ep.,  p.  156. 

t  Galiffe,  t.  II,  p.  566. 

'\  At  the  head  of  the  work  there  is  a  Latin  note  signed  Mead,  and  thus 
conceived : 

Fuit  hie  liber  D.  CoUadon  qui  ipse  nomen  suum  adscripsit.  Ille  vero  simul 
cumCalvino  inter  judices  sedebat  qui  auctorem  Servetum  flammis  damnarunt. 
Ipse  indicem  in  fine  confecit.  Et  porro  in  ipso  opere  lineis  ductis  hie  et  illic 
notavit  verba  quibus  ejus  blasphemias  et  errores  coargueret. 

Hoc  exemplar  unicum  quantum  scire  licet  flammis  servatum  restat:  omnia 
enim  quae  reperire  poterat  auctoritate  sua  ut  comburerentur  curavit  Calvinus. 

The  index,  placed  at  the  end  of  the  volume  and  written  in  the  hand  of  Col- 
ladon,  commences  thus: 
Index 

Horum  quae  in  impurissimo  hocce  opere  continentur. 

CoUadon  had  read  this  book  attentively;  for  in  various  passages  he  has 
marked  typographical  faults,  of  which  no  mention  is  made  in  the  Errata. 

Mead,  physician  to  the  king  of  England,  does  not  tell  us  the  origin  of  his 
copy. 

The  bales,  addressed  from  Vienne  to  Merrin,  the  typefounder  of  Lyons< 
containing  a  part  of  the  book  of  Servetus,  were  found  untouched  in  the  shop 
of  the  founder,  and  burned  at  Vienne;  the  copies,  sent  from  Lyons  to  Frank- 
fort, were  destroyed  by  the  agent  to  whom  Frellon  had  addressed  them,  as  is 
apparent  from  a  passage  of  one  of  Calvin's  letters. 

Verum  institor  typographi  vir  pius  et  integer  quum  admonitus  foret  nihil  hie 
praeter  immensam  errorum  farraginem  contineri,  suppressit  quidquid  habebat. 
—Gen.,  6  cal.  sept.  1553. 

The  books  of  Servetus,  says  Grotius,  were  burned  at  Geneva  and  else- 
where, through  the  agency  of  Calvin; 

Serveti  libri  nonGenevse  tantum,  sed  et  aliisin  locis  perCalvini  diligentiam 
exusti  sunt.— In  voto  pro  pace^  Op.  <.  IV,  p.  655, 


CHAPTER  XLl 


THE  REFORMATION  AND  THE  BLOOl)  OF  SEKVETyS. 

X.etter  of  Calvin  to  Farel,  1546. — History  of  this  document. — George  David 
writes  to  his  brethren  of  Holland  in  favour  of  the  Spaniard. — The  Helvetia 
churches  consultedv^*-Advice  of  Berne,  Schafl'house,  Bale,  Zurich. — Me- 
lancthon  and  Bucer  congratulate  Calvin.«^Castalion  attacks  the  reformer's 
pamphlet,  de  Hctrelicis  puniendis. 

In  1546,  long  previously  lo  the  punishment  of  Servetus,  Calvin  said 
to  Farel  : 

*'  Servetus  has  written  to  me  lately,  and  to  his  letter  has  added  a 
large  book  of  his  reveries,  with  certain  arrogant  boastings,  that  I  should 
see  in  it  things  until  now  unheard  of,  and  ravishing.  He  promises  to 
come  here,  if  I  agree  to  it ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  pledge  my  word ;  for, 
if  he  come,  and  if  my  authority  be  considered,  I  shall  not  permit  him 
to  escape  without  losing  his  life." 

We  here  quote  the  translation  of  Varillas. 

In  1687,  this  historian  wrote  (Revolutions  that  have  taken  place  in 
Europe  in  matters  of  religion,  tome  8.  in-12):  "  The  publication  of 
the  letters  and  little  tracts  of  Calvin,  in  which  he  avows  in  express 
terms  that  the  prosecution  of  Servetus  was  instituted  by  his  advice,  has 
not  deterred  Drelincourt  and  several  other  ministers  from  an  attempt  to 
justify  him.  But  that  their  brethren  may  no  more  undertake  a  cause  so 
desperate,  we  here  warn  them,  that  all  the  letters  of  Calvin,  regarding 
the  matter  in  question,  have  not  been  printed,  and  that  one  exists,  the 
original  of  which  is  in  safe  hands.  It  was  addressed  to  Farel  in  1546, 
that  is  to  say,  seven  entire  years  previously  to  the  trial  of  Servetus. 
In  it,  appears  a  resolution  maturely  formed  to  destroy  him,  and  for 
which  only  the  opportunity  was  wanted." 

Grotius  had  seen  it  in  the  library  of  Paris.* 

UUembogoert  had  read  it  at  Paris  in  the  library  of  the  king. 

Yet,  even  till  this  day  the  existence  of  that  letter  had  been  obstinate- 
ly denied.  Mosheim,  in  his  "history  of  heresies"  proves  admirably 
that  it  is  apocryphal :  and  when  one  has  read  some  of  the  arguments 
of  the  German  writer  it  is  difficult  not  to  doUbt  it.  It  was  worth 
while  to  verify  a  fact  of  sftch  great  importance.  Our  researches  have 
not  been  fruitless  :  the  letter  is  in  the  library  of  the  king  (  Bibliothe- 
que  du  Roi)  in  the  chamber  of  manuscripts,  n.    101-102,  of  the  Du- 

•  HoTum  Calvinus  autem  is  est  qui  antequam  Servetus  veniret  Genevanf 
scripsit  (  exstat  istius  Lutetise  manus)  ad  Farcllum,  si  quid  sua  Valeret  auctof 
iias  effecturum  ne  vivus  abiret.— Grotius,  t,  IV,  p.  503. 


LIFE    Of    JOHN    CALVIK.  457 

puy  collection  ;  it  is  entirely  in  Calvin's  hand,  and  very  difficult  to  be 
read,  as  is  every  thing  written  by  the  reformer  ;  it  is  dated  February, 
15-46;     We  present  it  in  a  note.* 

Of  Avhat  use  here  would  bean  angry  commentary?  A  few  lines 
will  suffice. 

In  1546,  the  reformer  wrote  :  "  If  Serv^etus  come  to  Geneva,  he 
shall  not  leave  it  alive.'"' 

An  age  later,  Drelincourt  printed  these  words  : 

"  They  reproach  Calvin  with  the  death  of  Servetus,  the  Spaniard  of 
cursed  memory ;  but  it  is  with  great  injustice.  On  this  score,  not  the 
slightest  word  can  be  said  against  him." 


*  S.  De  fratrib'js  quieto  nunc  animo  eris  post  acceptas  Claudii  literas. 
Nuncius  qui  attulerat,  cum  a  concione  redirem  post  horam  nonam,  rogavit  an 
mese  esseat  paratae;  negavi,  sed  jussi  ut  domi  meee  pranderet  cum  uxore 
( eram  enim  ipse  invitatus  a  Macrino).  Statim  a  prandio  adfuturum  me 
promisi  ut  paucis  responderem.  Non  venit,  sed  momento  se  proripuit  ut  stu- 
perem  tarn  subito  discessu.  Et  taraen  visus  mihi  fuerat  juvenis  alioqui  non 
malus.  Utinam  cogitent  fratres  sibi  omnes  difficultatesitaexpediri  Dei  manu 
quo  citius  festinent.  Non  oportuit  cessare  Israelitas  cum  patefactus  illis  esset 
exitus,  quin  mox  ad  fugam  se  accingerent.  Hoc  fuissel  epistolae  argumentum 
nisi  nuncius  me  fefelliset.     Verum  ultro  eos  ardere  confido. 

Nunc  venio  ad  vestra  certamina.  Si  quid  adhuc  raolestiae  vobis  improbi 
faccssant,  cum  istae  literes  venient,  breviter  complexus  sum  quaenam  agendi 
ratio  mihi  placeat.  Velim  autem  primum  agi  viva  voce;  deinde  hoc  scriptum 
aut  simile  tradi.  Ridebitis  forte  quod  nihil  nisi  vulgare  proferam,  cum  a  me 
reconditum  aliquid  et  sublime  expectaveritis.  At  ego  me  vestra  opinione  ob- 
stringi  nolo,  neque  etiam  aequum  est.  Malui  tamen  ineptus  esse  ita  scribendo 
quam  tacendo  committere,  ut  preces  vestras  a  me  neglectas  putaretis.  Si  ra- 
tionibus  et  hac  legitima  via  nihil  fuerit  effectum,  clam  apud  Bernates  agen- 
dum erit  ne  feram  illam  ex  cavea  emiitant.  De  federe  non  satis  assequor 
mentem  tuam,  nisi,  quod  suspicor,  quo  Bernates  auxilio  vobis  sint  te  ad  ali- 
quam  conjunctionem  animum  adjicere.  Ut  quemadmodum  jure  civitatis  lib- 
ertatem  populi  tuentur,  ita  honesto  aliquo  titulo  tueantur  ministros  in  officio 
suo.  Si  id  est  non  improbo;  modo  memineritis  ai  Ace  extraordinaria  remedi* 
tunc  demum  esse  confugiendum,  ubl  ultimx  necessitatis  est  excusatio.  Deinde 
ut  omnes  cautiones  adhibeatis  ne  quid  in  posterum  vobis  noceat  semel  fuisse 
adjutos,  ac  pactionis  nunc  translatee  ma^is  vos  pceniieat  quam  pristine  servi> 
tutis.  Marcurlius  certe  jam  locum  sibi  despondit.  Fratrum  enim  consensum 
nihil  se  morari  preedicat  quia  a  magistratu  et  populo  expetatur,  nee  fremere  in 
te  dubitat.  Denique  cum  ante  tempus  malitiam  animi  sui  prodat,  machinis 
omnibus  repellendus  est,  ne  emergat  in  locum  unde  efficere  quod  minatur  pos- 
sit.  De  iis  qui  sub  prassidii  specie  perpetuam  dominationis  sedem  tigere  hie 
volebant  rumores  sinamus  in  utramque  partem  vagari.  Civiliter  et  placide 
occursum  est  eorum  impudentiae,  ita  ut  eos  sui  pigere  debeat;  spero  quieiuros 
nostris  quantum  possum  suadere  ut  securi  dormiant.  Servetus  nuper  ad  me 
scripsit  ac  Uteris  adjunxit  longum  volumen  suorum  deliriorum  cum  Thrasoni- 
ca  jactantia  me  stupcnda  et  hactenus  inaudita  visurum.  Si  mihi  placeat  hue 
se  venturum  recipit.  Sed  nolo  fidem  meara  interpouere;  nam  si  veiurit^  modo 
valeat  mea  authoritas,  vivum  exire  nunquam  patiar. 

Jam  elapsi  sunt  ultra  quindecim  dies  ex  quo  Cartularius  in  carcere  tenetur, 
propterea  quod  tanta  protervia  domi  sues  inter  cenandum  adversum  me  debac- 
chatus  est,  ut  constet  non  fuisse  tunc  mentis  corapotem.  Ego  dissimulanler 
tuli  nisi  quod  testatus  sum  judicibus,  mihi  nequaquam  gratum  fore  si  cum  eo 
summo  in  re  agerent.  Volui  eum  invisere;  senatus  decreto  prohibitus  fuit 
nditus.  Et  tamen  boni  quidam  viri  scilicet  me  crudelitatis  insimulant,  quod 
tam  pertinaciter  meas  injurias  ulciscar.  Rogatus  sum  ab  ejus  amicis  ut  de- 
precatoris  partes  suspicereia,  facturum  me  segavi,  nisi  his  duabus  exception!- 

39 


458  I/IFE    OF    JOHN    0ALT7N. 

Whilst  the  trial  was  pending,  George  David*  addressed  to  his  breth* 
ren  of  Holland  and  Switzerland,  a  letter  quite  full  of  tears,  in  behalf  of 
the  poor  prisoner.  George,  driven  away  from  his  own  country,  risked 
his  own  life  in  his  wish  to  save  that  of  his  brother  of  Geneva.  Sale 
would  have  had  no  mercy  on  an  exile,  who  should  have  pleaded  the? 
cause  of  Seivetus;  George  was  aware  of  this,  and  concealed  himself 
under  the  name  of  John  de  Bruck.  The  secret  was  not  known  tili 
after  his  death ;  and  then  the  ministers  demanded  that  the  body  of 
George  should  be  exhumed,  that  it  should  be  burned,  and  the  ashes 
scattered  to  the  winds,  and  the  senate  obeyed  them. 

The  letter  of  George  came  too  late  :  the  heart  of  the  reformed 
churches  was  closed  against  pity.     They  had  been  consulted,  and 

Zurich  had  replied  : — Divine  Providence  has  furnished  you  with  a 
very  fine  opportunity  to  prove  to  the  world,  that  neither  your  church 
nor  ours  favours  heretics  :  vigilance  and  activity  :  may  the  contagiorj 
of  the  the  pest  be  arrested,  and  may  Christ  illumine  you  with  his  wis- 
dom."! 

ScHAFFHOusE  : — We  are  certain  that  you  will  exert  all  your  efforts 
to  prevent  heresy  from  devouring,  like  a  cancer,  the  flesh  of  the  chris- 
tian body.  Let  there  be  no  disputes.  To  dispute  with  a  senseless: 
man,  is  to  be  foolish  with  fools. "| 

Bale  : — To  heal  the  soul  of  the  unhappy  man,  you  will  employ  all 
the  wisdom  that  God  has  given  you  ;  if  he  be  incurable,  you  will  have 
recourse  to  that  power  with  which  God  has  armed  you,  that  the  church 
of  Christ  may  cease  from  suffering,  and  that  new  crimes  may  not  be 
added  to  old  ones."§ 

Beene  :  May  God  give  you  the  spirit  of  prudence  and  of  fortitude, 
by  the  aid  of  which,  you  may  be  able  to  rid  both  your  own  church  and 
ours  from  such  a  pest."|| 

Servetus  having  been  burned,  then  came  the  songs  of  bloody  tri- 
umph. 

Melancthon  wrote  to  Calvin  • 

"  Reverend  personage,  and  my  very  dear  brother,  I  return  thanks  to 
the  Son  of  God,  who  has  been  the  spectator  and  the  judge  of  your  com- 
bat, and  who  will  be  the  rewarder  thereof :  The  church  also,  both 
now  and  in  time  to  come,  will  owe  you  her  gratitude.  I  am  entirely 
of  your  opinion,   and  I  hold  it  as  certain,  that   things  having  been  done 

bus,  ne  quse  suspicio  in  mc  rcsideret,   atque  utChristi   honor  maneret  salvus. 
Jam  defunctus  sum.     Expccto  quid  senatus    pronunciet. 

Vale  frater  et  amice  integcrrime;  cum  sororibus  nostri  omnes  vos  salutanr. 
Fralribus  dices  plurimam  salutem  meo  et  symniistarura  nomine. 

Dominusvobis  semper  ac  vestris  Sanctis  laboribus  benedicat. 
Genevae  idibus  februarii  1546. 

JOAA'XES   CaLVINUS    tUUS. 

*  Den  edeien,  gestrensfhen,  crenuesten,  vromcn  und  wysen  Herren  der 
evangeliischcr  Steden  iu  Swytserland. 

t  Refut.  err.  Scrveti,  724.     Ep.  et  Rosp.,  n.  T59,  p.  297. 

t  Cal.  Resp.  etEp.  158,  p.  296. 

J"Ep.  et  Rcsp.,  n.  160,  p.  302. 

II  Mos'u'im,  p.  214.  Schelhorn,  has  given  a  more  explicit  reply  of  the  Ber- 
nese min's'ers  in  his  acta  historico-eccles,  sec'iili  XV,  and  XVI,  p.  217. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  459 

in  order,  your  magistrates  have  acted  according  to  law  and  justice  in 
putting  this  blasphemer  to  death.''* 

And  Bucer  ;  "  Servetus  deserved  to  have  his  bowels  drawn  out  and 
torn  to  pieces. "t 

But  Calvin's  canticle  is  a  real  poem,  in  which,  to  justify  the  murder 
of  his  enemy,  he  invokes  Moses,  Aaron,  the  prophets,  Jesus,  the  apos- 
tles, the  Old  and  j^ew  Testaments,  the  two  legislations,  the  Hebrew, 
and  the  christian.  One  is  in  marvel  at  the  sound  of  all  these  glorious 
names  which  Calvin  cites  :  il  is  an  endless  choir  of  doctors,  fathers, 
even  popes,  with  whom  he  is  acquainted,  and  whose  testimony  he  pro- 
duces. He  has  forgotten  bat  one  thing,  viz  :  his  book  of  Institutes, 
where  in  so  many  passages,  now  effaced,  he  formerly  defended  the 
heretic  against  the  sword  of  the  law. 

Happily,  an  old  schoolmaster  of  Geneva,  Castalion,  essayed  to  give 
Calvin  a  lesson  of  tolerance  and  of  memory.  Concealed  under  the 
pseudonyme  of  Martinus  Bellius,  against  Calvin's  writing  regarding 
the  punishment  of  heretics  by  the  sword,  he  published  various  pam- 
phlets, in  which  he  shows  himself  serious  without  pedantry,  Jocose 
without  triteness,  devout  without  hypocrisy  :  It  is  Aristophanes,  dis- 
coursing upon  matters  of  theology.  Castalion  has  here  taken  good 
care  to  breathe  neither  the  spirit  of  Luther  nor  of  Tetzel.  To  give 
more  life  to  his  Avord,  he  sometimes  has  recourse  to  the  dialogue.  He 
imagines  a  drama  with  two  actors,  Vaticanus  and  Calvin.  The  reform- 
er could  not  complain  :     Castalion  cites  him  verbatim. 

We  remember,  that,  at  the  moment  he  was  going  to  death,  Servetus 
wished  to  see  Calvin,  who  went  into  the  prison,  attended  by  two  coun- 
selors; and  then  a  strange  scene  took  place  :  Servetus  asked  pardon  of 
the  minister,  who,  calling  God  to  witness,  protested  "that  he  never 
thought  of  avenging  personal  injuries ;  that  meekness  is  the  only 
weapon  that  he  has  employed  to  reclaim  the  unfortunate  man ;  that 
already,  sixteen  years  since,  he  essayed,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  to  save 
a  soul  that  was  rushing  to  its  ruin."$ 

Vaticanus  does  not  allow  him  to  conclude  :  § 

*•  In  truth  !  you  are  about  to  be  made  acquainted  wiih  the  good  will 
of  Calvin  for  Servetus.  In  the  commencement  of  his  commentaries 
on  St.  John,  there  is  a  preface,  in  which  Robert  Estienne  eulogizes  the 
meekness  of  the  reformer,  in  magnificent  terms.  I  open  the  book,  and 
in  the  very  first  pages,  behold  what  I  read  :  *•'  Servetus,  that  Spanish  ras- 
cal," *'  Servetus  superbissimus  gente  hispana  7iebulo.'*  I  extract  an- 
other example  from  the  book  on  scandals.  Liber  de  Scandalis,  p.  59  : 

"  From  these  pages,  replete  with  the  drivel  and  bitings  of  this  mad 
dog,  (he  is  speaking  of  Servetus),  you  may  judge  what  spirit  animates 
the  writer  :  with  a  stomach  craving   glory,  he  swallows  the  most  silly 

*  Drelincourt,  Defense  de  Calvin,  p.  285. 

t  id.  ib. 

X  Me  nunquam  privatas  iujurias  persecutum;...,  quanta  potui  niansHetu^ 
dine  admonuil  Defensio  ortliodoxae  tidei....  ubi  ostenditur  haereticos  juts' 
gladli  coercendos  esse. 

^  Contra  libellum  Calvini,  in  quo  ostendere  conatur  haBfetioos  jure  gladii 
cajrceaJos  esse. 


4.60  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

follies  and  becomes  intoxicated  with  them."*  Come  now,  he  that  chooses 
may  believe  that  Calvin  offered  his  life,  as  he  says,  to  save  this  hydro- 
phobic dog ! 

CALVIN. 

As  1  perceived  that  my  exhortations  were  useless,  I  did  not  want  to 
be  wiser  than  the  rule,  and,  according  to  the  precept  of  the  Apostle  St. 
Paul,  I  abandoned  the  heretic. 

VATIC  ANUS. 

This  is  the  holy  rule  :  Admonish  the  guilty  person  secretly, — after- 
wards, call  one  or  two  witnesses, — then  denounce  him  to  the  church. 
You  have  proceeded  differently  :  insults, — the  prison, — the  stake. 

CALVIN. 

Let  us  shed  tears  over  the  present  condition  of  the  papistical  church, 
which  can  only  sustain  itself  by  violence,  and  where  the  pastors,  forget- 
ting the  sacred  duties  of  their  office,  have  nothing  but  laws  of  severity 
to  promulgate. 

VATICANUS. 

Thy  hands  were  still  dripping  with  the  blood  of  Servetus,  when  thou 
wrotest  these  lines  !  But  thou,  also,  the  pastor  of  the  Genevese  church, 
nay,  the  intruding  pastor,  thou  hast  nothing  but  severity.  Here  is  an 
edict,  decreed  on  a  certain  occasion,  when  a  man,  named  Trouillet,  was 
bold  enough  to  criticise  thy  Institutes  : 

''After  having  heard  in  council  the  learned  ministers  of  the  word  of 
God,  masters  William  Farel  and  Peter  Viret,  and  after  them,  the  re- 
spectable  master  Jehan  Calvin  and  master  Jehan  Trouillet,  and  their 
sayings  and  reproaches,  regarding  the  Christian  Institutes  of  said  M. 
Calvin,  having  been  often  debated,  and  all  things  having  been  well  con- 
sidered, the  council  decrees  and  concludes  that  all  things  having  been 
well  heard  and  understood,  it  has  pronounced  and  declared  the  said 
book  of  Institutes  of  said  M.  Calvin  well  and  holily  made ;  his  doc- 
trine, the  holy  doctrine  of  God ;  that  he  be  held  as  good  and  true  min- 
ister  of  this  city,  and  that,  for  the  future,  no  one  here  presume  to  speak 
against  said  book  or  its  holy  doctrine.  We  enjoin  on  such  persons, 
and  on  all,  the  duty  of  being  guided  by  this.  Wednesday,  which  was 
the  ninth  of  November,  in  the  year  one  thousand  live  hundred  and  fifty, 
two." 

Writers  have  been  found  sufficiently  blind  to  undertake  a  justifica- 
tion of  Calvin,  but  of  all  stains,  that  of  blood  is  the  most  difficult  to  be 
removed.  At  Chateau  de  Blois,  they  still  show  the  spot  which  Guise- 
reddened  with  his  blood  in  falling  under  the  poniard  of  Henry  III. 
Not  long  since,  at  Geneva,  the  pastor,  Jocob  Vernet,  implored  M.  de 
Chapeaurouge  to  communicate  to  him  the  papers  containing  the  records 
of  the  prosecution  of  Servetus.  M.  de  Chapeaurouge,  secretary  of 
state,  presented  this  rer^uest  to  the  council,    which  refused  it.     M.  Yeu 


Ibid. 


LIFE    OF   JOriK    CALVIK.  461 

net  insisted.  ''He  desired,"  says  M.  Galiffe,  *'to  prove  that  they  had 
liOt  refused  a  coat  and  linen  to-  Servetus,  for  his  money."  Tke  syndio, 
Calandrini,  replied  to  the  pastor.  Here  is  the  letter,,  whichs  M.  Goa- 
lifFe  has  in  his  possession,  and  which  maiy  be  read  in  tke  third  volume 
of  his  Notices  gejiealogiques : 
"  Sir,  and  very  dear  cousin, 

"  The  council,  interested  in  preventing  the  criintnal  proceedings 
against  Servetus  from  being  made  public,  does  not  wish  them  to  be 
communicated,  either  altogether  or  in  part,  to  any  person  ;  the  literary^ 
character  of  a  man  can  obtain  him  no  privilege  in  regard  to  this.  The- 
conduct  of  Calvin  and  of  the  council,  known  from  the  Notes  on  the- 
History  of  Geneva,  is  such,  that  it  wishes  every  thing  to  be  buried  in 
profound  oblivion.  Calvin  is  not  excusable  ;  Servetus  placed  the  light 
before  his  eyes,  concerning  the  conduct  which  should  be  pursued  in  re- 
gard to  heretics,  and  has  not  allowed  him  to  avail  himself  of  the  plea  of 
invincible  ignorance.  M.  de  la  Chapelle  has  justified  him,  the  best  he 
could,  from  the  reproach  of  having  been  instigator  of  the  process  insti- 
tuted against  Servetus  at  Vienne.  For  this,  he  has  supposed  a  fact, 
which  was  to  be  proved  by  our  registers,  but  which  they  will  not  prove. 
You  think  to  justify  by  our  registers  the  severity  exercised  towards  Ser- 
vetus, in  his  prison,  and  from  these  same  registers  you  would  find  that 
those  favourable  orders  were  not  executed  ;  that,  in  fine,  after  the  event, 
Calvin,  instead  of  bitterly  deploring  it,  maintains  a  thesis,  which  no 
christian  can  defend,  and  that  too,  by  arguments  unworthy  of  so  great 
a  man,  even  in  the  opinion  of  M.  de  la  Chapelle.  Avail  yourself  cf 
the  excuse  afforded  by  your  sickness,  to  dispense  yourself  from  a  work 
which  can  only  be  prejudicial  to  religion,  to  the  reformation,  and  to 
your  country,  or  which  would  be  little  conformable  to  truth.  The 
trivial  reason,  that  the  reformation  was  not  regarded  as  the  protector  of 
anti-Trinitarians,  may  have  closed  the  eyes  of  Calvin  to  the  great  truths 
of  the  christian  religion;  let  us  take  care  not  to  permit  that  the  dread  of 
being  considered  advocates  of  I  know  not  what,  should  cause  us  lo  prcv- 
voke  questions  which  do  not  suit  us,"  &-c^  6tc. 

39* 


CHAPTER    XLII. 


THSODOEE    BE.ZA. 1549 1562. 

His  infancy. — His  poems. — Fears  the  parliament  and  leaves  France. — Arrives- 
at  Geneva,  and  is  welcomed  by  Calvin. — Opposition  of  certain  ministers. — 
Beza  attempts  to  justify  liimselL — Appreciation  of  his  apology. — Opinion  of 
the  Lutherans.— Disputation  with  Baudouin  (  Balduinus  ). — He  pleads  in  fa- 
vour of  the  punishment  of  heretics. 

Beza  tried  to  justify  the  punishment  of  Servetus,.  less  as  a  jurist  than 
a  theologian.  They  published,  that  heresy  is  not  amenable  to  the  tribu- 
nal of  men  :  Beza  proves  that  the  magistrate  is  armed  with  a  two-edged 
sword,  which  he  is  bound  to  use  for  cutting  off  the  head  of  any  one 
who  troubles  society. 

Let  us  pause  a  moment  to  study  the  only  writer  of  imagination,  of 
whom  the  Genevese  reformation  can  boast. 

Behold,  in  what  terms   Beza  gives  us  an  account  of  his  early  years: 
"  Well,  playing,  as  is  the  custom  with  small  children,  with  some  ser- 
vants, without  caring  for  the  contagious  malady   that  then  prevailed  at 
Paris,  miserable  that  I  was  !  I  caught  the  scaldhead,  a  malady  in  its  na- 
ture distressing  and  obstinate,  and  still  at  that  time  incurable,  because, 
although  it  was  in  that  famous   city   of  Paris,   the  ignorance  of  physi- 
cians was  such,  that  they  could  only   cure  it  by  means  of  painful  and 
violent  medicines.     I    feel   horror   in   recalling  the  tortures  I  then  en- 
dured ;  the  anxieties  of  my  uncle,,  who   sought  every  means,  but  in 
vain,  to  effect  my  cure.     I  will  recount  the  singular  benefit  which  God 
bestowed  upon  me.      The   surgeon   who   had    undertaken  to  cure  me, 
was   accustomed  to  come   to   the   house   to  bandage  me,  my  uncle,  so 
greatly  did  he  love  me,  not  being  able  to  suffer  me  to  be  touched  even 
with  the  end  of  a  finger  in  his  absence.      But  he  could  not  support  the 
pain  of  seeing  me  suffering  so  much,   which   caused  him  to  entreat  the 
liost  to  conduct  me  every  day,  together   with   one  of  my  cousins,  who 
was  afflicted  with  the  same  disease,    to  the  surgeon's  house,  not  having 
even  the  heart  to  witness  me   suffering  so   much   misery.     My  uncle 
lodged  in  the  University,  and  the  surgeon  not  far  from  the  Louvre,  the 
bridge  aux  Musniers  being  between  the   two   places.     We  had,  every 
day,  to  pass  over  this  bridge,    followed  by  our  servant,  who,  as  is  cus- 
tomary with  such  persons,  did  not  take  such  care  of  us  as  he  should. 
I  remember  (  and  certes,  the  very   remembrance  fills  me  with  horror  ) 
that  ray  cousin,  who  had  the  spirit  of  a.  soldier  and  warrior,  often.  ex> 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  463 

horted  me,  to  put  an  end  to  so  many  evils,  by  precipitating  ourselves 
head  foremost  into  the  depths  of  the  river.  In  the  beginning,  (  for  I 
am  naturally  fearful  and  timid),  I  was  frightened  at  such  counsel ;  but 
at  length,  yielding  to  his  importunity,  and  overcome  by  pain,  I  agreed 
to  follow  him,  after  he  should  have  first  leaped  over.  Now,  we  were 
on  the  point  of  putting  our  design  into  execution,  the  devil  holding  us 
by  the  necks  for  our  ruin,  when  God,  taking  pity  and  compassion  on  us, 
sent  our  uncle  at  that  very  instant,  not  thinking  of  this  the  least  in  the 
world.  On  beholding  the  servant  following  us  at  a  distance,  he  com- 
manded him  to  conduct  us  to  the  house,  and  engaged  the  surgeon  to 
come  henceforward  to  treat  us  in  our  chamber.  Behold  how  God  then 
miraculously  rescued  me  from  the  jaws  of  satan."* 

Theodore  Beza  was  born  at  Vezelay,  in  Burgundy,  in  the  year  1519, 
and  was  baptized  in  the  church  where  St.  Bernard  had  preached  the 
crusade.  His  paternal  uncle,  Nicholas  Beza,t  caused  him  to  come  to 
Paris,  resigned  to  liim  the  priory  of  Bois-les-Villeselve,  and  sent  him 
to  Orleans  to  study  under  Melchior  Wolmar,  that  learned  jurist,  who 
had  given  lessons  to  Calvin. 

Now,  imagine  to  yourself  a  fine  looking  youth,  vested  with  a  coquet- 
ry truly  feminine,  w^earing  gloves  after  the  Italian  fashion  well  per- 
fumed with  essences,  a  dress  of  striking  colours,  a  ruffle  nicely  plaited, 
and  which  he  changed  four  times  a  week ;  skillful  in  all  exercises, 
sitting  a  horse  admirably,  wielding  arms  like  a  fencing-master,  playing 
at  tennis  like  a  courtier,  and  extemporising  Latin  verses  as  well  as 
Catullus  :   such  was  Theodore  Beza. 

He  had  given  moderate  attention  to  the  study  of  law ;  his  whole  passion 
was  for  the  Latin  muses.  He  dreamed  only  of  Iambics,  trochees,  dactyles, 
and  he  made  some  of  them,  which,  it  was  said,  were  undreamed  of  by 
the  chanter  of  Lesbia's  sparrow.  When  he  returned  to  Paris,  he  pub- 
lished a  collection  of  his  lyrical  productions,}  where,  on  the  frontis- 
piece of  the  volume,  he  caused  himself  to  be  represented  v;lth  a  crown 
in  his  hand,  with  these  two  verses  In  form  of  a  garland : 

Vos  docti  docta  picecingiie  tempora  lauro, 
Mi  satis  est  illam  vel  tetigisse  manu. 

Unluckily,  the  author  had  imagined  himself  in  pagan  Rome,  and 
celebrated  infamous  amours,  which  the  parliament  condemned  to  the 
flames.  Among  the  epigrams  of  the  collection,  there  was  one,  especi- 
ally, which  made  great  noise ;  the  one,  in  which  he  chants  a  student  of 

*  Beza,  Epistle  to  Wolmar,  translated  byFlorimond  deRemond. 

t  Theodore  wrote,  for  his  uncle  Nicholas,  an  epitath  in  tliree  languages,  and 
caused  it  to  be  painted  on  his  tomb,  in  the  parochial  church  of  St.  Cosmas  and 
»St.  Damian,  where  Ite  may  be  seen  represented  on  his  knees  between  two  can- 
dlesticks and  lighted  tapers,  praying  before  the  image  of  his  uncle.  The 
Latin  epitaph  commences  :• 

.Marmore  de  Pario  nullas  hie  stare  columnas.      Launay. 

X  Theodori  13ez8^  Vezeli  poemata,  Luteti^.  Ex  officina  Conradi  Badii  sub 
prelo  Ascensiano,  e  regione  gymnasii  D.  Barbarae  M.DXLVIII.  Cum  prlvile- 
gio  senatus  ad  triennium.  And  at  tlie  end  :  Lutetiee,  Roberto  Stephano  Regie  ty^ 
pographo  et  sibi  Conradus  Badius  excudebat,.  idibus  Julii.M.DXLVIII,  in  8v0c^ 
p.  100.    See  David  Clement,  art.  Beza, 


464  LIFE    or    JOHN    GAiYUSr. 

Orleans^  named  Audibert,  and  Candida,  the  wife  of  a  dress-maker,  -whet 
dwelt  at  Paris,  in  the  street  la  Calandre.* 

Beza  had  dedicated  his  poems  to  his  professor,  Melchior  Wolmary 
"who  had  discovered  nothing  reprehensible  in  them,  any  more  than  did 
Joachim  Camerarius,  two  famous  Lutherans,  as  all  are  aware. j 

The  parliament,  more  scrupulous,  was  about  to  have  the  poet  cited 
to  answer,  when  he  took  to  flight,  after  having  sold  or  farmed  out  his  be- 
nefices, J  and  he  sought  refuge  in  Geneva,  under  the  name  of  Thibaut  de 
May. 

The  minister  Launay  has  not  spared  the  reputation  of  his  co-religion- 
ist. "After  he  had  defiled  himself,"  says  he,  "with  all  kinds  of  infa- 
my and  sin,  which  he  has  not  himself  concealed,  he  debauched  his 
neighbour's  wife,  sold  his  benefices,  and  took  to  flight,  not  to  escape 
persecution,,  bat  the  punishment  and  penalty  of  his  crimes.  But  before 
departing,  he  deceives  his  farmers,  and  causes  advances  to  be  made  him 
upon  the  revenues  of  his  benefices,  to  which  he  no  longer  had  any 
right ;  for  which  we  were  greatly  annoyed  during  the  conference  of 
Poissy;  for  one  of  the  widows,  with  her  children,  came  to  clamour 
after  him  for  satisfaction.  This  poor  woman  told  me,  that  he  had  de- 
prived them  of  more  than  twelve  hundred  francs.  To  prove  his  con^ 
version,  and  that  he  was  assisted  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  composed  the 
epistle  of  Passavant :  a  fine  burlesque  against  president  Liset,  to 
whom  he  wished  the  evil  of  death,  because  he  had  condemned  him 
to  make  restitution  of  the  chalices  and  ornaments  of  the  people  of 
Burgundy,  whose  agent  he  had  been  in  the  University  of  Orleans,  and 
he  had  gone  to  sell  them  on  the  Pont-au-Change,  without  saying  fare- 
well to  his  companions,  who  obtained  his  arrest." 

Beza  was  still  young  when  he  arrived  at  Geneva,  bringing  along  with 
him  that  plebeian  muse  of  the  street  la  Calandre,  whom  he  had  chanted 
under  the  name  of  Candida  :  at  Paris,  she  bore  that  of  Claudine.. 
Calvin  was  charmed  with  the  grace,  the  fine  appearance,  the  flowery 
language  of  his  former  school-companion,  and  particularly  with  that 
fascination  of  manners  which  announced  the  man  of  ton  and  rank. 
He  was  another  Melancthon,  sent  by  heaven  to  the  Genevese  Luther.. 
He  was  feasted  by  the  reformer,  who,  at  first,  had  him  appointed  Greek 
professor  at  Lausanne. 

The  professor  met  with  brilliant  success  :  they  flocked  to  attend  his 
lectures,  from  Berne,  Fribourg,  and  even  from  Germany.  His  language 
was  well  cadenced  and  very  correct.  Those  who  listened  to  him  im- 
agined themselves  hearing  Melancthon.  "  He  had,"  they  said,  "the 
harmonious  and  abundant  style  of  Luther's  disciple,  but  more  warmly 
coloured." 

He  was  soon  promoted  to  be  lecturer  in-  theology,  and  his  auditory, 

*  Launay. 

t  Ad  hcec  accessit  gravissima  tui  judicii  authoritas,  quse  quidem  una  tantura 
apud  me  potuit  at  simul  atque  ex  iis  literis  quas  ad  me  Tubinga  dedisti,  haac 
nostra  intellexi  tibi  et  Joachimo  Camerario  mirum  in  modum  probari,  nihil 
habuerim  antiquius  quam  ut  ea  in  unura  velut  corpus  congererem. — Epist*. 
Bezae. 

X  Registres  du  parlement.. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  465 

without  being  more  numerous,  was  changed  in  its  character.  The 
ladies  crowd  to  hear  his  sermons ;  they  had  never  seen  any  one  like 
him  in  the  pulpit.  The  orator  perfumed  his  dress  as  well  as  his  lan- 
guage. He  was  a  dandy,  seeking  to  win  souls  to  the  gospel  by  means 
of  worldly  airs.  Calvin,  who  had  waged  so  rude  a  warfare  against 
the  head  dresses  of  women,  had  nothing  to  say  against  the  curled  and 
perfumed  locks  of  his  disciple.  Beza,  who  had  seen  the  gay  world  of 
the  capital,  was  a  courtier  in  perpetual  adoration  before  the  reformer, 
whom  he  intoxicated  with  the  incense  of  adulation.  Calvin  was  desi- 
rous to  attach  him  to  the  evangelical  ministry,  but  he  met  with  some 
resistance  on  the  part  of  his  colleagues.  Cop,  the  former  canon  of  No- 
tre-Dame-de-Cluny,  Raymond,  ex-Jacobin  of  Toulouse,  and  the  school- 
master Enoch, — ministers  and  members  of  the  consistory, — opposed  the 
ordination  of  this  prior,  '-scented,  curled,  buckish,  still  acting  the  fop, 
and,  though  his  hair  was  growing  gray,  chanting  the  nymphs  of  Parnas- 
sus and  the  cupids  of  antiquity." 

In  the  dedication  of  his  poems  to  Wolmar,  Beza  has  mentioned  the 
scruples  of  certain  souls,  who  were  unable  to  comprehend  how  a  new 
Corydon  should  be  promoted  to  the  ministry;  but  he  adds  that  the  holy 
assembly  decided  that  an  erratum  or  a  sliy  of  the  "pen  should  not  be 
urged  as  a  crime  against  a  poet,  who  had  but  just  passed  over  from  the 
papism  to  Christianity.*  Moreover,  in  1559,  in  a  new  edition,  he  has 
attemptedto  justify  the  infamous  amours,  with  which  he  was  reproached 
by  the  Catholics.  "  We  behold  them,"  said  he,  "hurling  at  my  head 
little  verses  (  for  they  are  unable  to  reproach  me  with  anything  else  ); 
but  what  can  they  make  of  these  ?  Very  little,  [n  my  poetical  squibs, 
I  amused  myself  with  an  imaginary  Candida,  whom  they  wish  to  make 
my  wife;  but  a  word  will  serve  to  confound  these  sanctimonious  gen- 
try  ;  I  recommend  to  the  gods,  Candida,  who  is  about  to  be  confined  : 
now,  it  is  well  known,  that  I  never  had  any  children  by  my  wife.f  As 
to  Germain  Audebert,  of  Orleans,  I  addressed  to  him,  in  mirth,  some 
hendecasyllabic  verses,  in  which  I  manifest  to  him  how  great  is  my  de- 
sire  once  more  to  see  him,  in  order  to  renew  our  former  bonds  of  friend, 
ship.  And  these  abandoned  souls,  these  pedants,  finally,  these  monks, 
blush  not  to  transform  this  Audebert  into  an  Adonis  !"  But  the  con- 
fession  is  not  complete,    we  are   certain.     Audebert,  who  had  lived  in 

*  Turn  quod  iniquum  plane  videretur  ei  qui  ad  Christum  a  papismo,  velut 
paganismo,  transiisset,  erratum  istud  imputare. 

t  Candidam  praegnantem  superis  commendem,  quum  nuUos  unquam  liberos 
ex  uxore  susceperim. — Epist.  dedicat.  ad  And.  Dudithium.  Gen.  14  maii  1569. 

I  Gruterus  (Gruytere)  has  inserted  in  his  Dellclce  poetarnm  GalJorum,  the 
pieces  of  poetry,  which  Beza  dared  not  publish:  Adeodati  Seha  Veseliensis 
juvenilia..  The  critic  has  changed  the  sir-name,  Theodoru^s,  into  Adeodatus, 
and  anagraramatized  Beza's  name  into  Seba.  The  epigram  of  Candida  and 
Audebert,  is  found  in  this  collection,  p.  617.  There  are  other  pieces  to  Candi- 
da which  elsewhere  would  in  vain  be  sought  for;  in  such  sort,  says  Ant. 
Fayus,  in  the  life  of  Beza,  vita  Th.  Beza,  that  Gruterus  may  be  ranked  as  the 
greatest  enemy  of  Beza.  These  juverulia  were  composed  from  1536  to  1539, 
a  period  when  the  author  had  sufficiently  long  ceased  to  be  a  Catliolic.  M. 
Alexander  Martin  has,  in  his  tine  collection  of  autographs,  a  letter  of  the 
scholar  of  Vezelay,  which  leaves  no  doubt  regarding  the  religious  dispositions 
oi  ilie  poet  at  that  epoch. 


466 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


Paris,  was  well  acquainted  with  other  poetical  sins,  with  which  Beza 
might  have  been  reproached ;  sins  still  unpublished,  which  the  Orleans 
youth  knew  by  heart,  and  which  have  been  collected  by  Gruterus,  in 
his  DelicicB  'poetarum  Gallorum :  real  priapics,  in  which  the  poet  has 
chanted  sad  realities.:}: 

Calvin  carried  the  day,  and  Beza  was  promoted  to  the  ministry. 

Geneva  had  obtained  a  man  of  talent;  for  what  were  Cop,  Enoch, 
and  Raymond  ?  mere  pedants,  dusted  over  with  Latin  of  the  kitch- 
en; whereas,  Beza  knew  enough  philosophy  to  converse  with  learned 
men,  enough  theology  to  dispute  with  monks,  and  had  sufficient  know- 
ledge of  the  world  to  play  the  part  of  the  ascetic  of  the  Thebaid ; 
moreover,  he  was  a  gallant  with  women,  a  tactician  with  courtiers,  of 
admirable  self  possession  in  an  assembly  of  cardinals,  a  flippant  rather 
than  an  abundant  coUoquist,  prompt  in  his  replies,  sarcastic  when  in- 
sulted, a  gay  reveller,  and,  in  case  of  need,  an  expert  swordsman. 

In  a  disputation,  where  he  acted  as  Calvin's  vicar,  against  the  jurist 
Balduinus,  Beza  Imd  found  means  to  give  his  adversary  a  real  homily 
upon  frugality.  Balduinus,  who  had  frequently  dined  at  Beza's  table, 
was  unable  to  restrain  himself,  on  hearing  this  eulogium  on  ceno- 
bitical  life,  from  the  mouth  of  the  ravisher  of  Candida,  the  wife  of  the- 
Parisian  dress-maker. 

You  must  know,  that  the  Calvinist  had  compared  the  jurist  to  a  fam- 
ished dog,  prowling  around  the  kitchen,  and  snuffing  the  odours  of  the 
frying  viands. 

This  dog  was,  naturally,  a  snarler,  and,  if  touched  with  the  foot,  he 
was  accustomed  to  bite.  Beza  had  his  robes  torn,  and  his  leg  mangled; 
and  what  was  more  unfortunate  for  him,  they  allowed  him  to  cry  in  his- 
pain,  without  showing  him  the  least  sympathy  in  the  world.  Listen  to- 
the  jurist : 

*'  Thou  shalt  first  be  informed,  that  Balduinus,  even  when  deprived 
of  his  patrimony,  would  be  under  no  necessity  to  turn  beggar;  there- 
fore, there  is  no  ground  of  surprise,  that  he  has  been  able  to  come  to 
the  aid  of  Gallas  and  his  family.  What,  then,  dost  thou  mean  by  these 
words  :  I  imagine  that  I  behold  him,  now,  amidst  that  city  of  unem- 
ployed labourers,  again,  in  the  palace  among  the  throngs  of  jurists  and 
advocates,  with  his  nose  in  the  wind,  scenting  a  dinrior  ?  I  would  be^ 
glad  to  know  what  honest  man  has  ever  scented  for  thy  repasts,  after 
the  style  of  Sardanapalus  and  Heliogabalus,  debauchee  that  thou  art? 
or  thy  sacrilegious  suppers,  where  vice  came  to  seat  herself,  thou  inces- 
tuous Amphitryon  ?  Who  ever  drew  near  thy  dining  room  without 
Slopping  his  nose,  suffocated  by  those  brothel  odours  which  exhale  from 
thy  nocturnal  banquets?  Who  would  set  foot  in  tliy  lodgings  without 
fear  of  being  defiled  ?  Odours  and  smells,  abundant  even  to  suffocation.. 
With  thee,  unfortunately,  one  is  compelled  at  times  to  use  other  than 
chaste  terms ;  and  when  there  is  necessity  to  speak  of  Theodore,  woe 
to  chaste  ears  !  But  I  trust  that  honest  persons  will  pardon  me,  if  my 
pen  allows  itself  liberties  to  which  it  is  not  accustomed.  In  truth,, 
thou  drunken  Satyr,  when,  being  seated  by  the  side  of  thy  Pallas,  ihoiM 
actest  the  little  Plato,  Balduinus  would  have  been  so  happy,  had  he  been, 
able  to  quaff  a  similar  nectar,  and  inhale  so  sweet  an  ambrosia!."     Hsr 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  467 

then  sets  to  work  to  paint  a  bacchanalian  scene,  in  which  Beza  does  not 
figure  alone,  and  which  sufficiently  recalls  one  of  the  suppers  celebrated 
-by  Petronius ;  he  afterwards  proceeds  : 

"  0,  pious  repast,  0,  evangelical  love^feast,  0,  philosophic  supper ! 
Balduinus,  the  rustic,  would  have  been  jealous  to  share  it;  he,  who  is 
so  little  accustomed  to  the  elegance  of  grand  houses,  and  so  great  a  stran- 
ger by  nature  to  such  mysteries!"* 

The  Lutherans  have  not  dealt  more  lightly  with  the  scholar  of  Veze- 
lay.  Hesshus  reproaches  him  with  "not  having  been  satisfied  to  have  pol- 
luted his  youth  with  villainous  amours,  but  with  having,  mereover,  been 
bold  enough  to  write  out  his  sacrilegious  adulteries,  and  have  them 
musically  chanted.  And,  nevertheless,"  he  adds,  "to  hear  him  speak, 
you  would  say  that  he  is  some  holy  man,  another  Job,  or  one  of  the 
hermits  of  the  desert,  even  greater  than  St.  Paul  or  St.  John,  so  much 
does  he  every  where  trumpet  his  exile,  his  labours,  his  purity,  and  his 
admirable  sanctity  of  life." 

As  soon  as  he  went  forth  from  his  table,  he  cast  off  his  worldly  airs, 
and,  in  ascending  the  pulpit,  assumed  the  gravity  of  a  doctor. 

His  translation  of  the  Psalms  obtained  great  success. 

To  cause  them  to  be  more  generally  received,  they  had  them  set  to 
music  :  they  selected  the  most  popular  airs.  For  instance,  Praise  God 
all  ye  nations,  was  sung  to  the  sound  of  bagpipes ;  another  was  chant- 
ed to  the  village  air,  fetite  camusette,  or  to  the  tune  of  the  song : 

Mon  bel  amy,  when  far  away, 
Then  think  "ot'  Pienne. 

But  when  he  added  all  these  psalms  to  the  Genevese  catechisms,  the 
authorities  forbade  their  use,  and  "to  chant  a  psalm,  made  one  a  Luth- 
eran," says  Florimond  de  Remond. 

The  apparition  of  Beza  at  Geneva  was  a  real  joy  for  the  reformer, 
assailed  as  he  was  by  diseases,  exhausted  by  incessant  contests  with 
the  factions  of  the  city,  and  disgusted  with  life.  Had  the  soul  of  Cal- 
vin been  more  poetic,  he  would,  in  verse,  have  hailed  the  advent  of 
this  muse  which  heaven  seemed  to  send  him,  in  order  to  mingle  a  little 
honey  in  that  cup  of  gall  and  tears,  which  he  was  doomed  to  quaff  to 
the  very  dregs.  In  his  tilt  against  Catholicism,  he  could  not  avail 
himself  of  the  pen  of  any  of  his  colleagues,  who  by  their  silly  vani- 
ties would  have  spoiled  the  noblest  cause.  Farel  had  in  a  [ew  years 
worn  out  all  the  greenness  of  his  youth,  too  turbulent  and  ardent  to  be 

»  O  religiosum  convivium,  O,  agapenl  O  coenam  eruditam  quam  Balduinus 
et  subrusticus,  et  talis  eleganties  imperitus,  et  talium  mysteriorum  ignarus, 
atque  etiam  ab  iis  natura  adhorrens  appeteret  ! — Bald.  Responsio  ad  Calvinum 
et  Bezam.  Colonife,  1564,  81,  82. 

At  the  end  of  this  tract,  there  is  a  refutation  of  Calvin's  calumnies  regarding 
the  scriptures  and  tradition.  Refidotio  caluniniaruvi  de  scriptura  et  traditione. 
It  is  a  complete  treatise  on  this  point,  where  the  writer,  to  defend  tradition, 
employs  law  arguments,  nearly  as  M.  Dupin  of  our  days  docs,  in  his  dispute 
with  M.  Salvador  concerning  "the  judgment  and  death  of  Christ.  At  each  in- 
stant, when  we  stir  the  dust  of  the  old  libraries,  we  discover  these  treasures  of 
contraversy,  to-day,  unhappily,  either  forgotten  or  too  much  neglected. 


468  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

durable ;  Viret  could  use  but  a  weak  and  nerveless  phraze.  Beza^ 
stesped  in  Greek  and  Latin,  promised  to  be  as  learned  and  as  obedient 
as  Philip  the  disciple  of  Luther,  and  he  kept  his  word.  The 
friendship  of  these  two  men  lasted  through  life,  and  at  the  death  of 
Calvin,  it  seemed  to  gain  strength  in  the  bosom  of  Beza,  who  vowed  a 
veritable  worship  to  the  memory  of  his  father.  But  there  is  a  senti- 
ment still  more  holy  than  friendship,  which  is  truth,  and  which  Beza, 
through  passion,  so  often  abandoned,  in  his  attacks  upon  those  intelli- 
gences whom  Calvin  already  had  pursued  with  his  wrath.  One  is 
filled  with  sadness,  on  seeing  such  streams  of  insults  against  the  ene- 
mies of  the  reformer,  fall,  from  those  flowery  lips,  as  if  they  had  never 
drunk  out  of  any  cup  but  that  of  Luther.  He  denies  all  the  glories 
which  Calvin  contests.  He  finds  Westphalius  destitute  of  science, 
Pighius  without  scriptural  knowledge,  Bolsec  without  theological  com- 
prehension. He  calls  Balduinus  a  spunger,  a  parasite,  Castalion  a 
thief,  and  Servetus  an  incarnate  demon.  He  has  nothing  to  award  to 
the  pitiful  translation  of  the  Bible  corrected  by  Calvin,  but  eulogies, 
and  he,  who  never  knew  a  word  of  German,  takes  it  into  his  head  to 
denounce  the  version  of  Wittenberg.  "  Truly"  said  the  Lutherans,  "it 
well  becomes  a  French  merry-andrew,  who  does  not  know  a  syllable 
of  our  language,  to  teach  the  Germans  how  to  speak  !"*  Bayle  him- 
self is  frequently  forced  to  indicate  the  errors,  into  which  Beza,  from 
his  admiration  for  the  memory  of  the  reformer,  voluntarily  fell,  either 
by  misrepresenting  historical  facts,  by  calumniating  the  Lutheran 
or  Catholic  writers,  or  by  palliating  the  faults  of  his  coreligionists. 

In  the  question  of  the  Nicodemites,  he  defends  the  opinion  of  Cal- 
vin, who  required  a  visible  profession  of  faith  :  but  when  he  had 
become  the  leader  of  a  party  after  the  reformer's  death,  he  was  one  of 
the  first  to  advise  Henry  IV.  to  re-enter  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic 
church,  t 

His  production,  concerning  the  punishment  of  heretics  hy  the  civil 
magistrate,  is  a  soporific  theological  treatise,  in  which,  to  prove  the 
right  of  the  sword  against  the  heretic,  he  has  amassed  together  all  the 
texts,  sacred  and  profane,  that  his  reading  could  furnish  him.  His  con- 
clusion is  formal  : 

If  the  civil  powerj  have  not  chastised  the  heretic  even  to  the 
effusion  of  blood,  behold  here  comes  a  disciple  of  Schwenkfeld,  of  Osi- 
ander,  or  of  Servetus,  who  proceeds  predicating  from  the  house-tops  and 
at  the  street  corners.  The  church  drives  him  away.  He  essays  pros- 
elytism  and  spreads  abroad  confusion  and  disorder.  If  an  attempt  be 
made  to  arrest  his  progress,  he  cries  :  "  Let  no  violence  be  done  to 
conscience  !"  and  there  he  goes,  continuing  his  march  and  enrolling 
his  proselytes.     What  will  the  church  do  ?     "  She  will  cry  out  to  the 

*  Schluss.  Theol.  Calv.,  lib.  2. 

t  In  the  library  of  Gotha,  there  are  some  precious  documents  regarding  the 
ne^J-ociations  between  Sully  and  Beza,  on  the  subject  of  the  return  of  Henry 
IV.  to  Catholicism. 

1  De  heereticis  a  civili  magistratu  puniendis,  adversus  Martini  Bellii  (  Cas- 
t^lionem)  farraginem  et  novorum  Acadeniicorum  sententiam.— Gen,  1570,  p. 
144etseq. 


LIFE    OFaJOHN    CALVIN,  469 

Lord,  you  say,  and  the  Lord  will  hear  her."  But  the  man  who  is 
hungry  waits  not  till  an  angel  descend  from  heaven  and  bring  him 
bread,  after  the  example  of  Elias ;  if  he  wishes  God  to  come  to  hi3 
assistance,  he  aids  himself,  and  seeks  for  food." 

And  he  adds — that  the  blood  of  Servetus,  the  anti-Trinitarian,  was 
holily  shed. 

Were  Beza  to  return  to  life,  what  would  he  say  to  professor  Chene- 
viere,  who,  at  Geneva,  tiow  quietly  sells  his  pamphlets  against  the 
Trinity  and  the  Divinity  of  Christ  ? 

Men  and  doctrines — every  thing,  then,  in  the  reformation  undergoes 
a  change,  to  suit  the  caprice  of  the  slightest  circumstance. 

In  1528,  the  monk  of  Wittenberg  wrote  to  Linck  : 

*'  In  no  case,  can  I  allow  that  false  prophets  should  be  put  to 
death."* 

And  some  years  later  :  "  Drive  away  the  angel  Gabriel  himself, 
descended  from  heaven,  if  he  come  to  announce  another  gospel  than 
mine,  and  hand  him  over,  as  a  seditious  blackguard,  to  the  execQ- 
tioner."t 

*  Quod  quseris,  an  liceat  magistratui  occidere  pseudoprophetasT  Ego  ad 
judicium  sanguinis  tardus  sum,  etiam  ubi  meritum  abundat.  Tum  in  hac 
causa  terret  me  exempli  sequela,  quam  in  Papistis  et  ante  Christum  in  Judaeis 
videmus,  ubiquum  statutum  fuisset  pseudoprophetas  occidi,  successu  temporis 
factum  est,  ut  nonnisi  sancti  prophetae  et  innocentes  occiderentur,  auctoritate 
eps  statuti,  quo  impii  magistfatus  freti  pseudoprophetas  et  hasreticos  fecerunt 
quosquos  voluerunt.  Quare  nuUo  modo  possum  admittere,  falsos  doctores  oc- 
cidi, satis  est  eos  relegari;  qua  pcena  si  posteri  abuti  volent,  mitius  tamen  pec- 
c&bunt,  et  sibi  tantum  nocebunt. — Luther's  Briefe, — De  Wette,  t.  Ill,  p.  347. 

t  Licet  angelus  esse  videatur,  imo  Gabriel  de  coelo,  tamen  non  modo  pro  di- 
aboli  apostolo  habendum,  verum  etiam  si  desistere  nollt  ab  instituto,  carnifici 
-'committendum  velut  nebulonem,  qui  seditionem  machinetur.—Com.  Luth.  in 
I'sal.Tl,  t.  V.  Op.  Jenae.,  p.  147. 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 


I-ALL    OF    THE    LIBERTINES.        1552 1557* 

Continuation  of  the  struggle  between  the  patriots  and  Calvin.'^-Variou;^ 
changes  of  fortune. — Philibert  Berthelier  is  accused  before  the  consistory 
and  excommunicated. — Sensation  of  Geneva.-— Communion  at  St.  Peter's. — ' 
Refusal  of  Calvin  to  distribute  tlie  Lord's  supper  to  the  Libertines. — The 
council  resumes  the  right  of  excommunication. — -Scene  played  by  Calvin. — ' 
The  council  yields. — Francis  Daniel  Berthelier. — Calvin's  motives  of  hatred 
against  this  citizen. — He  seeks  his  ruin  — Plot  brev«red  by  the  police. — 
Death  and  exile  of  several  patriots. — Daniel  is  accused  of  conspiracy  against 
the  State. — Tortured  by  CoUadon. — Stratagem  to  extract  confessions  from 
the  victim. — Punishment  of  Berthelier. — Historical  reflections. 

Is  not  the  struggle,  between  the  old  Genevese  race  and  the  tyranny 
of  the  man  whom  they  have  chosen  for  their  master,  a  curious  specta- 
cle ?  For  fifteen  years  past,  there  has  not  been  an  hour  of  the  day^ 
during  which,  "the  sons  of  the  city''  have  not  courageously  combated. 
The  noblest  among  them  have  fallen,  and  their  last  gasp  was  a  cry  of 
liberty,  which  God  has  not  heard,  because  every  attempt  against  au- 
thority is  a  crime,  which  sooner  or  later  he  punishes,  and  because  the 
patriots  have  sinned. 

Yet  it  is  very  difficult  to  refuse  a  tribute  of  pity  to  unsuccessful 
courage,  especially  when  it  battles  with  unequal  arms.  On  one  side, 
is  Calvin,  with  all  his  geniiis,  his  cunning,  and  his  hypocrisy;  with 
his  informer.s,  hi.s  elders,  his  laws  of  blood  and  fire.;  with  Colladon 
and  his  engines  of  torture;  with  his  pulpit,  ever  open  to  stigmatize  his 
enemies ;  and  his  councils,  crammed  with  refugees,  on  whom  he  has 
conferred  the  rights  of  citizenship  ;  on  the  other,  are  a  few  souls  marked 
by  public  opinion  with  the  name  of  libertines,  without  leaders,  with- 
out unity,  and,  for  the  most  part,  without  fortune,  having  no  auxilia- 
ries except  the  instincts  of  independence,  so  deeply  rooted  in  the 
people.  They  are  not  discouraged,  and  they  combat  the  theocrat  by 
means  of  raillery,  a  weapon,  feared  indeed  by  despotism,  but  only  in 
great  states.  The  tavern,  as  formerly,  was  still  their  tribune.  All 
the  efforts  of  the  reformer  had  been  unsuccessful  to  tear  away  from  the 
people  this  last  asylum  of  liberty.  It  was  there  she  came,  with  still 
bleeding  wounds,  to  bewail  the  fall  of  her  sons,  whom  the  despot  was 
daily  consigning  to  exile  or  death.  She  had  tears  for  all  that  were 
oppressed,  no  matter  to  what  creed  they  belonged.  It  was  in  these 
drinking  rooms,  that  the  first  copy  of  the  pamphlet  of  Bellius  had  been 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


47i 


read,  translated,  and  expounded.  Sometimes  the  flow  of  tears  was 
interrupted  by  maledictions  against  the  tyrant,  and  prayers  to  God. 
The  maledictions  were  heard  by  the  tyrant;  the  prayers  were  not  heard 
by  God.  In  the  meantime,  the  struggle,  which  seemed  terminated, 
was  at  intervals  revived,  and  it  suddenly  changed  its  aspect.  From 
1551  to  1552,  the  libertines  saw  happy  days  :  they  caused  a  large 
number  of  refugees,  the  sold  creatures  of  Calvin,  to  be  rejected  from 
the  corps  of  citizens;  they  obtained  that  those  inhabitants,  who  were 
neither  burghers  nor  citizens,  should  be  disarmed,  and  that  the  minis- 
ters should  be  excluded  from  the  general  council.* 

Montesquieu  has  said  :  "  There  is  no  tyranny  more  cruel  than  that 
which  is  exercised  under  the  shadow  of  law  and  with  the  semblance 
of  justice,  when,  so  to  speak,  they  drown  the  unfortunate  by  means  of 
the  very  plank,  upon  which  they  had  sought  safety."! 

This  was  the  snare  which  Calvin  laid  for  the  patriots.  Ir^  the  pul- 
pit, he  even  by  name  designated  the  citizens,  who,  during  the  year,  had 
not  approached  the  Eucharistic  table.  The  cainlike  brand  was  inef- 
faceable, and  whoever  bore  it  on  his  brow,  was  exposed  to  the  male- 
dictions of  the  preachers,  and  the  thunders  of  the  consistory. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  right  of  excommunication  at  first 
belonged  to  the  council.  It  was  the  patriots  that  had  torn  it  from  the 
consistory,  after  a  struggle  of  several  years.  The  combat  was  renewed, 
and  this  time  the  patriots  were  vanquished  :  Calvin's  perseverance 
secured  the  victory. 

Philibert  Berthelier  had  been  summoned  before  the  ecclesiastical 
tribunal.  J  They  reproached  him  with  nocturnal  visits,  libertine  repasts, 
and  infamous  discourses.  Philibert  defended  himself  courageously. 
Without  trembling  in  the  presence  of  the  pastoral  vesture  of  some  oi 
his  judges,  he  cast  into  their  faces  all  that  he  knew  of  their  scandalous 
morals.  A  sojourn  of  some  weeks  at  Noyon  had  revealed  to  him 
strange  mysteries  regarding  the  early  years  of  the  reformer.  He  was 
interdicted  from  approaching  the  Lord's  supper.  § 

Philibert  quite  excited,  goes  to  the  council,  pleads  his  cause,  and 
triumphs  :  The  council  decides  that  Berthelier  shall  be  able  to  receive 
communion. 

On  learning  this  decision,  Calvin  appears  before  the  senate,  and 
threatens  to  abandon  the  city,  and  to  die,  if  they  allow  the  Lord's  sup- 
per to  he  profaned. 

The  council  persists,  and  maintains  its  decision.  1| 

On  the  Sunday  following  (December  1553),  the  communion  was 
to  take  place  at  St.  Peter's;  Calvin  was  to  distribute  it.  IT  The  church 
was  filled  with  an  immense  crowd,  all  the  pastors  were  at  their  posts. 
The  libertines  had  loudly  proclaimed  their  intention  to  commune. 
Calvin   ascends   the   pulpit,  and  for  half  an  hour,    angrily   declaims 

*  Fazy,  Precis,  etc.,  p.  277,  t.  I. 

t  Grandeur  et  decadence  des  Romains,  ch.  XIV. 

■j:  Registres  du  conseil  d'Etat,   1552. — Drelincourt,  defense  de  Calvin, 

^  Gaberel,  Calvin  a  Geneve,  p.  107. 

\i  Id.,  p.  111.,  Gaut.  VIII.     Isaie  Colladon,  Mem.  snr  rexcommunication, 

\  E^V  Vliieto,,  Gen,evae.  pridie  nonas  septembtis,  1553. 


472  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

against  the  sacrilegious  souls  who  profane  the  Eucharistic  sacrament. 
The  sermon  over,  he  descends,  approaches  the  table,  displays  the  sym- 
bols of  the  Lord's  supper,  and  brandishing  his  scrawny  arms;  "cut 
off  these  arms,  he  says,  grind  my  limbs  to  powder,  deprive  me  of  the 
breath  of  life  ;  but  none  of  you  shall  force  me  to  cast  holy  things  to 
the  dogs.  Here  is  my  blood,  take  it,  I  give  it  up,  but  my  soul, 
never."* 

This  was  boldness,  a  theatrical  boldness  which  produced  its  effect. 
The  people  imagined  the  name  of  God  implicated  in  these  entirely 
liuman  disputes,  bowed  before  the  minister,  and  let  the  libertines  pass, 
who  left  the  temple. 

The  patriots  resumed  courage,  and  came  forward,  once  more,  to 
contest  the  right  of  excommunication  with  the  consistory.  Their 
cause  was  popular ;  they  defended  it  with  so  much  eloquence,  that  the 
council  decided,  that  henceforward  to  itself  alone  should  belong  the 
right  to  excommunicate  incorrigible  sinners.  Then  was  reproduced 
that  scene  which  already  we  have  so  frequently  v/itnessed.  The  pas- 
tors send  in  their  resignations,  and  make  their  preparations  to  leave. 
The  council  becomes  alarmed,  sends  in  all  haste  for  Calvin,  mutters 
some  words  of  repentance ;  they  embrace,  and  swear  on  the  gospel  to 
forget  the  past,  and  to  sacrifice  all  hatred  to  the   interests  of  religion.f 

This  was  another  act  of  cowardice,  added  to  all  those.,  of  which  the 
civil  power  had  been  guilty,  from  the  time  it  had  chosen  Calvin  for  its 
master.  We  shall  not  be  astonished  at  this  if  we  observe,  that  the 
council,  perverted  in  its  representation  by  the  incessant  intrusion  of 
French  refugees,  daily  lost  some  dro.ps  of  natioiial  blood.  The  re- 
former availed  himself  of  his  character  to  destroy  his  enemies  in  the 
opinion  of  the  public.  The  multitude  came  at  length  to  see  in  the 
Ami  Perrins,  the  Vandels,  the  De  Septs,  the  Favres,  nothing  but 
fallen  christians,  abandoned  to  the  demon  of  concupiscence.  Ami 
Perrin  passed  for  an  adulterer ;  Favre  for  a  corrupter  of  maid  servants ; 
Philibert  Berthelier  for  a  frequenter  of  wicked  places.  When  the 
patriots  appeal  to  the  people  to  save  liberty,  Calvin  hurries  into  the 
pulpit,  and  points  to  their  lips  sullied  with  blasphemies,  v/ine,  and 
impurity.  The  tears  of  despair,  which  gushed  from  their  eyes,  he  calls 
comedy ;  and  as  if  it  were  not  enough  to  stigmatize  their  morals,  he 
seeks,  moreover,  to  dishonour  their  wives^  whom  he  transforms  into 
public  prostitutes,  shameless  adulteresses,  and  daughters  of  hell.  And 
these  ladies,  the  elite  of  society,  were  allied  to  counselors,  captains  of 
the  civil  militia,  and  syndics. 

We  have  already  seen  with  what  outrages  he  pursued  Ami  Perrin^, 
who  at  last  fell,  and  was  replaced  in  the  syndical  magistracy  by  a 
creature  of  Calvin.  Peter  Vandel,  Balthaser  and  Michael  Sept, 
Peter  Verna,  after  a  struggle  of  fifteen  years,  met  with  the  same  fate  as 
Perrin; J  Favre  and  Balthasar  Sept  were  expelled  from  the  council  of 
the  Two   Hundred.     Despair  seized  upon  the   most  energetic   spirits. 

*  Calvin  a  Geneve,  p.  111-112. 
t  Fazy,  Precis  etc.,  t.  I,  p.  ^79. 
:{:  James  Fazy.  Precis,  etc.,  1. 1,  p.  279, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  473 

Francis  Daniel  Bertbelier  owed  it  to  the  very  name  he  bore,  to  resist. 
He  was  the  last  libertine  that  would  not  bend  his  head  :  Calvin 
brought  it  down. 

The  blood,  which  flowed  in  the  veins  of  the  patriot,  was  not 
Berthelier's  only  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  despot.  The  brother  of 
Francis  Daniel  had  made  a  journey  to  Noyon,  for  which  the  real 
motives  could  never  be  ascertained.  He  amassed  in  Picardy  precious 
documents  regarding  the  first  years  of  the  reformer.  At  Noyon,  they 
said  at  that  time,  what  is  repeated  in  our  days — that  Calvin  had  shown 
himself  a  wicked  son,  an  ungi-ateful  pupil,  a  simonical  cleric.  They 
had,  it  is  said,  opened  the  registers  of  the  city  to  the  gaze  of  Philibert, 
who  in  them  had  read,  how  Calvin  had  been  condemned  to  the  flames 
for  sodomy,*  and  that,  "by  a  singular  favour  of  the  bishop  and  magis- 
trates, the  penalty  had  been  commuted  into  branding  on  the  back." 
Bolsec  says  that  with  his  own  eyes  he  saw,  "in  the  hands  of  Berthelier, 
the  attestation  of  the  fact  written  by  a  sworn  notary. "f  Drelincourt 
accuses  the  physician  of  Lyons  of  falsehood,  but  he  has  also  denied 
the  existence  of  Calvin's  letter  to  Farel,  which  we  have  cited  entire.  J 
That  journey  came  near  costing  Philibert  dearly. 

In  concert  with  other  patriots, — Ami  Perrin,  Hudriol  Dumolard, 
Balthasar  and  Michael  Sept,  Claude  de  Geneve,  and  Peter  Verna, — 
he  had  decreed  a  grand  measure  for  the  public  safety  :  this  was  to 
assemble  the  general  council  without  convocation,  unknown  to  the 
syndics  and  inferior  councils,  and  to  reinvest  the  civil  power  with  the 
right  of  excommunication. §  This  appeal  to  the  general  council  was 
not  a  violation  of  the  constitution  ;  the  commune  had  resorted  to  it  in 
its  struggle  with  the  duke  of  Savoy.  1|  The  conspirators,  like  the  con^ 
federates  of  Grutli  in  former  days,  had  bound  themselves  to  each  other 
by  a  religious  oath. 

"  We  promise  God/'  they  had  sworn,  "to  maintain  his  word  and  the- 

*  Inspiciuntur  etiam  adliuc  hodie  civitatis  Noviodunensis  in  Picardia  srcin 
ia  et  rerum  gestarurrt  monumenta;  in  illis  adhuc  hodie  legitur  Joannem  hunc 
Calvinum  sodomiae  convictum,  ex  Episcopi  et  Magistratus  indulgentia  solo 
stigmate  in  tergo  notatum,  urbe  excessisse.  Nee  ejus  families  honestissimi 
viri  adhuc  superstites,  impetrare  hactenus  potuerunt,  ut  hujus  facti  memoria, 
quae  toti  familiee  notam  aliquam  inurit,  e  civicis  illis  monumentis  ac  scriniis 
eraderetur.-— Lessius. 

This  falsification  might  the  more  easily  have  taken-  place,  as  the  registers 
consisted  of  some  quires  of  simple  paper  not  bound.  According  to  Lessius, 
the  falsification  will  have  been  made  before  1610,  as  that  is  the  epoch  at  which 
he  wrote. 

Consult :  Discourse  on  the  crime  against  nature  and  the  stigmas  with  which 
John  Calvin  is  reproached,  by  Roisselet  de  Sauclieres  Jr.     Montpellier,  1839. 

t  "Bolsec,  calumniated  in  an  infamous  maner  by  Calvin  and  Theodore  Beza, 
during  his  life,  has  also  in  our  days  been-scandalously  belied.  The  biogra- 
phies from  the  pen  of  Bolsec  contain  many  inacuracies  of  detail,  but  most  of 
the  facts  are  perfectly  true.  As  to  what  he  advances  concerning  the  adventures 
of  Calvin  at  Noyon,  I  know  nothing  about  them,  and  consequently  will  neith- 
er  admit  nor  deny  them."  Galiffe,  appendix  to  the  article  Calvin^  t.  HI.  Noto, 
Genealog.  p.  647,  note. 

X  See  chapter  entitled :  The  blood  of  Servetus^ 

k  Fazv,  Precis,  et€.,  t.  1,  p^  261. 

Ij  Id., 'ibid. 

40* 


474  Lli-E    OF    JOHN    CALVIN, 

city  of  Geneva  towards  and   against  all,  and  to  live  and'  die  for  sneh  a 
quarrel."* 

Calvin  was  awake  and  watching.  Some  days  previous  to  the  time 
fixed  upon  by  the  patriots,  a  commotion,  provoked  by  the  reformer,  took 
place  on  the  breaking  up  of  a  banquet,  at  which  the  libertines  had 
beforehand  celebrated  their  triumph.  The  watchguard  was  composed 
of  young  men  who  had  taken  the  places  of  the  libertines  in  the  coun- 
cil.f  They  commenced  by  insults,  and  then  recurred  to  more  violent 
demonstrations ;  the  guard  proved  the  stronger,  and  the  brothers  Com- 
paret,  both  under  the  influence  of  wine,  were  arrested  and  cast  into 
prison. 

And,  on  the  next  morning,  Geneva  on  awakening,  learned  that  a 
conspiracy,  set  on  foot  by  the  libertines,  and  fortunately  frustrated, 
had  menaced  her  very  existence.  The  word  treason  was  whispered 
round.  Perrin,  Balthasar  Sept,  Verna,  and  Philibert  Berthelier,  had 
barely  time  to  effect  their  escape  from  the  city.  Two  days  after,  the 
fugitives  were  condemned  to  death. 

Daniel,  master  of  the  mint  at  Geneva,  was  then  at  Dole.  Scarcely 
had  he  set  foot  in  his  native  city  when  he  was  arrested,  cast  into  pri- 
son, and  a  prosecution  was  instituted. 

He  was  accused  of  conspiracy  against  the  state. J;  Colladon,  by 
means  of  the  torture,  wanted  to  extract  avowals.  Berthelier  opened 
not  his  mouth.  The  inquisitor  imagined  a  stratagem,  which  was  de- 
signed to  vanquish  the  obstinacy  of  Berthelier. 

Let  us  allow  Bolsec  to  speak  :  § 

"  This  Berthelier,  generous  and  heroic,  could  be  induced,  neither 
by  remonstrances  nor  deceitful  promises,  which  the  seigniors  of  justice 
knew  how  to  make  to  him,  nor  by  the  ministers,  who,  by  Calvin's- 
persuasion,  tried  to  lull  the  poor  calumniated  persons  with  fine  words 
and  promises,  to  say  or  do  any  thing  against  conscience ;  •  for  which  he 
■was  rudely  put  to  the  torture.  But,  however  embarassed  by  the  cord 
or  rack  to  which  they  subjected  him,  he  could  not  be  subdued,  though 
the  weight  of  the  stones,  hung  to  his  feet,  was  so  great,  that  the  cord, 
with  which  his  hands  were  tied  up,  broke  three  or  four  times.  Seeing 
this,  the  seigniors  of  the  council  came  near  bursting  with  spite ;  and 
among  them  there  was  one  called  Amblar  Come,  who  said  to  him  : 
"  Thou  shalt  confess  this,  or  else  we  will  give  thee  enough  strokes  of 
the  cord  to  rend  away  thy  arms  and  legs;  for  their  lordships  will 
never  be  vanquished  by  thy  obstinacy."  Nevertheless  the  said  Berthe- 
lier, persevering  ever  in  the  same  constancy,  and  not  being  willing  to 
say  any  thing  against  truth  and  conscience,  they  devised  a  new  scheme, 
which  was  to  send   after  the  mother  of  the  said  young  prisoner,  whO' 

♦  Id.  ib.— -The  historian  adds :  certes,  these  words  manifest  no  bad  thoughts,, 
either  against  religion  (  the  reformation,)  or  the  state. 

t  Fazy,  Precis,  t.  I,  p.282. 

t  In  the  act  of  accusation  we  read:  he  has  said;  "I  do  not  believe  in  pre- 
destination, whatever  your  Calvin  may  say  about  it." 

"He  has  formed  the  design  of  withdrawing  the  right  of  excomraunicatioii-. 
from  the  consistory  to  remit  it  to  the  council  of  the  Two  Hundred." 

6  Bolsec,  Vie  de  Calvin. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  475 

had  retired   to  the  country  of  Faucigny,    on    account   of  the  horrible 
cruelties  practised  at  Geneva. 

This  Amblar  Corne,  one  of  the  seigniors  of  the  council,  a  very  ardent 
and  devoted  disciple  of  Calvin,  undertook  the  charge  of  going  to  the 
said  old  woman,  to  bring  her  to  Geneva,  for  the  good  and  honour  of 
her  son,  who  was  in  prison,  resolved,  as  it  is  said,  rather  to  die  under 
the  torture,  than  to  say  any  thing  against  truth,  his  conscience,  and  his 
neighbour.  The  said  Amblar  Corne  knew  very  well  how  to  enchant 
the  old  woman  with  deceitful  words  and  false  promises,  on  the  part  of 
the  seigniors  of  the  council,  declaring  that  not  only  her  son  would  be 
restored  to  liberty,  but  moreover,  exalted  in  honours  and  office,  if  he 
were  willing  to  obey  the  said  seigniors,  and  simply  confess  what  they 
wished,  namely,  that  the  thing  was  true  wherewith  he  was  accused ;  and 
that  Ami  Perrin,  and  the  other  aforesaid  fugitives  from  Geneva,  had  so- 
licited him  to  be  partaker  of  their  conspiracy  and  enterprise;  but  that 
he  had  been  unwilling  to  listen  to  them.  Confessing  only  this  little, 
he  would  be  restored  to  entire  liberty,  and  raised  in  dignity  in  said 
council.  Well,  he  knew  so  w^ell  how  to  say  this,  that  he  lulled  the 
old  mother,  and  persuaded  her  to  come  to  Geneva,  for  the  preservation 
and  delivery  of  her  son. 

''  Having  reached  the  city,  she  went  forthwith  to  the  prison,  in  which 
her  son  was  confined,  much  bruized  and  cut  to  pieces  with  the  cord, 
and  showed  to  him  the  will  and  deliberation  of  the  council,  to  cause 
him  to  perish  miserably  in  prison,  sooner  than  that  he  should  overcome 
the  seigniors  of  the  council.  Wherefore,  the  miserable  mother  exhort, 
ed  and  entreated  him  to  agree  to  the  wishes  of  the  seigniors,  and  to  con- 
fess what  they  desired  him,  though  even  it  were  contrary  to  truth  and  his 
conscience,  and  that,  through  this  means  only,  would  he  be  set  at  liber- 
ty, established  indignity,  offices,  and  honours;  that  promises  to  this 
effect  had  been  made  her  by  Amblar  Corne,  on  the  part  of  the  whole 
council.  So  well  knew  the  miserable  mother  how  to  weep,  and  to  so- 
licit her  son,  that  if  he  had  no  pity  for  himself,  he  should,  at  least,  have 
some  for  her,  who  w^ouid  be  left  desolate,  without  children  or  support, 
after  his  death ;  and  assuring  him,  regarding  the  promise  which  had 
been  made  her,  on  the  part  of  the  said  seigniors ;  that  the  poor  young 
man  yielded  and  promised  his  mother  to  do  so  :  whereupon  she  gave 
intimation  to  the  said  Amblar  Corne  and  others  of  the  council,  who, 
immediately  assembled,  interrogated  him  as  before,  on  the  aforesaid 
points,  which  he  boldly  confessed,  confiding  in  the  words  and  promises 
made  to  his  mother.  But  no  sooner  had  he  confessed,  and  his  confes- 
sion been  reduced  to  writing,  than  the  sentence  of  death  was  decreed 
and  published,  and  executed  the  same  day.  The  wretched  and  sorrow- 
ful mother,  seeing  that  it  had  fallen  out  contrary  to  her  hopes,  and  con- 
trary to  the  promises  made  to  her  by  a  member  of  the  council,  and  in 
behalf  of  the  whole  council;  seeing,  I  say,  her  son  dead;  considering 
herself  the  cause  of  this,  and  a  traitress  to  her  own  blood,  she  came 
near  killing  herself  out  of  spite  and  shame.  Well,  like  a  maniac,  she 
instantly  left  Geneva,  and  went,  crying  and  filling  the  air  with  regrets 
and  complaints,  to  Berne,  to  Zurich,  to  Fribourg,  and  to  other  cities  of 
the  cantons,  declaring  the  detestable  and  inhuman  deed^  committed  by 


476  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

her  at  the  persuasion  of  the  seigniors  of  Geneva,  especially  of  one 
Amblar  Come,  their  messenger  and  agent  to  effect  such  treachery ;  and 
she  demanded  justice  from  God,  and  from  the  seigniors  of  the  cantons, 
against  the  seigniors  of  Geneva." 

Claude,  of  Geneva,  and  the  two  Comparets  likewise  perished  on  the 
scaffold. 

The  patriots,  who  fled  from  punishment,  took  refuge  in  Berne,  whith- 
er Calvin  pursued  them.  He  wanted  them  to  be  expelled  from  Switzer- 
land.  Berne  refused  to  co-operate  with  the  reformer  in  his  vengeance, 
and  feared  not  to  manifest  aloud  its  admiration  for  courage  in  misfor- 
tune. This  protection  caused  Calvin's  hatred  against  the  patriots  to 
increase.  He  obtained,  from  the  councils,  a  sentence  of  banishment 
against  the  wives  of  the  libertines,  tlie  sequestration  and  confiscation  of 
their  property,  the  suppression  of  the  post  of  captain  general,  and  the 
punishment  of  death  against  every  citizen  who  should  speak  of  recall- 
ing the  exiles.^ 

Geneva  had  a  calif. 

Thus  terminated  the  contest  between  Calvin  and  the  patriots.  Blood 
only  could  bestow  victory  upon  the  party  bold  enough  to  shed  it.  if, 
during  tliis  long  struggle,  the  libertines  were  not  deficient  in  courage, 
it  cannot  he  denied,  that  they  had  not  enough  of  that  audacity  which  is 
necessary  for  revolutionists.  To  the  last  moment,  they  imagined  that 
bar-room  epigrams  could  kill  a  man  of  Calvin's  temperament.  At 
Geneva,  ridicule  was  not  deadly.  Had  they  known  how  to  rid  them- 
selves of  the  despot  by  means  of  assassination,  the  whole  population 
would  have  upheld  them,  and  on  the  day  after  the  homicide,  St.  Peter's 
would  have  been  filled  with  citizens,  assembled  to  return  thanks  to 
heaven  for  the  downfall  of  the  tyrant.  Suppose  thought  free  at  Gene- 
va; a  few  printed  lines  would  have  done  justice  to  Calvin.  In  case  of 
need,  the  stiletto  might  have  taken  the  place  of  the  pamphlet ;  but 
the  libertines  dared  not  employ  it.  We  do  not  blame  them  for  this ; 
we  will  merely  say,  that  they  were  much  bolder  in  presence  of  Peter 
de  la  Baume.  The  reason  was,  that  the  old  bishop  always  forgave, 
"and  often,"  says  M.  Galiffe,  "out  of  season,  whilst  the  new  one  never 
pardoned."! 

But  a  people  cannot  be  killed  without  their  blood  crying  to  God  for 
vengeance.  And  Calvin  already  endured  the  penalty  of  his  cruelties. 
The  despot  grew  old  before  his  time  ;  his  nights  were  full  of  torments ; 
by  day,  he  was  in  dread  of  snares  and  ambuscades;  his  soul  was  gradu- 
ally invaded  by  despair.  If  you  penetrate  his  dwelling,  in  the  street 
des  Chanoines,  you  will  discover  him  writing  to  Farel :  "  Alas  !  I  have 
presumed  too  much  on  my  strength  :  egotism  is  the  monarch  that  rules 
mankind  :  a  national  spirit,  love,   charity,  morals,  no  longer  exist  at 

Geneva  :  my  heart  is  stopped I  tremble  for  the  future." 

We  shall  pause  a  moment,,  to  contemplate  the  reformer  in  his  private 
life. 

»  Fazy,  p.  28. 

Cursed,  here  says  M.  Galiffe,,  cursed  be  the  memory  of  this  drinker  of  blood, 
who  caused  the  son  of  Philibert  Berthelier  to  perish  on  the  scafibld.— Not.. 
Gen.  t.  Ill,  p.  552. 

t  Not.  Gen.,  t.  Ill,  p.  552. 


CHAPTER    XLIV. 

PRIVATE    LIFE    AT    GENEVA. 1541 1560. 

The  learned  man  of  the  revival. — Luther  and  Calvin, — Political  and  literary 
labours  oi"  the  Genevese  reformer. — Solution  of  different  cases  of  con- 
science.— Intellectual  fecundity  of  Calvin. — He  loves  to  consult  his  friends. 
— His  co-labourers. — His  correspondence. — His  soul. — Death  of  Idelette. — 
Calvin  at  table. — In  his  dwelling. — His  usual  reading,  the  Bible. — Calvin 
with  his  theological  adversaries. — Never  knew  any  thing  but  hatred. — At- 
tempts to  justify  his  acrimony  of  style. — Maladies. — Domestic  troubles. 

In  the  lives  of  the  literary  men  of  the  middle  ages,  there  is  something 
of  the  marvelous,  in  their  passion  for  study,  which  manifested  itself  on 
all  occasions, — at  table,  in  bed,  in  their  walks.  Erasmus,  while  on 
his  way  back  from  Italy,  and  when  crossing  the  Alps  on  horseback, 
arranged  the  plan  of  his  eulogy  of  folly,  of  which,  in  the  evening,  he 
struck  out  several  chapters,  in  one  of  those  taverns  which  he  so  wittily 
traduces.  Castalion,  obliged  to  fish  in  the  Rhine  for  the  support  of  his 
family,  while  waiting  for  the  fish  to  bite,  wrote  upon  placards,  which  he 
had  torn  down  from  the  columns  of  the  cathedral  of  Bale.  Luther,  in 
order  to  escape  the  importunate  babbling  of  his  doctoress  Ketha,  took 
from  the  kitchen  some  bread,  salt,  and  melted  butter,  and  shut  himself 
up  in  his  study-chamber,  for  three  days  and  nights,  with  locked  doors, 
having  concealed  the  keys,  and  he  would  not  open,  till  his  wife,  oui  of 
all  patience,  threatened  to  send  for  the  locksmith.  Never,  also,  was  the 
passion  for  study  more  prolific  ;  Luther's  works,  reduced  to  octavos, 
would  form  a  real  library  of  our  times. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  Calvin  had  written  the  Christian  Insti- 
tutes, a  book  in  itself  as  voluminous  as  the  Bible,  and  in  which  all  the 
questions,  that  will  ever  trouble  the  world  to  the  end  of  ages,  are  ex- 
amined thoroughly.  This  was  his  labour  and  task  as  sectary  and 
philosopher.  His  hours  of  recreation  were  passed  in  the  composition 
of  a  commentary  on  the  book  of  Seneca  concerning  Clemency  :  a 
laborious  work,  which  runs  along  some  hundred  folio  pages. 

At  Strasbourg,  he  preaches  twice  a  day,  has  the  administration  of  the 
French  church,  gives  public  lectures  on  the  holy  scriptures,  keeps  up  a 
religious  correspondence  with  his  friends  of  France  and  Germany,  and 
finds  time  to  labour  at  various  interpretations  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles. 
This  activity  of  the  brain  seems  to  be  redoubled  after  his  return  to  Ge- 
neva.    You  will  find  him  every  where,  and  frequently  occupied  in  thiie 


478 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


details  of  ordinary  life,  which  he  will  abandon  to  no  one.  At  the  tem- 
ple, it  is  he  who  supervises  mere  material  labours ;  who  causes  the  pul- 
pit to  be  lowered,  that  the  preacher's  voice  may  be  more  easily  heard; 
who  replasters  the  mutilated  walls  ;  who  removes  the  statues  and  im- 
ages;  who  effaces  the  monumental  inscriptions.  From  the  temple,  ho 
passes  to  the  council,  where  he  confers  with  the  syndics  and  counselors, 
concerning  the  municipal  administration,  the  political  affairs  of  the 
city,  the  police  of  the  streets,  matters  of  litigation,  of  civil  legislation, 
and  the  distribution  of  alms.  From  the  council,  he  returns  to  his  lodg- 
ings,  where  he  finds  his  table  loaded  with  letters,  consultations,  com- 
plaints, denunciations,  to  which  he  replies  immediately.  The  night 
comes,  and  he  still  toils  :  three  hours  sleep  are  enough  for  him.  Du- 
ring  summer,  in  the  evening,  he  amuses  himself  with  some  of  the 
counselors  in  playing  at  a  game,  the  skill  of  which,  says  Morus,  "  con- 
sists in  knowing  how  to  push  some  keys  the  nearest  possible  to  a  long 
table."*  Throughout  his  whole  life,  he  was  ill  from  inability  to  sleep, 
dreams,  and  attacks  of  fever,  produced  by  a  fiery  blood,  which  he 
never  even  tried  to  soothe.  ''  On  the  day,  when  it  was  not  his  time  to 
preach,  being  in  bed,  he  caused  them,  about  five  or  six  o'clock,  to  bring 
him  some  books,  that  he  might  excite  himself  to  composition,  having 
some  one  to  write  under  his  dictation.  If  it  was  his  week,  he  was  there 
always  ready  at  two  o'clock  to  ascend  the  pulpit,  and  after  having  re- 
turned home,  he  would  retire  to  bed,  or  throw  himself  on  the  bed  in 
his  clothes,  and  having  some  books,  pursue  his  labours."!  Calvin  loves 
to  speak  of  all  these  great  intellectual  exertions.  Balduinus,  one  of 
the  luminaries  of  French  jurisprudence,  for  a  long  time  acted  as  his 
secretary. J 

He  writes  to  Farel  :  "  In  truth,  I  cannot  recall  to  mind  a  more  pain- 
ful day  during  the  whole  year.  The  messenger,  with  my  letter,  must 
bear  the  commencement  of  my  work.  Twenty  sheets  to  be  corrected, 
my  lectures,  my  sermon,  four  letters  to  write,  some  parties  to  reconcile, 
ten  persons  waiting  to  consult  me  !  I  hope  you  will  pardon  me,  if  1 
do  not  entertain  you  more  at  length." 

This  was  Luther's  life;  obliged  to  write,  to  give  answers,  to  learn, 
by  heart,  to  dictate,  to  open  his  doors  to  the  visits  of  electors,  of  learn- 
ed strangers,  of  poor  persons,  and  to  soothe  the  poutings  of  his  wife. 
Idelette,  every  thing  considered,  was  a  far  better  companion  than  Bora  : 
she  does  not  occupy  the  least  place  in  the  life  of  the  French  reformer. 
Happily  for  Calvin,  was  this;  for  had  his  choleric  temperament  been 
continually  excited  by  family  troubles,  what  would  have  become  of  the 
republic  ? 

If  we  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  the  unveiled  soul  of  the  theo- 
logian, we  must  study  Calvin's  correspondence.  Here  are  some  cases 
of  conscience,  of  which  the  solution  is  characteristic. 

They  present  to  Farel  an   infant   to    be    baptized,  the  daughter  of  a 

*  Morus,  Eloge  de  Calvin,  en  tete  de  I'lnstitution,  p.  115-116. 
t  P6ze,  Vie  de  Calvin. 

I  Balduinus  olini  fumiliaris  et  scriba  Qijus.  Papyr.us  Masso. — Drelincourt; 
p.  230. 


LIFE    OF    JOH^    CALVIN.  479 

Catiiolic,  "who  had  been  unwilling  to  renounce  the  Antichrist,"*  and 
who  says  to  the  minister  :  "  I  wish  to  follow  my  husband's  faith." 
Farel  refuses  the  baptismal  water,  and  consults  his  friend,  who  answers: 

"  You  have  done  well ;  it  would  be  absurd  to  baptize  those  who  do 
not  wish  to  form  part  of  our  body."t 

Loelius  Socinus,  the  anli-Triniiarian,  demanded  of  Calvin  :  *'  Mas- 
ter, what  say  you  of  a  christian  who  marries  a  Catholic  wife?" 

Calvin  answers  :  "  A  christian  is  not  permitted  to  ally  himself  with 
a  woman  who  has  deserted  Christ.  Now,  all  papists  are  in  this  case. 
He  adds  :  papist  and  Mahometan,  it  is  nearly  the  same  thing."J 

D.  Gossin  Zenell  said  :  "It  often  happens  that  I  have  to  eat  at  Ca- 
tholic tables,  where  they  say  the  benedicite  and  grace ;  what  ought  I 
to  do  ?" 

Calvin  responds  :  "Keep  your  hat  on  your  head;  for,  to  uncover 
your  head,  is  performing  an  act  of  papistry. "§ 

He  wrote  in  Latin  with  astonishing  facility.  His  mind,  fertilized  by 
reading,  observation,  meditation,  and  study,  poured  itself  forth  without 
torment  or  fatigue.  He  nearly  always  composed  under  inspiration  ; 
and  his  language  then  fan  more  rapidly  than  his  pen.  He  took  but 
one  day  to  draw  up  his  response  to  Sadolet,  In  general,  as  we  have 
already  remarked,  he  paid  no  attention  to  images ;  with  him,  form  is 
scarcely  ever  brilliant.  He  addresses  reason,  and  never  touches  the 
heart.  His  wrath  but  rarely  sparkles.  It  is  a  brutal  wrath,  such  as  is 
produced  at  college  ;  it  will  bear  no  comparison  with  that  of  Hutten, 
which  glows  like  a  burning  coal. 

At  times,  it  happened  that  his  brain,  appealed  to  in  vain,  remained 
sterile ;  that  his  thought,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts,  swam  in  vacuum  ; 
that  his  very  language  showed  itself  indocile  or  rebellious  :  an  acci- 
dent very  frequent  in  the  life  of  authors.  Calvin,  master  of  himself, 
did  not  weary  himself  with  chasing  an  idea  which  he  was  certain  of 
finding  again.  He  sometimes  waited  for  entire  weeks,  and  one  morn- 
ing, on  rising  from  his  couch,  the  thought  and  the  sign  came  to  present 
themselves,  of  their  owm  accord.  Whilst  he  was  occupied  at  his  trea- 
tise concerning  Scandals,  \\  he  experienced  one  of  these  attacks  of  men- 
tal paralysis,  which  lasted  several  weeks,  and  which,  in  no  wise,  alarm- 
ed him  :  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  was  his  physician;  St.  Paul 
cured  him. 

Under  similar  circumstances,  Luther  would  have  straightened  him- 
vself  against  satan,  to  whom  he  would  have  imputed  this  mental  sterility, 
and  very  probably,  satan,  after  a  serious  struggle,   would  have  yielded. 


*  Epist.  Farelli,  Neocomi,  14  julii  1552. 

t  Absurdum  esse  ut  eos  baptizemus  qui  corporis  nostri  censeri  nequeunt.— 
Farello,  16  Cal.  Aug.  1553. 

1^  Homini  christiano  fas  esse  nego  ^e  uxori  adjungere  quee  sit  a  Christo  alie- 
na.    In  eo  autem  scimus  onines  papistas. — Laelio  Zozino  7  idus  decemb.  1549. 

^  Quod  ad  mensae  benedictionem  precesque  privatas  spectat,  quisquis  retec- 
to  capite,  eas  audit,  non  obscure  declarat  illis  se  subscribere. — D.  Gossin  Ze- 
nello,  Genevae,  pridie  Idus  Manias,  1558. 

II  Opusculum  de  Scandalis  inchoatum,  quia  noa  ex  veto  fluebat  stylus,  ad 
tempus  remisi. — Ep.  MSS.  Gen.  oct.  154&. 


480  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Calvin  believed  much  less  in  the  influence  of  the  demon  than  did  the 
Saxon  monk.  He  attributed  these  returns  of  intellectual  debility  to 
secondary  causes  :  to  indigestions,  to  chronic  hemicrany,  to  caprices  of 
the  brain.  He  then  plunged  into  the  excitement  of  business ;  he 
preached,  he  disputed  at  the  consistory,  he  read,  he  wrote  to  his  friends 
from  whom  he  had  not  even  the  coquetry  to  conceal  his  slight  infirmi- 
ties. For  his  consolation,  he  kept  the  Christian  Institutes  in  his  library, 
an  enormous  folio,  which  he  contemplated  with  a  sort  of  pride,  and 
which  erected  itself,  in  all  its  majesty,  to  inform  the  numerous  visiters, 
what  treasures  of  words  and  thoughts  were  stored  in  the  head  of  the  re- 
former* 

He  was  fond  of  dictating  aloud.  The  mechanical  motion  of  the  pen  fa- 
tigued him,  and  he  imposed  this  task  upon  a  secretary.  The  work  nearly 
always  was  allowed  to  remain  in  its  primitive  form,  such  as  it  had 
issued  from  ihe  brain  of  the  master.  One  would  not  understand,  with- 
out having  read  him,  how  very  pliant  and  docile  for  him  is  the  old  idiom 
of  the  Roman  land,  whilst  the  French  muse  often  jilts  him.  More  than 
once,  do  we  find  evidences,  on  the  paper,  of  the  violence  to  which  she 
was  compelled  to  yield  ;  a  mutinous  maiden,  that  could  only  be  in- 
duced to  obey  by  means  of  chastisement.  Hence,  on  solemn  occasions, 
when  he  is  desirous  to  bring  about  some  remarkable  conversion,  to  sus- 
tain a  learned  thesis,  to  attack  the  Pope  to  his  face,  Calvin  makes  him- 
self a  citizen  of  Rome,  of  the  Rome  of  Seneca,  and  he  thinks  and 
writes  in  Latin.  His  phrase  then  is  certainly  more  regular  than  Lu- 
ther's; but  it  wants  that  life,  that  nerve,  that  fire,  which  are  so  abun- 
dantly diffused  through  the  polemics  of  the  Saxon.  Luther,  whether 
writing  in  a  dead  or  a  living  language,  is  always  a  creator.  Has  he 
need  of  a  word  ?  If  the  Teutonic  language  will  not  furnish  him  with 
it,  he  invents  it.  And,  wnth  swollen  gorge,  he  laughs  when  he  is  asked 
to  show  in  what  lexicon  he  has  come  across  this  unusual  term  ?  And 
what  does  it  matter  if  it  be  a  barbarism,  provided  the  reader  have  com- 
prehended it  ?  Do  they  still  insist^  he  answers  :  **  I  found  it  in  that 
inkstand  which  I  threw  at  the  head  of  the  devil,  who  was  tormenting 
me  in  my  study-chamber,  as  you  are  now  doing." 

Calvin  was  more  chary  of  his  literary  reputation.  He  loved  to  con- 
sult his  friends.  Farel  was  his  usual  judge  :  it  is  to  him  that  he  sends 
**  The  Antidote  to  the  Council  of  Trent,"  which  the  minister  of  Neu- 
chatel  returns  to  him,  having  designedly  left  in  it  all  the  brutalities  of 
language,  against  the  fathers  of  the  church.  Calvin  is  beside  himself 
with  joy;  he  writes  :  "  Truly,  my  Antidote  begins  to  please  me,  since 
it  has  received  your  approbation,  for  I  was  not  at  all  satisfied  with  it : 
considering  my  daily  contests,  you  must  pardon  me  if  my  book  is  no 
better  ;  what  astonishes  me  is,  that  I  have  been  able  to  write  anything 
passable.'** 

Des  Gallars,  a  French  refugee,  who,  at  a  later  period,  appeared  at 
the  conference  of  Poissy,  and  in  1571,  was  preacher  to  the  queen  of 
Navarre,  was  one  of  the  co-labourers  of  Calvin.  The  reformer,  in  va- 
rious letters,  lauds  the  zeal  and  intelligence  of  the  writer,  who,  under 

*  28  d^cembre  1657. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  481 

his  name,  published  a  virulent  pamphlet  against  Caroli,  in  which  Cal- 
vin's claw  is  manifest,  even  in  the  very  title.*  Des  Gallars  was  not 
the  person  to  have  branded  a  learned  man,  like  Caroli,  with  the  name 
of  Theologaster,  The  libel,  at  every  page,  shows  the  impress  of  the 
hand  of  John  of  Noyon  :  it  has  his  correct  but  pedantic  form;  his  airs 
of  insulting  grandeur,  his  magisterial  surliness,  and  his  doctoral  fatuity. 
There  is  nothing  more  easy  than  to  divine  Calvin.  In  his  smallest 
billets,  you  will  detect  an  odour  of  religious  or  worldly  aristrocracy, 
which  quickly  reveals  him.  In  vain  does  he  seek  here  to  persuade  us, 
that  des  Gallars  has  presented  himself  as  an  ally  to  his  anger  :  this 
refugee  was  too  obscure  a  man  to  contend  with  Caroli.  Calvin  has  be- 
trayed himself  in  his  letter  to  Farel :  "If  you  find  that  Caroli  is  re- 
futed with  sufficient  skill,  you  must  thank  me  for  it ;  a  little  more,  and 
I  should  have  allowed  him  to  bark,  so  much  did  I  fear  lest  the  form  of 
argumentation  should  awaken  tempests;  but  the  die  is  cast.  May  God 
bless  us  !  I  was  in  such  good  nerve  when  I  seized  the  pen,  that  1 
reached  the  goal  immediately.  This  style,  which  runs  and  flies,  is  easily 
comprehended  :  I  had  assumed  a  mask,  and  I  was  playing  under  a 
fictitious  name."t 

Though  this  letter  had  been  left  without  a  signature,  we  could  have 
named  its  author.  Calvin  has  rhetorical  figures  peculiar  to  himself. 
When  he  is  desirous  of  killing  his  enemy,  he  calls  him  a  dog.  Thus 
has  he  done  with  Caroli,  with  Servetus,  with  Castalion.  If  his  adver- 
sary be  of  considerable  intellect,  then  the  dog  is  mad-l  In  his  wri- 
tings, the  dog  plays  the  same  part  that  satan  does  in  those  of  Luther. 
But,  even  in  this,  does  the  poetical  inferiority  of  the  Genevese  manifest 
itself.  When  Calvin's  dog  has  howled,  slavered,  bitten,  he  lies  down 
and  goes  to  sleep;  but  Luther's  demon,  after  having  howled,  foamed, 
and  bitten,  transforms  himself  into  a  serpent,  a  frog,  a  theologian,  even 
a  monk  of  Cologne  ;  and  each  metamorphosis  furnishes  the  doctor  with 
new  images. 

John  Gerard,  or  Girard,  and  James  Bourgeois,  both  printers  at  Gene- 
va, have  published  most  of  the  productions  of  the  reformer.  In  1.551, 
John  Gerard  issued  his  little  tracts  (Opuscules),  and  in  1553,  the 
French  translation  of  the  Institutes.  Colladon  is  the  author  of  the 
tables  of  these  works.  § 

Calvin  has  left  several  thousand  letters,  without  counting  those  which 
are  lost,  or  which  have  not  been  discovered.  Nearly  all  of  them  treat 
of  theological  matters  ;  dogma,  exegesis,  morals,  are  therein  often  treat- 
ed at  the  same  time.  Most  of  them  are  addressed  to  Farel.  The  pas- 
tor of  Neuchatel,  is  the  man  of  the  reformation  whom  he  most  dearly 
loves.  He  rarely  scolds  him,  for  always  does  he  do  the  will  of  his 
master,  obey  all  his  caprices,  show  himself  humble,  submissive,  and 
•docile.     It  is  a  marvelous  thing  to   contemplate  how  rapidly  time  has 

*  Pro  Guil.  Farello  et  collegis  ejus  adversus  Petri  Caroli  theologastri  calum- 
nias,  defensio  Nicolai  Gallasii,  in-8,  1545. — Senebier,  t.  I.  p-  342. 

t  Man.  de  Gen.,  aofit  1545. 

^  Tantum  canina  ilia  mordendi  latrandique  rabies  quam  ebulliunt  omnes 
«jus  scriptorum  paginse  satis  testatur  qualis  hominem  spiritus  instiget. 

i  Epist.  N.  Colladon  ad  Marcuardum. 

41 


4S2  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

worn  out  the  energies  of  soul  of  this  preacher,  at  first  so  full  of  enthu- 
siasm. At  the  first  hair  that  turned  gray  on  his  head,  Fare!  lost  his 
vigour  of  speech,  his  poetry  of  language,  his  epileptic  gestures,  his  in> 
flamed  eye.  You  would  no  longer  recognize  the  dwarf  with  the  red 
beard,  who,  in  1532,  came  to  Geneva,  to  challenge  the  canons,  drive 
away  the  bishop,  break  the  bells  to  pieces,  and  set  up  the  abomination 
of  desolation  in  the  holy  place.  His  religious  ideas  have  been  changed; 
he  has  tendencies  towards  Anabaptism,  and  never  has  he  freely  adopts 
ed  the  dogma  of  predestination  ;  but  he  takes  care  to  conceal  himself 
from  the  reformer.  His  whole  desire  is  to  die  in  peace,  and  he  would 
be  very  careful  not  to  come  into  contact  with  Calvin.  This  is  submis- 
sion, or  if  you  please,  philosophy  :   I  did  not  wish  to  say,  egotism. 

The  handwritir]g  of  the  Genevese  is  often  similar  to  that  of  the  ste- 
nographer, replete  with  abreviations,  the  key  of  which  must  be  sought 
for,  and  which  render  it  very  difficult  to  be  read.  At  a  first  view,  a 
person  would  pronounce  it  one  of  those  scrawls  of  the  sixteenth  centu- 
ry, which  are  found  in  some  old  study-room  of  an  attorney.  Had  Tetzel 
written  after  this  sort,  Luther  would  have  lost  all  patience,  and  would 
not  have  failed  to  attribute  such  scrawling  to  the  devil.  Besides,  Cal- 
vin was  among  the  first  to  laugh  at  his  own  hieroglyphics.  One  day, 
Beza  had  addressed  to  the  wife  of  Coligni  one  of  Calvin's  letters,  with- 
out a  signature  :   the  reformer  hastens  to  excuse  himself: 

"  It  was  not  from  my  foolishness  or  carelessness,  that  my  letter  waa 
sent  to  you  without  the  name  to  it,  but  the  too  great  hurry  of  M.  de 
Beza,  who  took  it  whilst  1  was  sick,  and,  without  looking  if  it  had 
name  or  date,  folded  it  and  put  it  in  the  package.  But  it  is  indeed  suf- 
ficient that  you  have  been  able  to  divine  from  whom  it  came  ;  for  my 
hand  is  little  indebted  to  the  graces.  Another  time,  however,  I  shall  be 
more  careful."* 

Nearly  all  Calvin's  letters  are  sealed.  "  The  seal  bears  a  hand  and 
wrist,  issuing  from  the  right  side  of  the  shield  and  holding  a  heart. "f 

Jn  perusing  Calvin's  correspondence  one  thing  strikes  us  forcibly;  it 
is  the  writer's  want  of  heart.  You  may  turn  over,  leaf  by  leaf,  the 
large  volume  of  his  private  life,  and  no  where  will  you  surprise  one 
sigh  of  tenderness,  one  tear  of  pity,  one  impulse  of  love.  And  yet 
there  are  some  pages  where  you  would  look  to  be  affected  :  if  he  relates 
the  death  of  his  first-born,  it  is  in  a  few  lines  !  In  Luther's  correspond- 
ence, at  each  instant  you  behold  appearing  the  figure  of  old  Hans, 
that  miner  of  Mansfield,  who  so  ardently  loved  his  son;  the  charitable 
Cotta,  who  gave  an  humble  mite  to  the  child  of  God ;  the  little  Mar- 
garet, that  beauteous  angel,  whom  God  so  hastily  snatched  from  h'm 
Paradise  ;  and  those  mementos  of  the  son,  the  father,  the  friend,  the 
monk  with  his  eyes  suffused  with  tears ;  and  struggle  how  you  may,  yoo 
cannot  help  weeping.  Calvin  had  a  father,  whose  eyes  he  closed  in 
death.  He  has  described  that  last  scene,  in  a  letter  to  one  of  his  friends, 
an  did  Luther,  at  an  age  when  tears   flow  so  readily ;  and  he  could  not 


♦  Geneve,  5  nofit  1563. 
t  Galiffe,  t.  Ill,  p.  113. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  483 

find  a  single  tear !  Notice  whether  his  soul  ever  directs  her  flight  to 
that  spot  where  the  remains  of  his  mother  repose  ?  He  has  even  forgot- 
ten the  memory  of  the  good  abbe  d'Hangest.*  God  frequently  visited  his 
friends,  and  among  the  rest,  Farel,  who  for  a  moment  was  at  death's 
door ;  but  never  did  Calvin  cast  himself  on  his  knees,  to  implore  the 
mercy  of  heaven  ;  never  did  his  lips  mutter  a  single  beautiful  prayer. 

Idelette,  his  wife,  was  in  danger  of  death ;  he  writes  to  Viret :  "  Sa- 
lute your  wife  in  my  behalf;  my  wife  is  like  your  own,  dying  slowly. 
I  fear  for  her ;  we  are  already  sufficiently  unhappy  :  may  God  come  to 
our  assistance."! 

The  accomplishment  of  Calvin's  presentiments  was  not  long  delay- 
ed. Idelette,  after  protracted  sufferings,  died  in  April,  1549  :  he  is 
about  to  narrate  to  us  the  last  moments  of  the  Anabaptist  widow  : 

"  You  have  received  news  J  of  my  wife's  death  ;  I  use  every  effort  I 
can  to  k^ep  from  succumbing  under  my  sorrow.  My  friends,  on  their 
part,  forget  nothing  to  alleviate  my  sufferings.  At  the  moment  your 
brother  left  us,  all  hope  vanished.  On  Tuesday,  our  brethren  assem- 
bled and  began  to  pray.  When  Abel  came  to  recommend  faith  and 
patience  to  her,  she  gave  us  to  know,  by  a  few  words  which  she  articu- 
lated with  difficulty,  such  was  her  debility,  the  whole  thought  of  her 
heart.  On  the  next  day,  she  recommended  her  soul  to  God.  Bourgo- 
ing,  our  brother,  stayed  by  the  bedside  of  the  suflferer  till  evening, 
speaking  to  her  of  eternity.  Whilst  he  was  speaking,  she  said  ;  0 
God  of  Abraham  and  of  our  fathers,  thy  children  have  placed  their 
hopes  in  thee,  and  those  hopes  shall  not  be  confounded ;  I  also  confide 
myself  to  thee.  It  was  rather  murmurs  than  distinct  sounds,  tliat  issued 
from  her  lips;  already  she  could  no  longer  hear,  but  she  manifested 
the  faith  which  animated  her.  At  six  o'clock,  I  went  out ;  at  seven, 
she  became  very  feeble,  but  could  still  speak  :  pray  for  me,  did  she 
say  to  the  assistants,  and  implore  the  Divine  mercy.  I  then  returned  ; 
she  lost  speech,  but  still  gave  signs  of  faith.  I  said  some  words  to  her 
concerning  the  mercy  of  Christ,  her  future  happiness,  our  union  on  this 
earth,  and  that  other  country  where  we  should  meet  again,  and  other 
pious  words,  which  she  heard  and  welcomed  with  a  lively  sentiment  of 
love.  At  eight  o'clock,  she  slept  so  calmly,  that  those,  who  were  watch- 
ing by  her  bedside,  did  not  perceive  that  she  had  passed  away.  In  spite 
of  all  my  grief,  I  do  not  forget  the  duties  of  my  charge,  and  am  making 
preparations  for  the  combat  which  the  Lord  destines  for  me." 

Here  is  a  narrative,  not  one  word  of  which  affects  us ;  this  is  as  it 
should  be.  How  far  more  affecting  would  such  a  scene  have  been,  had 
it  taken  place  in  the  chamber  of  a  dying  Catholic  !  We  would  believe 
in  the  efficacy  of  that  prayer,  which  issues  from  the  lips  of  the  priest 
and  the  assistants,  and  wings  its  flight  to  the  God  of  mercy.  But  if 
Calvin's  system  of  predestination  be  true,  of  what  avail  are  those  sighs, 
those  effusions,  those  appeals  to  Jesus  ?     If  the  being,  who  is  about  to 

*  See  the  chapter  entitled:  Privaie  life  of  Calvin  at  Strasbourg. 

t  Uxori  tiune  plurimam  salutem.  Meailli  socia  est  in  lentis  morbis.  Vereor 
ne  quid  prester  votum  accidat.  Sad  satis  nos  urgent  mala  preesentia.  Dominus 
se  propitium  nobis  ostendat. — Ep.  MSS-,  decemb.  1547. 

I  H  ap.  Farello,  1549. 


434  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

die,  from  all  eternity,  has  b&en  destined  to  exist  under  the  influence  of 
an  iron  necessity  which  impels  it  to  good  or  evil,  is  it  not  predestined, 
from  all  eternity,  to  light  or  darkness,  in  order  to  glorify  the  justice  of  the 
Creator,  by  its  twofold  immortality  of  happiness  or  misery?  Does  not 
Calvin  teach  this  pitiless  dogma,  in  his  Institutes  ?  and  probably  under 
the  empire  of  this  very  fatalism  he  has  described  the  death  of  Idelette : 
and  therefore  was  his  eye  barren  of  tears,  and  his  mouth  destitute  of  all 
external  sign  of  sorrow  :  miserable  man,  who  can  neither  pray  nor 
weep  without  denying  his  own  doctrine  ! 

Calvin  continued  a  widower  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  was  determined 
to  make  his  adversaries  liars,  who,  laughing,  said  that  the  reformation 
isad  undertaken  a  new  Trojan  war*  for  a  woman's  petticoat.  Erasmus 
made  this  sally,  and  gave  it  in  its  plainest  form.  The  Batavian  philoso- 
pher, on  an  occasion  of  gaity,  had  let  drop  this  saying,  which  took  the 
rounds  through  Germany  :  "  The  reformation  resembles  a  comedy^ 
which  ever  winds  up  with  a  marriage."  And,  whatever  Calvin  may 
say  to  the  contrary,  at  Geneva,  as  well  as  at  Strasbourg  and  Witten- 
berg, it  equally  ended  with  a  nuptial  feast,  except,  that,  at  Geneva,  there 
was  no  elector  as  at  Wittenberg,  to  send  the  bridal  parties  a  tun  of 
Malvoisie,  to  contribute  to  the  festal  rejoicings. 

Yet,  the  Genevese  council  showed  itself  generous  towards  its  guest. 
It  had  purchased  and  furnished  a  house  for  him ;  every  year,  besides  the 
salary  of  about  one  thousand  francs,t  it  gave  him  twelve  dozen  bushels 
af  wheat,  two  tuns  of  wine  :  "  A  considerable  token  accorded  him,'' 
say  the  registers,  "in  consideration  of  his  being  very  learned,  and  put  to 
much  cost    by  persons  passing  !" 

And,  in  fact,  at  his  table,  the  reformer  often  received  strangers  of  dis- 
tinction, Swiss  ministers,  or  French  refugees.  His  table  was  well  sup- 
plied,  and  especially  with  wines,  presenting  always  the  Sauvagin,  the 
best  production  of  the  environs  of  Geneva,  and  "the  sweetmeats  of 
Spain,  both  green  and  dry,"  which  were  sent  to  him  as  presents.  He 
had  a  baker,  who  furnished  him  with  bread  made  out  of  the  finest  flour, 
kneaded  with  rose-water,  cinnamon,  and  anise-seed,  which  was  called 
the  bread  of  Calvin.  The  refugees  whom  he  visited,  loved  to  enter- 
tain him  well ;  "  In  such  sort,"  says  Bolsec,  "that  game  and  choice 
pieces  of  meat  began  to  grow  dear,  on  account  of  which  were  produced 
at  Geneva  both  murmurs  and  scandal,  because  of  the  gluttony  of 
foreigners,  and  of  the   Fren-ch   especially,   who  bought  up  every  thing 

*-  Fingunt  advorsarii  nos  mulierum  causa  quasi  trojanum  bellum  movisse. — ■ 
Tract,  de  Scandalis,  p.  8G. 

t  Wc  have  before  us  one  of  Calvin's  receipts,  which  runs  tlnis: 
"  Wc,  the  undersigned  and  the  council  of  Geneva,  to  our  w^ell  beloved  trea- 
surer, greeting,  and  wc  recommend  you  to  give  to  our  well  beloved,  respecta-. 
ble  M.  John  Calvin,  minister  of  the  word  of  God,  for  liis  salary  of  the  current- 
four  months,  tlie  sum  of  125  florins,  for  which,  exhibiting  these  presents,  we 
shall  give  you  credit.     Given  the  sixth  of  March,  1500. 

"Signed:  Bernard." 
And  below : 

"  I  acknowledge  tJiereceipt  of  the  above  sum  from  the  hands  of  the  treasurer 
Tkie  :th  of  March,  1560.. 

**  Signed '.  Cauxin J* 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  '485 

liiat  wasbrougiit  to  be  sold  at  the  Moulard.*  Calvin's  devotees,  those 
u-ho  wore  his  portrait  as  a  charm,  declared  that  the  reformer  took  no 
pleasure  in  good  cheer,  and  this  testimony  is  rendered  him  by  Beza  and 
Drelincourt,  Both  also  laud  his  disinterestedness;  but  a  modern  his- 
torian, after  having  investigated  the  archives  of  the  city,  affirms,  "that 
he  was  abundantly  paid;  that  they  continually  made  presents  to  him,. 
and  also  presented  his  brother  with  what  their  lordships  might  have 
claimed  for  fines  and  other  things,  so  that,  annually,  they  drew  more 
than  at  that  time  was  consumed  by  several  families  together/'f 

The  council  frequently  gave  him  presents.  In  1546,  it  gave  a  hun- 
dred francs  for  the  expenses  of  sickness;  in  1553,  thirty  francs  for  his 
travel  from  Geneva  to  Berne;  on  the  28th  of  December  1556,  wood 
for  his  fire  ;  on  Alay  14th  1560,  a  tun  of  excellent  wine.  The  coun- 
cil  was  far  more  generous  towards  the  reformer,  than  the  elector  of 
Saxony  towards  Luther,  whose  wine  cellar  was  kept  much  better  sup- 
plied than  his  wardrobe.  It  is  true  that  the  wine,  with  which  the 
German  princes  were  so  very  liberal,  had  been  stolen  from  the  cellars 
of  the  convents.  Moreover,  Calvin  was  the  only  minister  at  Geneva 
who  was  treated  so  magnificently.  Some  of  them  were  so  badly  re-^ 
munerated,  that  they  were  compelled  to  send  their  sick  children  to  the 
hospital.  In  the  archives,  under  date  of  July  the  8th,  1566,  we  read  : 
"A  present  to  one  of  the  respectable  ministers,  v/hose  poverty  is  so  great 
that  often  he  makes  his  repast  on  less  than  a  monk's  mess."  From 
1550  to  1560,  the  salary  of  elders  was  fixed  at  four  sous  per  sitting: 
that  of  counselors  at  six,  that  of  each  member  of  the  Two  Hundred 
at  two  only. 

The  house,  where  Calvin  dwelt,  was  situated  in  the  street  des 
Chanoines ;  it  was  simple,  and  like  all  the  rest  which  surrounded  it. 
One  day,  Cardinal  Sadolet,  passing  through  Geneva  iiicognito,  was 
curious  to  visit  the  reformer  whom  he  had  so  gloriously  combated.  He 
knocks  at  the  door,  and  a  man  with  lank  jaws,  grizzled  hair,  and  clad 
in  a  well  worn  garb,  came  to  open  for  him;  it  was  Calvin  himself. 
Drelincourt  describes  to  us  the  astonishment  of  the  prelate,  who,  him- 
self a  courtier  of  the  Medicis,  and  a  guest  of  a  city  full  of  gold, 
precious  stones,  and  marble,  was  expecting  to  behold  this  great  glory 
of  Geneva,  environed  by  numerous  domestics;  as  if  the  secretary  of 
Leo  X,  had  not  had  time  enough  to  forget  the  pomps  of  the  Vatican  ! 
It  is  Calvin,  who  would  have  been  astonished  had  he  come  to  knock  at 
the  episcopal  palace  of  Carpentras,  the  courtyard  of  which,  the  anti> 
chambers  and  apartments,  he  would  have  found  filled  with  beggars^ 
paralytics,  blind  persons,  whom  the  good  priest  termed  his  children 
and  his  courtiers. 

The  libraries  of  the  Saxon  and  French  reformers,  bore  some  resem- 
blance  to  each  other.  In  both,  were  found  the  Vulgate,  the  fathers  ol 
the  church,  and  religious  pamphlets.  Calvin  and  Luther  read  little  ; 
the  Bible  was  the  only  book  they  loved  to  peruse ;  they  almost  kne-^ 

*  Bolsec,  Vie  de  Calvin,  p.  45-46. 

•  Galiflfe,  t.  Ill,  p.  111-112,. 

41* 


4!86  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

it  by  heart.     In  their  view,  St.  Paul  was  the  noblest  reflection  of  tho 
thought  of  Christ. 

Luther  compared  the  Bible  to  a  vast  forest  of  trees,  which  bore  fruits 
of  every  savour,  and  he  affirmed  that  there  was  not  one  of  these  fruits 
which  he  had  not  tasted.     Calvin  said,  that,  in  the  branches  of  these 
beautiful  trees,  there  was  placed  something  for  all  the  birds  of  heaven. 
In  his  study  chamber,  Luther  through  his  whole  life  kept  a  wooden  cru- 
cifix,  before  which  he  knelt  and  prayed  :   his  wedding  ring  was  orna- 
mented with  a  figure  of  Christ  on  the  cross.     Calvin  had  no  love  for 
images ;   he  thought,  like  Carlstadt,  that  man  ought  not  to  carve  any 
image  with  his  hand,  for  fear  of  falling  into  the  sin  of  idolatry.     Eras- 
mus, as  well   as  Luther,    had  replied   to   this   iconoclastic   argument. 
Calvin  had  caused  all    material  representations  to  be   abolished  in  his 
temples,  from  not  understanding  that  images  are  the  Bibles  of  such  as 
know  not  how  to  read.    If,  during  the  progress  of  his  life,  he  meets  with 
a  pearl  or  a  flower  upon  his  pathway,  you  may  be  certain  that  he  will 
not  stoop  to  lift  it.      We  sometimes  figure  to   ourselves  Luther  at  Gen- 
eva, in  Calvin's   habitation.     Wliat   fine   inspirations   would  he  havft 
derived  from  the   spectacle  of  those  mountains  and  streams,  that  lake, 
those  snows,  that  verdure,  and  those  glaciers  !    What  chants  at  sunrise  ! 
Then  indeed  would  he  have  said  to  Justus  Jonas  :  "could  death  and  sin 
be  removed  from  this  earth,  I  should  delight  to  dwell  in  this  paradise  ; 
but  when  the  old  form  of  this  world  shall  be  renewed,  and  an  eternal 
spring  shall  breathe   upon  these  worn  out  robes,  what  new  transforma- 
tion, what  a  land  of  Eden  !"*     In  perusing  Calvin's  letters,  it  seems  as 
if  the  reformer  had  been  doomed  to  pass  his  life  amid  Sarmatian  stepps, 
or  Northern  forests. f    The  absence  of  all  emotion  at  the  sight  of  objects 
which  appeal  to  the  imagination  so  forcibly,  manifests  all  the  coldness 
of  the  heart  of  the   Genevese  !     That  sterility  of  soul  is  his  lot  and 
appanage  :   he  bears  it  with  him  as  his  chastisement.     Behold   him, 
Avhen  Servetus,  on  the  point  of  going  to  death,  causes  him  to  be  called, 
that  the  poor  victim  may  kiss  his  hand  and  ask  his  forgiveness  !     Study 
liis  countenance,  you   will  not  detect  in  it  a  single  symptom  of  pity  : 
.  he  is  like  an  old  judge  who  has  seen  weeping  all  his  life,  and  who  has 
begged  God  to  deprive  him  of  the   gift  of  tears.     Also,  has  he  never 
felt  an  emotion  of  love  ;   nor  do  any  love  him.     They  dread,  they  fear 
him  :   but  not  a  soul  is  attracted  towards  him   by  the   least  sympathy. 
His  heart  has  no  room  for  anything  but  hatred,  wrath,  and  envy.      All 
who  have  known  him  withdraw  from  him,   because  they  are  unable  to 
endure  his  arrogant  speech,    his    bilious  egotism,  his  bursts  of  vanity, 
and  his  immeasureable  pride.     Melancthon  reproaches  him  with  a  mo- 
roseness   which   nothing   can  bend ;{     Bucer,  with  the   disease  of  evil 
speaking  which  has  passed   into  the  very   blood,   like   the   virus    of  a 
mad-dog ;  §    Papire  Masson,  with  an    insatiable   pride  and   thirst    for 

*  Da  sprach  der  Doctor:  wenn  nur  SUnde  und  Tod  weg  waren,  woUten  wir 
uns  an  solchem  Paradiose  {rcniigen  lassen. — Mathesius. 

fPaul  Henry,  p.  485,  t.T. 

j  Praefractam  ejus  morositatem  vitupirabit  Melancthon. 

fScriptor  malodicendi  studio  infectus,.  c.nis  rabidus.- -Pap.  Masso,  Vita 
Calvini,  p,  24. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  487 

blood,*  under  the  mask  of  modesty  and  simplicity;  Balduinus,  with  an; 
intolerable  self  sufficiency  of  which  every  one  complains. f  If  he  be 
such  as  his  admiring  biographers  represent  him  to  us,  how  did  it  happen,, 
that  one  by  one  he  lost  all  his  friends,  even  the  most  devoted  ?  Caroli, 
at  the  disputation  of  Lausanne,  had  tendered  him  the  noblest  pledges 
of  devotedness.  And  Caroli,  whom  at  first  he  had  lauded,  at  length 
was  nothing  better  than  "a.  mad  dog."  The  reason,  is  that  Caroli 
was  unwilling  to  sell  his  liberty  to  the  reformer.  Castalion  was  one 
of  his  beloved  disciples,  whom  he  had  placed  at  the  head  of  the  col- 
lege of  Geneva;  but  Castalion  falls  into  disgrace  with  Calvin,  because 
he  understands  the  descendit  ad  inferos  of  the  Athanasian  creed  differ- 
ently from  him  ;  and  he  becomes  a  mere  theologaster,  Avho  not  being 
able  to  support  life  by  means  of  his  science,  steals  wood  at  Bale  for  his 
subsistence.  Pighius,  whose  learning  he  had  admired,  is  transformed 
into  a  beardless  scholar,  as  soon  as  he  questions  the  reformer's  au- 
thority. •  Bucer  is  compelled  one  day  to  exclaim;  "thou  lovest  and 
thou  hatest  without  any  other  motive  than  that  insupportable  self-love, 
which  annoys  all  that  are  acquainted  with  thee."  Luther,  whom  at 
first  he  regarded  as  an  angel,  soon  becomes  a  wicked  woman,  who 
would  do  much  better  to  employ  the  gift  she  has  received  from  God  in 
correcting  her  own  faults,  than  to  be  sustaining  her  shameless  blas- 
phemies of  the  real  presence.  J  Search  all  the  pages  of  Protestant  or 
reformation  biography,  and  you  will  not  encounter  a  single  reputation 
that  he  has  not  attacked,  torn  to  pieces,  vilified.  He  calls,  "  Luther,, 
in  ridicule,  the  Pericles  of  Germany;  Melancthon,  an  inconstant 
person  and  a  coward;  Osiander,  an  enchanter,  a  seducer,  a  savage 
beast;  Augiland,  minister  at  Montbeliard,  proud,  strife  making,  wrath- 
ful; Capmulus,  a  nobody ;  Heshus,  a  stinking  babbler;  Stancer,  an 
Arian ;  Memnon,  a  miserable  Manichean."  Hence  they  were  wont 
to  say  at  Geneva :  '-better  be  in  hell  with  Beza,  than  in  paradise  with 
Calvin. "f 

Hatred  was  as  necessary  to  Calvin,  as  love  to  our  Vincent  of  Paul. 
If  upon  his  way  he  encounters  some  tender  soul,  he  torments  himself 
till  hate  begins  to  take  possession  of  him.  In  vain  does  it  attempt 
to  invoke  the  law  of  love  which  Christ  came  to  bring  to  mankind  ; 
to  love  is  a  word  that  he  comprehends  not ;  he  seizes  it  and  drives  it 
beyond  Christianity  into  the  abyss  of  past  time,  when  the  ancient  law 
held  sway.  And  he  writes  :  ".And  as  to  what  I  alledged  to  you  that 
David  by  his  example  instructs  us  to  hate  the  enemies  of  God,  you 
reply,  that  this  only  regarded  those  times  under  the  law  of  rigour 
which  permitted  the  hatred  of  enemies.  But,  madam,  such  an  inter- 
pretation would  tend  to  overturn  the  scriptures,   and  therefore  should 

*  Vindictae  appetens  et  sanguinis  fuit,  facie  cum  modestn,  ad~~tmiaem  sim- 
plicenKjue  liwuram  cornposita,  tegens  latentem  intus  superbiam  et  Philautian, 
Pap.  Masso,  Vita  Calvini,  p.  26. 

t  CoUegee   tui   conquenmtur  de  tua  intolerabili  arrogantia.-  -Id.,  p.  26. 

:j;  Lutliorus  magnis  vitiis  laborat;  intemperiem  qua  ubique  ebullit,  uiinam 
magis  frenare  studuis.set  I  utinam  suis  vitiis  rocognoscendis  plu.s  operain  do- 
disset.— -Cal,  Ep. 

II  Genovenses  inter  jocos  dicebant  malle  se  apud  inferos  cu'n  B-za,  qaaoi 
apud  supsros  esso  cum  Calvino;r — Papyjius  Masso,  p.  4. 


48& 


LIFE    OF    JOIO    CALVIN. 


be  avoided  as  a  deadly  pest.  .  .  .  And  to  cut  short  all  dispute,  let  us 
content  ourselves  with  the  fact,  that  St.  Paul  applies  to  all  the  faithfiU 
this  passage,  that  the  zeal  of  God's  house  ought  to  devour  them. 
Wherefore  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  reproving  his  disciples,  who  wished 
him,  as  Elias  did,  to  cause  the  lightnings  of  heaven  to  smite  those  who 
rejected  him,  does  not  alledge  to  them  that  they  are  no  longer  under 
the  law  of  rigour,  but  only  shows  them  that  they  are  not  moved  by  an 
alTection  such  as  that  of  the  prophet.  Even  St.  John,  of  whom  you 
have  retained  nothing  but  the  word  charity,  well  shows  us  that  we 
ought  not,  under  pretence  of  love  for  men,  to  grow  indifferent  as  to  the 
duty  we  owe  to  the  honour  of  God  and  the  preservation  of  his  church, 
since  he  himself  forbids  us  to  salute  those,  w^ho,  as  far  as  lies  in  their 
power,  turn  us  from  pure  doctrine.'"* 

The  wrath  of  Calvin,  like  his  heart,  is  cold  and  prosaic.  When 
the  Saxon  monk  gets  angry,  he  hurls  at  the  head  of  his  adversary 
every  thing  within  reach  of  his  hand ;  the  poetry  of  the  holy  books, 
and  expressions  of  a  trooper,  gold  and  lead ;  he  has  no  time  to  select, 
for  the  blood  has  rushed  to  his  brain.  But  Calvin  does  like  the  coquet 
who  searches  her  casket  for  the  pearl  which  produces  the  most  effect. 
He  ransacks  his  dictionary  of  bad  terms ;  he  gathers  one  by  one  the 
billingsgate  terms  he  wants,  and  sets,  adjusts,  arranges  them  as  he 
would  diamonds.  In  contemplating  the  trouble  he  gives  himself,  his 
enemies  laugh  loudly.  Westphalius  shrugged  his  shoulders  at  the 
triple  apostrophe  :  "  Hearest  thou,  mean  fellow  ?  llearest  thou,  mad- 
man ?  Hearest  thou,  brute  V'j  And  he  said  :  *'  I  am.  certain  that 
at  the  Moulard,  on  any  market  day,  they  could  insult  me  more  poet- 
ically." 

And,  in  truth,  what  lazzarone  of  the  Largo  Castello  of  Naples  is 
there,  who  would  be  willing  to  undergo  the  exertion  of  getting  into  a 
rage,  for  sake  of  such  miserable  sallies  against  the  fathers  of  the 
council  of  Trent  ? 

"Hail,  Tridenticolists,  soldiers  of  Neptune,  ignorant,  stupid  men, 
asses  and  ninnies,  legates  of  Antichrist,  slothful  bellies,  putrid  carcas- 
ses, horned  fathers,  sons  of  the  Roman  faith,  that  is,  of  the  great  pros- 
titute."J 

Insults  without  horns,  as  Luther  would  have  said,  and  which  must 
have  caused  the  white  beards  of  the  council  to  smile  with  pity  !  What 
is  marvelous  is,  that  Calvin,  after  calling  Westphalius  a  mad  dog, 
Servetus,  a  blackguard,  {nehulo,)  Bolsec,  an  animal,  the  cardinals  of 
Trent,  legates  of  Antichrist,  Balduinus,  a  jackdaw,  screech-owl, 
"passed  master  in  the  art  of  theft,"  imagined  that  he  had  followed  the 
prophets  and  Christ  as  his  models.     We  speak  seriously. 

"  It  is  easy  for  master  Joachim  to   object  to  mc  that  my  language  is- 


*Letter  to  the  Duchess  of  Ferara. 

t  Audisut;  hilrator?— -xVudisnn,  phrenetice?-— Audisno,  bestia? 

*■  Tridenticolas,  sub  Ncptuiii  auspiciis  militantts,  iiidoctos,  quiisquilias,  ami- 
nos, porcos  pecudes,  crassos  boves,  antichristi  Icgatos,  otiosos  ventres,  pntrida 
eadavera,  blateroncs,  patres  cornutos,  exitialia  monstra,  romanee  fidei,  id  est^, 
magnaj  merotricis  tlUos,  patres  ad  sescpiipedem  auriU)s.. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  489 

Sprinkled  with  a  black  salt  of  pleasantry,  wanton  and  without  savour, 
and  of  a  biting  rudeness  after  the  style  of  a  calumniator.  If  I  am  to 
be  called  an  insulting  man,  because,  master  Joachim  being  too  blinded 
amid  his  vices,  t  have  held  up  to  him  the  mirror,  to  cause  him  to 
begin  at  length  to  be  ashamed  of  himself,  he  must  necessarily  address 
this  censure  to  the  prophets,  the  apostles,  and  Christ  himself,  who  have 
made  no  scruple  sharply  to  reprove  the  adversaries  of  holy  doctrine, 
even  those  whom  they  beheld  proud  and  obstinate." 

''We  are  agreed  on  both  sides,  that  injurious  words  and  the  idle 
stories  of  jokers  in  no  wise  become  christians.  But  inasmuch  as  the 
prophets  themselves  do  not  at  all  refrain  from  using  taunts,  and  Christ 
taxes  deceivers  and  false-teachers  in  pungent  terms,  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
every  where  attacks  such  sort  of  gentry,  crying  against  them  without 
sparing :  it  is  a  foolish  and  inconsiderate  question  to  demand  if  it  be 
allowable  to  reprehend  severely,  rudely,  and  intentionally,  those  who 
expose  themselves  to  blame  and  infamy."* 

We  should  see  with  what  pious  candour  Drelincourt  undertakes  the 
defence  of  him,  whom  he  continually  terms  "the  saint  of  Geneva,  the 
disciple  of  Paul,  the  child  of  Christ."  Balduinus  had  said  to  Calvin  : 
"  Thy  companions  complain  of  thy  insolent  haughtiness  and  thy  in- 
supportable pride."  Drelincourt  beomes  excited,  and,  in  his  reformed 
zeal,  he  responds  to  Balduinus,  "thou  hast  lied."  And  then  sets  to 
work  to  recount  the  fine  words  of  the  reformer  "in  refutation  of  the 
viper  tongue  of  master  Balduinus." 

"Recharges  me  with  being  unable  to  endure  any  colleague ;  but 
my  moderation  in  bearing  not  only  with  my  colleagues,  but  also  with 
those  who  are  under  me,  and  not  only  in  bearing  with  them,  but  also 
in  loving  them,  is  so  well  known,  that  there  is  no  need  of  refuting  a 
calumny  so  futile." 

Who  would  not  be  ensnared  by  this  very  honied  language,  which 
would  be  supposed  to  have  fallen  from  the  lips  of  some  child  ? 
But  Drelincourt  has  never  perused  the  correspondence  of  his  father  in 
Christ,  and  Calvin  has  forgotten  the  lines,  which  he  wrote  to  his  dear 
Bullinger  in  1538."t 

»Opusc.,  p.  18-21. 

t  See  chapter  entitled  :  Return  to  Geneva. 

Here  are  some  fragments  of  a  manuscript  letter  of  Calvin,  from  which  w& 
may  be  able  to  conceive  some  idea  of  the  forms  of  style  usual  with  this  writer. 
Vie  must  bear  in  mind,  that  it  regards  one  sieur  de  la  Vau,  who  took  the  liber- 
tv  to  say,  that  he  comprehended   nothing   of  the  system  of  the  reformer  con 
cerning  predestination. 

"  Although  this  poor  fellow,  la  Vau,  has  nothing  but  his  silly  glory,  whicK 
dazzles  his  eyes,  without  his  perceiving  the  ill  and  injury  which  he  causes  : 
yet,  in  well  considering  a  certain  letter  which  he  wrote  from  that  place,  you 
will  clearly  perceive,  that  satan  so  impels  and  guides  him,  for  your  deception 
and  the  destruction  of  our  labour,  which  we  designed  for  the  advancement 
of  your  salvation,  and  also  to  aid  him  to  break  that  holy  union  which,  with  all 
our  power,  we  should  strive  to  strengthen  and  preserve.  Now,  as  I  have  to 
reply  to  a  man  who  has  conversed  with  you,  I  cannot  obviate  the  scandals 
which  he  has  endeavoured  to  occasion,  without  briefly  pointing  out  to  you 
things  regarding  his  person.  By  those  who  understood  him,  he  has  always 
been  considered  a  very  presumptuous  man*  &ven  to  readering  himself  ridicu- 


490 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


Do  you  not  now  perceive  that  Balduinus  was  very  wrong  to- speak 
of  the  arrogance  of  Calvin,  and,  in  quoting  the  following  lines  against 
Westphalius,  to  say  to  him  :     Read  then  ? 

"  If  Westphalius  be  unwilling  to  obey  tliis  last  admonition  which  I 
give  him,  I  shall  have  him  in  such  esteem  as  St.  Paul  tells  us  to  hold 
heretics.  The  others  also  who  have  censured  my  doctrines  :  such  a& 
those  of  Saxony,  Magdebourg,  Bremen,  etc.,  are  so  immersed  in  error 
that  their  oldest  theologians  do  not  even  understand  what  we  teach  little 
children  in  the  catechism.  They  do  not  know  what  the  Lord's  supper 
is,  nor  what  its  object :  they  are  brutal  men,  they  have  no  sense  oF 
honest  shame,  do  nothing  but  cavil,  advancing  the  hyperboles  of  their 
Luther,  studying  only  lo  deceive  the  people,  and  to  please  the  world, 
not  caring  for  the  judgment  of  God,  nor  of  his   angels.     They  are- 


lous.  And  would  to  God,  that  he  had  estimated  himself  according  to  his  own 
littleness;  for  he  would  discover  nothing  of  whicli  to  be  proud.  But  in  him 
the  proverb  must  find  its  verification,  that  there  are  none  so  bold,  as  those 
who  are  ignorant.  Hence  the  pest,  which  is  the  most  fatal  in  the  church  of 
God,  is  too  dominant  in  him,  viz:  foolish  presumption. 

"He  would  far  rather  be  impudent  than  acquiesce  in  the  truth.  I  remem- 
ber, that  being  at  supper,  four  years  ago,  when  he  had  foolishly  advanced  that, 
at  the  resurrection,  all  the  children  of  God  would  be  equal  in  glory,  and  1 
brought  against  him  a  passage  of  St.  Paul,  directly  contrary  to  this,  seeing 
himself  confounded,  he  had  the  hardihood  to  say  to  me:  Well,  this  is  a  pas- 
sage  of  St.  Paul.  What  could  one  do  with  such  a  phrenetic  fellow,  who  would 
rather  batter  his  horns  against  God,  than  humble  himself  by  confessing  his 
error?  You  already,  my  brethren,  in  part,  behold  the  causes  of  the  divorce, 
which  this  wild  beast  has  caused  amongst  us. 

"  Nevertheless,  as  to  the  -pursuit  vjhlch  he  accuses  us  of  having  made,  in  order 
to  bring  blasphemers  to  the  gibbet,  I  assure  you  that  he  has  lied.     But  I  would  be 
glad  to  know  since  what  time  he  has  taken  it  into  his  head  to  adhere  to  Cas- 
talion,  in  this  article,  seeing  that  when  here,  without  being  required  to  do  so, 
he  pretended  great  zeal  against  him.     And  let  him  not  say,  tliat  he  was  at  my 
instance  solicited  by  one  of  my  friends,  to  pluck  the  worms  from  the  noses  of 
those  with  whom  he  now  has  allied  himself.     For  though  our  brother,  master 
Jehan  Vernon,  familiarly  entreated  him  to  discover  the  truth,  this  was  only  be- 
cause  he  could  not  believe  that  the  common  rumour  was  true,  or  rather,  when 
la  Vau  had  known  them  to  be  authors  of  so  wicked  a  book,  that  he  would  de- 
test them  without    further   investigation.      Yet   this   was   done   without   my 
knowledge  :  so  far  from  there  having  been  any  grounds  to  accuse  us  of  suborn- 
ing.    You  will  be  able,  consequently,  to  perceive  from  his  letter  what  I'essons 
he  has  received  in  that  new  school,  in  order  to  defame  me  with  our  whole 
church.     He  says,  that  every  body  here  is  obliged  to  kiss  my  slipper.     I  think 
you  have  enough  evidence  as  to  what  pomps  I  display,  and  how  I  seek  to  have 
court  paid  me.     I  am  very  certain,  if  he   held    my  place,  he  would  make  far 
o-reator  parade.     For,  since,  being  nothing,    ho  is  so  puffed  up,  the  acquisition 
of  but  one  degree  would  makb  him   burst  altogether.     But  he  proves  what  a 
venomous  reptile  he  is,  by  being  sad  at  seeing  such  concord  here.     For  this  is 
what  he  calls  kissing  my  slipper,  that  they  do  not  revolt  against  me  and  against 
the  doctrine  I  teacli^  to  despise  God,   in    my  person,  and,  as  it  wore,  trample 
jiim  under  foot.     Those  who  are   so  great  enemies  of  peace  and  union,  show 
that  they  are  animated   by  the  spirit  of  satan.     He    accuses  me  of  so  causing 
my  books  to  be  authorized,  that  no  one  can  be  bold  or  hardy  enough  to  contra- 
dict me.     To  which  I  answer,  that    the   least  that  could  be    done  by  the  seig- 
niors, to  whom  God  has  entrusted  the  sword   and  authority,   is  to  prevent  per* 
sons  from  blaspheming  in  their  city,  ao-ainst  the  faith  in  which  they  are  taught. 
But  it  is  very  well,  that  the  dogs,  which  bark  after  us  so   loudly,  canuot  bil* 
us " 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVm.  491 

impetuous,  furious,  light,  inconstant  men,  full  of  doggish  impudence 
and  diabolical  pride.  They  are  cruel,  destitute  of  humanity,  and  per- 
sons  of  the  greatest  obstinacy.  They  are  hair  brained  men,  cyclopses, 
of  a  proud  Titanic  faction,  phrenetics,  savage  beasts,  bold,  boastful, 
obdurate.  They  think  us  unworthy  that  the  earth  should  bear  us,  and 
say  that  if  we  be  not  soon  exterminated,  we  should  at  least  be  banished 
among  the  Scythians  and  Indians.  Finally,  they  clamour  against 
the  inactivity  of  tlieir  Protestant  princes,  because  they  do  not  destroy 
us  with  their  swords."* 

The  reformation  has  often  stirred  up  the  dunghill  of  Ennius ;  but 
Luther  found  pearls  in  it  sometimes,  and  Calvin  never.  In  the  pulpit, 
Calvin  regaled  his  auditors  with  the  terms,  scoundrels,  dogs,  pimps, 
prostitutes. 

All  these  contests,  at  the  street  corners,  at  the  temple,  the  council,  in 
his  lodgings,  at  length  so  inflamed  the  blood  of  the  reformer,  that  he 
could  not  endure  the  slightest  contradiction.  He  was  a  despot,  whom 
it  was  more  perilous  to  disobey  than  the  king  of  France  himself. f 

One  day,  a  citizen  of  Lyons  came  to  knock  at  the  reformer's  door  : 
"  What  want  you  ?"  was  he  asked.  '*  Js  the  brother  in  ?"  said  the 
stranger,  in  a  supplicating  tone. — "  The  brother?"  responded  the  do- 
mestic, "my  master  is  grand  enough  for  you  to  give  him  the  title  of 
monsieur.''     The  solicitor  was  dismissed.  J 

Every  thing  was  compelled  to  bend  under  his  rod ;  at  the  least  word 
he  fell  into  a  swoon,  and  was  seized  by  the  megrim. § 

This  was  a  disease  to  which  he  had  been  subject  from  his  infancy.  I| 
He  was  often  obliged  to  keep  his  bed  for  several  hours,  in  order  to  as- 
suage the  great  sutierings  in  his  head.  In  his  correspondence,  he  com- 
plains of  these  at  every  moment;  but  pains,  however  pungent,  could  not 
diminish  his  courage. 

"  Yesterday,"  he  writes  to  Viret,  "I  was  in  bed,  sick  of  my  hemi- 
crany;  the  struggle  was  protracted:  three  days  of  torture.  But  at 
Merlin's  arrival,  I  arose  and  went  to  seek  the  envoy  of  Berne;  after- 
ward.s,  my  pains  returned  even  more  violent ;  but  this  did  not  prevent 
me  from  going  into  the  pulpit."? 

To  the  megrim  was  added  a  catarrh,  which  the  fine  days  of  spring 
could  not  drive  away.     With  an  astonishing   energy   of  character,  he 

*  Admon.  ult.  ad  Westp.,  tit.  3.     Translation  of  Feu  Ardent. 

t  Denique  sic  dominatur  GenevcB,  ut  eum  offendere  sit  longe  periculosius 
quam  regem  Galliee  in  ipsa  regia.— -Contra  libellum  Calvini. 

%  Venit  enim  in  ejus  eedes  quidam  pauper  simplex  homo  qui  queesivit  an 
frater  esset  domi.  Cui  responsum  :  "Quid  Irater?  Satis  magnus  est  ut  a  te  do- 
minus  appelletur!" — Contra  libellum  Calvini. 

§  Si  Quis  in  eum  liberius  locutus  est,  solebat  cadere  statim  in  morbum  suum 
quern  henucraniam  appellant. — Contra  libell.  Calvini.  p.  172. 

II  Besides  his  disposition  naturally  inclined  to  wrath,  his  wonderfully  active 
mind,  the  indiscretion  of  several  persons,  the  number  and  infinite  variety  of  af* 
lairs  regarding  the  church  of  God,  and,  towards  the  end  of  his  life,  great  and 
usual  maladies,  had  rendered  him  peevish  and  difficult.— Beza  vie  de  Calvin.— 
Drelincourt,  Defense  de  Calvin,  p.  ^Q5. 

IT  Mai,  1548. 


492 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


bore  up,  and  continued  to  labour.  In  1559/ Geneva  was  menaced  by 
the  house  of  Savoy  ;  ihe  hand  of  God  had  afflicted  the  reformer,  who, 
contending  with  his  ills,  came  with  the  rest  of  the  ministers  to  aid  in 
the  fortifications.  The  disease  proved  the  sironger,  and  he  was  pros- 
trated :   but  though  his  brain  was  paralyzed,  his  eye  still  lived. 

Domestic  troubles  soured  his  disposition,  but  could  not  shake  his 
soul.  An  attack  was  made  on  the  morals  of  his  wife  ;  Calvin,  in  a 
letter  to  his  friend  Farel,  energetically  denounces  the  lying  asseriions 
made  by  a  minister  regarding  Idelette.  He  forgets  that  he  has  calum- 
niated the  morals  of  all  those  whose  doctrines  he  had  combated,  and 
among  the  rest,  of  Gabriel  de  Saconay,  a  priest  of  Lyons.  But  he  has 
not  attempted  to  palliate  the  disorders  of  his  brother  Anthony,  whose 
scandalous  life  was  well  known  at  Geneva.* 

In  the  midst  of  these  illusions  of  the  heart,  these  sufferings  of  the 
body,  these  private  troubles,  these  seclusions  from  the  exterior  world, 
Calvin  devoted  himself  to  his  Bible,  and  sought  in  the  inspired  volume 
for  words  of  consolation  against  his  various  ills ;  but,  by  a  wonderful 
logic,  the  word,  which  furnished  him  powerful  aids,  soon  also  wrested 
them  from  him,  as  we  are  about  to  see. 


*  The  family  of  Anthony  Calvin,  the  refonner's  well  beloved  brother,  gave 
an  example  of  complete  disunion  and  great  faults.— Galiffe,  Not.  Gen.  t, 
III.  p,  111. 


CHAPTER    XLV. 


LITERARY    FRIENDSHIPS. 


To  manifest  the  abyss,  into whichhaman  reason  must  necessarily  bfe 
precipitated,  when  not  walking  by  the  light  of  faith,  I  shall  select 
some  of  the  proudest  glories  of  the  reformation.  Gentilis,'Ochino,  ior 
■a  moment  allied  in  friendship  with  Calvin,  had  revolted  against  the 
principle  of  authority.  Both,  in  their  search  after  truth,  had  started 
-from  the  same  point- — the  Bible.  After  long  wanderings,  Ochino  ar- 
rived at  the  deification  of  polygamy,  and  Gentilis  at  the  apotheosis  of 
■deism.  How,  then,  has  the  reformation  inscribed  the  names  of  these 
two  men,  with  such  dissimila-r  doctrines,  on  the  same  page,  at  the  head. 
tDf  which  she  has  written  :  To  the  defenders  of  truth?  If  God  has  re- 
vealed himself  to  Ochino,  he  has  concealed  himself  from  Gentilis;  or 
'^else  light  and  darkness  are  identical  substances. 


^■Ochino  at  Sienna. — Success  and  estimate  of  his  preaching.— Tempted  and 
seduced  by  the  demon  of  pride. — Revolts  against  authority.- — ^^Is  summoned 
to  Rome,  and  refuses  to  appean*— Insults  the  papacy. — Flies  to  Geneva  with 
a  young  girU — Associates  with  Calvin. — Desire^s  to  be  free. — Is  denounced 
and  banished. — His  dialogue  on  polygamy. 

At  Sienna,*  in  the  convent  of  th-e  Capuchins,  quite  recently  institu- 
ted, there  was  a  young  monk,  who  lived,  as  did  Luther  in  the  Augus- 
tinian  cloister,  the  life  of  an  ascetic,  and  whom  the  demon  of  doub-t 
came  to  visit  in  his  cell.  It  is  Ochino  himself,  who  has  furnished  us 
with  an  account  of  his  first  contests  with  the  flesh. 

"  In  vain,"  he  writes,  in  his  diolagues,  "did  I  try  to  mortify  my  body, 
to  fast  and  pray  :  the  ajDpetites  of  the  soul  became  more  and  more  irri- 
tating. At  length,  I  read  the  scriptures,  and  my  eyes  were  unsealed ; 
then  Christ  revealed  to  me  three  great  truths  : 

'•  That  the  Lord,  by  his  death  on  the  cross,  has  fully  satisfied  the  jus- 
tice of  his  Father  and  merited  heaven  for  his  elect;" 


*  De    vita,   religione   et   fatis   Bernardini   Ochini,  ^enensis,   by  Gottlieb 
■Struvius. 

42 


494 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN, 


"  That  religious  vows  are  a  human  invention ;" 

'•'  That  the  church  of  Rome  is  abominable  in  the  eyes  of  God." 

The  poor  child,  for  at  that  epoch  he  was  scarcely  twenty,  had  nc? 
need  of  aid  from  the  Holy  Ghost  to  discover  these  three  rays  of  lights 
diffused  through  the  whole  length  of  Luther's  work,  de  Caplivitate 
Bahylonica,  and  stolen  by  a  Saxon  monk  from  a  merchant  of  Lyons, 
of  the  name  of  Waldo, 

In  possession  of  these  treasures  of  novelty,  brother  Bernardino  as- 
cended the  pulpit  and  began  to  preach,  but  skillfully  dissembling  the 
venom  of  his  errors. 

Imagine  to  yourself  a  style  of  language,  warm  as  the  sun  of  Naples^ 
splendid  as  Rome,  coloured  like  the  vegetation  of  Venice,  and  the  ef- 
fect of  which  was  heightened  by  a  dark  eye,  the  complexion  of  an  an- 
choret, and  theatrical  gestures.  The  hearers  Vi^ere  enchanted.  Italy 
could  talk  of  nothing  but  the  extempore  discourses  of  brother  Bernar- 
dino. Learned  men,  fashionable  ladies,  priests,  monks,  and  the  mass 
of  the  people  particularly,  crowded  the  doors  of  the  church  where  he 
was  to  preach.  Charles  V.,  on  coming  forth  from  the  temple,-  had  ex- 
claimed ;  "  Here  is  a  young  man  that  would  make  the  very  stones 
weep."*  Sadolet  compared  him  to  the  orator  of  antiquity. f  One  day, 
Venice,  with  her  doges,  her  patricians,  her  artists,  her  gondoliers  came 
to  the  palace  of  Bembo,  to  solicit  to  be  allowed  to  hear  Bernardino 
during  the  station  of  Lent.  Bembo  wrote  immediately  to  the  marquis 
de  Pescaro,  to  implore  him  to  induce  Ochino,  his  protege,  to  come  and 
preach  at  Venice.     The  brother  consented. 

Afterwards  Bembo  wrote  to  the  marquis  :  "  Our  brother  Bernardino  is 
setting  every  body  crazy  :  men  and  women,  every  body  is  beside  hinv 
self  on  account  of  the  preacher  :   what  eloquence,  what  fascination  !":j: 

Again,  on  the  next  day,  he  wrote  to  the  cure  of  Venice  :  "  My 
Very  Reverend  Sir,  forget  not,  if  need  be,  to  compel  brother  Bernardi- 
no to  use  meat ;  for  if  he  does  not  give  over  trying  to  observe  the  lent-- 
en  fast,  he  will  never  be  able  to  endure  the  fatigue  of  preaching. ^'"§ 

Bernardino  was  living  the   life   of  a   christian  of  the  desert,  j]      He- 

•  Schrockh,  Christliche  Kirchengeschichtc  scit  der  Reformation,  t.  II,  p,  785, 

t  Sadoleli  Epist,  in  op    Palearii,  p.  BB\j. 

\  Lctterc  di  Piotro  Bembo,  voL  IV,  p.  108,  Operc,  vol,  VIII.— Milano,  ISIO.,- 

^  Letterc  di  Bembo,  t.  IX,  p,  497. 

II  Here  IS  a  frai^ment  of  one  of  Ocliino's  discourses  "on  letters,"  which  we 
reproduce  with  the  orthography  and   syntax  of  the  epoch  r 

"Le  litere  saere  in  se  sonno  buonc,  dono  di  Dio  c  dallo  Spirito  santo,  neinte- 
dimeno  possano  da  noi  usarsi  e  bene  e  male,  si  come  8  noto  per  esperientia,  chc 
dove  gl'eletti  sene  servano  in  honore  di  Dio-,  i  rcprobati  sene  servano  in  suoy 
disonore,  pur  per  defetto  loro,  e  non  delle  scritture.  Pcro,  atteso  la  malignita 
de  gl'impij,  forse  hanno  pia  nociuto,  chegiovafo  al  mondo.  Ben  che  Dio,  coii 
I'inlinita  sua  bonta  al  ultimo  tutti  li  disordini  reducaa  suo  honore  e  gloria.  In 
prima,  le  litere  c  le  sacre  hanno  nociuto  a  moiti,  i  qu;ili  sonno  stoti  c.iligentissi- 
niiin  havere  libri  molti,  e  ncgligcnti  in  studiargli,  gl'  epnrso  d'  essere  pieni  di 
litere,  poi  chehanro  la  libraria  plena  di  libri,  Planno  anco  a  molti  nociuto,  i 
quali  studiando  non  lianno  atteso  a  imprimerse  nella  mcnte  le  verita  che  truovor- 
no;  ma  a  scriverle  in  cnrte,  tal  chc  restando  ignorantissimi,  tutto  il  loro  sapere 
C  ne  loro  scritti,  i  quali  se  si  perdesseno,  si  pcrderebbe  anco  la  loro  scientia. 
Questa  fu  una  dcUe  cause  per  le  quali  Socrato  danno  le  litere,  c  disse  che  gl* 
huomini  innanti  che  si  truovaj-seno  lo  litere  erano  piu  dotti  che  di  poi,perch8 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIX.  495 

walked,  as  contemporary  accounts  inform  us,  with  naked  feet  upon  the 
-stones,  amid  snows  and  thorns,  with  head  uncovered,  and  exposed  to  all 
the  inclemencies  of  the  weather,  begging  alms  from  door  to  door,  never 
drinking  wine,  but  slaking  his  thirst  at  the  first  streamlet  he  found ;  at 
nightfall,  placing  his  sack  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  he  slept  till  the 
chant  of  the  birds  aroused  him  in  the  morning.  The  great  had  prepar- 
ed  very  splendid  tables,  and  very  soft  beds,  for  him;  but  Ochino,  when 
in  a  city,  preferred  a  little  fresh  straw  to  feathers  and  down,  and  black 
bread  to  the  most  exquisite  dishes.  When  persons  saw  him  pass,  with 
his  beard  wiiitened  prematurely,  and  reaching  down  to  his  girdle,  with 
his  eye  extinct  from  maceration,  his  visage  that  of  a  martyr  about  to  be 
cast  to  the  wild  beasts  of  the  circus,  they  knelt  down  from  an  involun- 
tary impulse  of  surprise  and  respect.  And  no  body  imagined  that,  un- 
der the  plies  of  that  floating  beard,  under  that  hood  thrown  back  upon 
the  shoulders,  in  those  sandals  purposely  filled  with  holes,  there  was 
twining  a  serpent  which  would  crush  the  poor  monk  to  death.  Brother 
Bernardino  wanted  to  make  a  sensation,  and  stood  in  need  of  the  chants 
of  the  multitude,  of  the  homages  of  the  great,  of  the  eulogies  of  the 
learned,*  in  compensation,  undoubtedly,  for  the  interior  joy  he  had  lost 
ill  the  convent,  from  the  moment  he  had  ceased  to  believe. 

Paul  III.  made  an  extensive  promotion  of  bishops  and  cardinals,  and 
he  forgot  to  give  the  mitre  or  the  hat  to  brother  Bernardino,  who  was 
then  preaching  with  great  success  in  the  church  of  the  Capuchins,  at 
Naples.  The  ascetic  of  the  Thebaid  w^as  piqued  to  the  heart.  Among 
his  auditors,  there  was  a  Spanish  refugee,  named  Valdez,t  an  apostate, 
who  desired  no  better  occupation  than  to  hunt  after  all  those  imagina- 
tions that  were  tormented  by  doubt,  the  malady  of  the  sixteenth  centu- 
ry. He  knew  how  to  read  the  preacher's  eye.  The  sermon  over,  he 
followed  Bernardino,  flattered  him,  intoxicated  him,  seduced  him,  and. 
cast  him  into  Zwinglianism.  It  was  Faust  tempting  Margaret.  The 
brother  determined  to  revenge  the  neglect  of  Paul  III.  The  pulpit 
was  the  theatre  of  his  vengeance ;  where  the  orator  declaimed  against 
the  papacy.  Paul  summoned  the  turbulent  monk  to  Rome  ;  but  the 
monk  was  alarmed,  and  took  to  flight,  leaving  his  sack,  his  sandals, 
and  his  white  beard  in  Italy,  and  carrying  with  him  a  young  girl,  whom 
lie  had  seduced. 

scrivevano  ncllamente,  quello  che  di  poi  hanno  scritto  in  carte.  Lasso  stare, 
che  molti  tutt',  il  tempo  clella  vita,  loro  hanno  gittato,  imo  e  speso  iu  disonore 
di  Dioin  leggere,  e  scrivcre  cose  curiose  e  pernitiose  alia  salute.  Et  molti  trans- 
portaii  dalla  curiosita,  hanno  voluto  tanti  libri  vcdere,  che  si  sonno  confusi  e 
restatisenza  frutto,  si  come  il  campo,  nel  quale  si  gettatroppo  seme.  Ed  alcuni 
per  questo  perseno  il  giuditio,  ma  quello  che  importa  molto  piu  e  che  hanno 
pensato,  che  la  vera  scientia  della  theologia  sia  nelle  litere,  e  questo  falso." 

Sermones  Bernardini  Ochini  Senensis.  Stampato  inVenetia,  1543,  die  tertia 
novembris,  in-l8,  Sermone  13. — Delle  imagini  et  reliquie.  Printed  at  Geneva, 
three  parts  in  one  volume.  2-3,  with  the  motto:  "Pressa  valentior." 

La  quarta  parte  delle  prediche  di  M.  Bernardino  Ochino.  en  leltres  aldines. 

*  Bock,  Hist,  antitrini.,  t.  II,  p.  485.  Graziani,  Vita  card,  Commendoni,  vol. 
U,  cap.  9. 

t  Sandius  (  Bibl.  antitri.,  p.  2)  has  ranked  Ochino,  Valdez,  Wolfgang,  and 
Fub,  Capito,  with  the  anti-Trinitarians. 


4%  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

After  his^  flight,,  he  had  amassed  materials  far  a  reply  to  his  adversa. 
jiies.  It  is  a  libel,  replete  with  calumnies  against  Paul  MI.,  so  disgust- 
ing, that  the  Protestants  themselves  have  been  ashamed  of  it.  There 
waa  only  one  man,  whose  brow  was  brazen  enough  to  avail  himself  of 
it  as  historical  testimony  :   we  have  designated  Calvin.* 

It  was  to  Geneva  that  Ochino  went,  in  order  to  behold  and  con- 
verse with  the  man  who  then  made  most  noise  in  the  world.  There- 
former,  in  magnificent  terms,  hailed  the  new  comer.  "  We  have  here,'* 
said  he  to  Melancthon,  "  Bernardino  of  Sienna,  that  illustrious  many 
whose  flight  has  produced  such  a  sensation  in  Italy. "f 

These  two  persons,  who  tenderly  embraced  each  other,  could  not  re- 
main long  in  union.  Ochino  wanted  no  master.  To  attract  attention, 
he  sets  to  work  to  teach  surprising  fancies  regarding  the  Trinity,  and* 
having  been  soon  denounced  by  Calvin,  he  is  driven  away  from  Ge- 
neva. 

Then  Ochino  sets  out  again,  still  on  foot,  as  he  had  traveled  in  Italy, 
with  his  wife  hanging  to  his  arm  ;  and  with  his  heart  full  of  those  things 
which,  for  nearly  twenty  years^  had  kept  him  from  sleeping,  he  pursues 
truth,  which  ever  flies  before  him  like  a  dream.  In  order  to  catch  her, 
the  Capuchin  brother,  at  every  step,  casts  away  some  one  of  those  doe- 
ttines  which  em.barrass  his  march  ;  but  truth,  like  an  ignis  fatuus,  con^ 
tinues  to  sport  before  him,  without  his  being  able  to  secure  her.  Whenr 
he  arrives  at  Zurich,  his  symbol  is  so  exhausted,  that  the  ministers  de- 
mand from  him  a  profession  of  faith.  He  obeys,  and  swears  to  live 
and  die  in  the  bosom  of  the  church  of  Zwingle ;  and  scarcely  has  he 
pronounced  this  oath,  when  he  repents  it.  He  mounts  the  pulpit,  and 
makes  an  assault  on  some  of  the  dogmas  of  the  Helvetic  commune ; 
but  no  one  is  moved.  He  appeals  to  his  pen,  and  in  his  Lahy'n7ithi,% 
lie  denies  almost  every  truth  of  Christianity ;  and  still  he  creates  na^ 
sensation.  He  is  determined  to  make  a  noise,  however ;  for  this  is  his 
manna.  Hence,  one  day,  he  secretly  sends  to  Bale  a  collection  of  his 
dialogues,  the  work  of  a  fancy,  which,  already  on  its  return,  still  dreams 
of  worldly  conquests,  of  incense,  and  smoke,  and  essays  to  command  at- 
tention  by  means  of  its  follies.     It  is  tiien   that  he  writes  that  dialogue- 


*  History  of  the  Reformation,  by  Sleidan,  t.  Ill,  p.  47. 

Ochino,'in  two  letters,  has  given  the  motives  of  his  flight.  The  first  was 
written  to  Mutius  Giustinopolitanus:.: 

Bernardino  Ochino  senese  4  Mutio  Guistinopalitano,  dove  rende  la  ragione- 
della  partita  sua  d'ltalia. 

The  second,  to  his  friends  of  Sienna,  in  which  he  thus  expresses  himself: 

Trovandomi  in  quel  caso,  consigliandomi  con  Christo  et  con  li  pij  amici  dissi 
infra  me  stesso:  tu  sal  che  costui,  il  qual  ti  chiama,  e  antechristo,  al  quale  non 
sei  tenuto  obedire.  Costui  ti  perseguita  a  morte,  per  che  predichi  Christo,  la 
Gratia,  I'Evangelio,  e  quelle  cose  le  quali  con  esaltareil  figliolodi  Diodestrug- 
gano  il  suo  regno.  Pero,  questa  o  una  impresa  a  ossi  di  state,  sella  non  fusse 
opera  diDio,  si  dissolverebbe,  sie  come  disse  gia  Gamaliel,  ma  ia  va  semperr 
crescendo.     Bernardino,  alii  signori  della  cita  di  Siena. 

Aug.  Beyer.,  Mem.  Lib.  rar,  p.  259-261,  thinks  that  this  second  letter  is  but 
a  translation  of  the  first.     This  is  a  mistake. 

t  Sylloge  epist.  Burmani,  t.  II,  p.  230. — Letters  of  Calvin,  to  Jacques  de- 
Bourgogne. 

.^  Schelhorn,  Amoanit.,,t.  Ill,  p.  9164. 


hJTE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  497 

fipon  polygamy,  which  at  first  the  reformation  desired  to  represent  as  a 
mere  artistic  caprice,  the  play  of  an  adventurous  mind,  a  literary  wager; 
but  it  is  one  that  really  contains  a  philosophic  thought,  the  triumph  of 
which  is  sought  for  by  Ochino.*  Let  the  reformation  laud  private  judg- 
ment as  much  as  it  pleases.  Behold,  to  what  it  conducted  one  of  the  fin- 
est intellects  of  the  sixteenth  century  !     To  the  apotheosis  of  polygamy! 

It  is  thought  that  the  original  work  of  Ochino  f  was  translated  into 
Latin  by  Castalion.  The  manuscript,  placed  in  the  hands  of  Amerbach, 
the  rector  of  the  University  of  Bale,  was  submitted  to  the  examination 
of  Coelio  Secundo  Curione,  who,  at  a  later  period,  pretended  that  he 
never  had  approved  the  work. 

At  the  apparition  of  such  a  book,  the  theologians  of  Zurich  sent  forth 
a  cry  of  horror,  and  the  magistrates  issued  a  decree  of  banishment 
against  its  author. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  winter :  Bernardino  asked  permission  of  his 
judges  to  stay  at  Zurich  until  the  next  spring  :  the  reformation  mani- 
fested itself  to  be  destitute  of  pity.J 

Ochino,  already  advanced  in  years,  and  the  father  of  four  children, 
therefore  sets  forth  upon  the  way  of  his  exile.  The  voice,  which  in 
the  convent  had  said  to  him  :  "  Take  and  read,"  no  longer  sounded  in 
his  ear.  It  is  probable  that  the  Holy  Ghost  did  not  refuse  him  a  final 
admonition. — The  unfortunate  man  was  unwilling  to  hear  it. 

And  Beza  wrote  to  Dudithius:  ''Bernadin  Okin  is  a  wicked  de- 
bauchee, a  favourer  of  Arians,  a  mocker  of  Christ  and  his  church."" 


GBNTILIS. 

Gentilis,  being  attracted  to  Geneva,  preaches  his  opinions  concerning  the  Trin- 
ity.— Is  attacked  and  combated  by  Calvin. — Imprisoned. — His  retreat. — He 
is  banished  from  the  city. — Decapitated  at  Berne.. 

Will  Valentinus  Gentilis  be  more  fortunate?  Ho  belongs  to  that 
society  which  is  called  "'the  College  of  Vicenza,"§  and  composed  of 
certain  silly  imaginations,  who  believe  that  the  Holy  Ghost  ought  to- 
reveal  the  secret  of  the  word  of  God   to   every  one  capable  of  readino- 

•  Some  writers  have  pretended  that  Ochino  should  not  be  accused  of  hav;- 
ing  defended  polygamy;  but  I  tliink.  that  no  one  can  peruse  his  dialogues  with 
impartiality,  w-ithout  being  led  to  a  contrary  conclusion. — ^Histoire  de  la  Rei- 
fnrme  en  Italic,  par  Maccrie,  p.  437.  j 

t  Bernardini  Ochini  senensis  dialogi  XXX,  in  duos  libros  divisi,  etc.  Basi- 
Jes&,  1563,  in-8. 

The  XXI.  treats  de  Polygamia. 

The  XX.  de  ratione  exslrucndi  regni   Christi  et  destruendi  antiehristi. 

In  the  XXVIII.  guopacto  tractandi  sunt  hceretlci,  Ochino  establisJies  the  ne- 
cessity of  punishing  heretics  with  death. 

The  title  of  the  XXX.  is,  de  humana  diaholica  arrogantia, 

X  Schelhorn,  Amcenit.,  t.  Ill,  p.  2022,  2166,  2174. 

k  Mosheim,  Eccles.  cent.  XVI. — Maccrie,  History  of  the  Reformation,  p.  173: 
and  the  following: 
^Luther  had  attacked  tlie  authority  of  the  church,  of  tradition  and  the  fa- 
42* 


498  IJIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

the  scriptures.  Lcelius  Sbcinus,  Gamillo  Renato,  Francesco  Negri^ 
Ochino,  Alciati,  Blandratus,  were  its  founders.  The  association  waa 
denounced  to  the  authorities,  and  its  members  hastened  to  fly  from  Italy 
and  seek  an  asylum  in  a  foreign  country,  bearing  with  them  that  book 
of  life,  in  which  each  of  them  sought  and  found  his  symbol :. 

Hie  liberest  in  quo  quaerit  sua  dogmata  quisque, 
Invenit  pariter  dogmata  quisque  sua. 

Gentilis  came  to  Geneva.  He  had  heard  wonders  related  of  that 
hospitable  city,  where  thought  was  allowed,  with  full  liberty,  to  indulge 
all  its  caprices,  togive  up  to  all   sorts  of  reveries^  to  teach  every  kind 


thers;  the  scripture,  according  ta^  this  thBologian,  was  the  oaly  rule  of  faith, 
aJid  each  individual  was  the  interpreter  of  the  scriptures. 

"  The  christian,  abandoned  to  himself  even  in  the  interpretation  of  the  scrip- 
turesjiad  no  other  guide  than  his  own  knowledge;  each  pretended  reformer 
discovered  in  the  scriptures  only  what  was  conformable  with  th€  opinions  and 
ideas  which  he  had  received,  or  with  the  principles  which  he  had  adopted  for 
himself;  and,  as  almost  all  heresies  were  nothing  but  false  interpretations  of 
the  scripture,  nearly  all  past  heresies  reappeared  in  an  age  when  fanaticism  and 
licentiousness  had  spread  the  principles  of  the  reformation  almost  over  all 
Europe. 

"From  the  bosom  of  the  reformation, .therefore,  were  seen  to  issue  sects, 
which  attacked  the  dogmas  that  Luther  had  respected  :  the  dogmas  of  the  Trin- 
ity, the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments,  the  necessity 
of  baptism. 

"  But  these  sects,  nearly  all  the  offspring  of  fanaticism  and  ignorance,  were 
divided  among  themselves,  and  fdled  Germany  with  divisions  and  troubles. 

"Whilst  Germany  was  torn  to  pieces  by.these  factions,  the  principles  of  the 
reformation,  carried  into  countries  where  the'  fire  of  fanaticism  did  not  inflame 
tlie  minds  of  the  people,  germinated,  as  it  were,  4uietly,  and  acquired  consisr 
tency  in  societies  which  piqued  themselves  on  their  capacity  to  reason. 

"Four  persons,  most  distinguished  for  their  rank,  their  employments  and 
titles,  in  1546,  established  at  Vicenza,  a  city  of  the  Venetian  states,  a  sort  of 
academy,  in  order  to  confer  together  on  matters  of  religion,  and  especially  on 
those  points  which^  then  caused  greatest  noise. 

"  The  species  of  confusion  which  then  reigned  almost  throughout  Europe, 
the  gross  and  shocking  abuses  which  had  penetrated  into  every  state,  supersti- 
tious and  ridiculous  or  dangerous  beliefs  which  were  spread  abroad,  caused 
this,  society  to  think  that  religion  needed  to  be  reformed  ;,  and  that,  as  all 
a»reed  that  the  scripture  contained  the  pure  word  of  God,  the  surest  means  to 
dtsengage  religion  from  all  false  opinions,  was  to  admit  nothing  but  what  was 
taught  in  the  scriptures. 

'•"As  this  society  prided  itself  on  its  literature  and  philosophy,  it  expounded, 
according  to  the  rules  of  criticism  which  it  had  adopted  for  itself,  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  philosophic  principles,  the  doctrines  of  the  scriptures,  and 
admitted  as-revealed  nothing  but  what  it  saw  clearly  taught  therein,  that  is, 
what  reason  was  able  to  conceive. 

"  In  pursuance  of  this  method,  they  reduced  Christianity  to  the  following 
articles: 

"There  is  one  supreme  God,  who  has  created  all  things  by  tlie  pow^r  of  his 
word,  and  who  by  this  word  governs  all  things. 

"The  word  is  his  Son,  and  this  Son  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  Son  of  Mary,  a  ver- 
itable man,  but  a  man  superior  to  other  men,  having  been  begotten  of  a  Virgin, 
and  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"This  Son  is  he  whom  God  promised  to  the  ancient  patriarchs,  And  whom  hd 
g:iv£S.to  men :  it  is  this  Son. who  has  announaed  th€  gospel,  and  who  has  shown 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIJf.  499 

q(  doctrine,  without  being  in  dread,  as  in  Italy,  of  the  eye  of  the  in- 
quisitor. Now,  by  dint  of  meditating  the  Bible,  Gentilis  had  become 
an  anti-Trinitarian. 

He  said :  "Trinity,  is  a  word  which  you  will  no  where  find  in  the 
Bible,  any  more  than  those  purely  human  terms,  essence  and  hypostasis. 
There  is  but  one  God,  the  God  of  Israel,  who  has  bestowed  his  divinity 
iipon  Christ  his  Son.  Christ  is  but  an  image  :  he  is  the  symbol  of  the 
glory  of  the  Father;  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  divine  power,  set  in  action. 

"  Calvin  adores  a  Quaternity  in  place  of  a  Trinity;  for  he  teaches 
that  the  separate  hypostasis  still  remains  the  divinity,  and  that  each 
person  is  truly  God  :   therefore  there  are  four  Gods.'"'* 

Poor  Gentilis  !  who,  with  such  infantile  simplicity,  confided  in  the 
tolerance  of  Calvin.  Why  did  he  not  remain  at  Vicenza,  with  his 
friends  the  anti-Trinitarians  ?  He  was  then  ignorant,  that,  in  all  Italy, 
there  was  no  tribunal  more  terrible  than  the  consistory,  no  inquisitor  in 
Spain  more  cunning  than  the  refugee  of  Noyon,  no  country  where  the 
soul  was  less  free  than  in  reformed  Switzerland!  At  Venice,  they 
sometimes  indeed  put  the  obstinate   heretic  to   death,  but  the  judge  did 

men  tlie  way  to  heaven,  by  mortifying  his  flesh  and  living  in  purity.  This  Sou 
died  by  order  of  his  Father,  to  obtain  for  us  the  remission  of  our  sins;  he  was 
resuscitated  by  the  power  of  the  Father,  and  he  is  glorious  in  heaven. 

"  Those  who  are  submissive  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  are  justified  on  the  part  of 
God,  .and  those  who  have  piety  in  him,  receive  the  imm.ortality  which  thev  lost 
in  Adam.  Jesus  Christ  alone  is  the  Lord  and  leader  of  the  people  who  are 
.•iubject  to  him ;  he  is  the  Judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead  :  he  will  come  back 
to  men  at  the  cansummation  of  ages. 

"  Behold  the  points  to  which  the  society  of  Vicenza  reduced  the  christian 
religion.  The  Trinity,  the  consubstantiality  of  the  word,  the  Divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  etc.,  according  to  this  society,  were  nothing  but  opinions  derived  from 
tiie  philosophy  of  the  Greeks,  and  not  revealed  dogmas. 

"  The  meetings  of  the  society  could  not  take  place  so  secretlv,  but  that  the 
ministry  were  informed  of  them.  It  caused  some  of  the  members  to  be  arrest- 
ed, who  were  put  to  death;,  the  others  escaped,  of  whom  were  Leiius  Socinus 
Bernard-Okin,  Pazuta,  Gentilis,  &c.,  who  withdrew  into  Turkey,  Switzerland, 
and  Germany. 

"  The  chiefs  of  the  pretended  reformation  w.ere  not  less  inimical  to  the  new 
Arians  than  the  Catholics;  and  Calvin  had  caused  Servetus  to  be  burned: 
hence  the  exiles  of  Vicenza  were  unable  to  teacli  their  opinions  freelv  in  pla- 
ces where  the  civil  powers  were  obedient  to  the  reformers.  Therefore  they  at 
length  withdrew  into  Poland,  where  the  new  Arians  freely  professed  their 
aentiments,  under  the  protection,  of  several  Polish  lords,  whom  they  had  se- 
duced. 

"  In  Poland,,  these  new  Arians  had  ckurches,  schools,  and  assembled  synods, 
in  which  they  passed  decrees  against  those  who  maintained  the  dogma  of  the 
Trinity. 

"  Leiius  Socinus  left  Switzerland  and  souglit  refuge  among  these  new  Ari- 
ans;,he  there  carried  a  taste  for  literature,  the  principles  of  criticism,  the  study 
of  languages,  and  the  art  of  dialectics;  he  wrote  against  Calvin,  he  made 
comments  on  the  holy  scriptures,  and  taught  the  anti-Trinitarians  to  explain  in 
a  figurative  or  alegorical  sense,  the  passages  which  the  reformers  brought 
against  tliem,  in  order  to  oblige  them  to  recognize  the  Trinity  and  the  Divinity 
of  Christ.  He  would,  without  doubt,  have  rendered  still  greater  services  to  the 
new  Arianism;  but  he  died,  at  Zurich,  on  the  sixteenthof  march,  1562,  leav- 
ing his  property  and  writings  to  his  nephew,  Faustus  Socinus." — Dictioa- 
naire  des  htresies,  by  Pluquet. 

*  Calvin  a  Geneve,  par  Jean  Gaberel,  p.  232-235,- 


500  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

not  insult  him ;  at  Geneva,  they  caused  him  to  be  burned,  and  the  exe- 
cutioner, a  witty  fellow,  while  waiting  for  the  hour  of  punishment, 
amused  himself  by  jesting  at  his  expense.  At  Geneva,  there  was  a 
prophet,  who  said  :  •'  U  Servetus  fall  into  my  hands,  he  will  be  burn- 
ed."    And  Servetus  was  burned. 

Gentilis  did  not  die,  because  he  had  not  the  courage  of  Servetus  : 
his  was  a  vulgar  soul,  and  he  grew  pale  in  the  presence  of  his  judges 
and  retracted. 

Calvin  pursued  him  with  hatred  and  jeers  :  the  hatred  was  ardent, 
the  jeers  were  ignoble.     He  wrote  against  Gentilis  a  libel  entitled  : 

"The  impiety  of  Valentinus  Gentilis  openly  exposed,"*  in  which 
he  makes  no  attempt  to  discuss  the  subject  with  his  adversary,  but  tries  to 
tear  him  to  pieces.  He  calls  him — a  man  of  nothing,  who  ofTers,  to  be 
quaffed,  the  mud  and  slime  which  he  has  collected  from  the  reveries  of 
Servetus,  and  wants  to  persuade  persons  of  corrupted  taste  that  it  is  a 
sweet  liquor  and  wholesome  beverage  ;"t  whereas,  Gentilis  had  never 
read  the  writings  of  the  Spanish  physician,  but  had  asked  to  dispute  with 
the  Bible  in  hand.  Anti-Trinitarianism  was  making  progress;  it 
was  publicly  taught  in  the  Grisons,  in  Transylvania,  in  Poland,{  at  the 
o-ates  of  Geneva,  at  Lyons  itself,  where,  as  Calvin  informs  us,  poets 
put  in  verse  the  system  of  Gentilis. 

"  Whereas,  now  a-days,  many  steep  their  fangs  in  the  troubles,  the 
dissensions,  and  havoc  made  upon  the  true  doctrine  ;  it  is  not  wonder, 
ful  that  at  Lyons  is  found  some  boaster,  who  has  vomited  from  his  mouth 
the  venom  of  which  he  is  full.  There  is  even  a  poet,  who  has  pushed 
himself  forward  to  embelish  the  theology  of  Valentinus  by  his  verses.. 
Among  other  things,  he  makes  no  difficulty  to  advance  this  fine  sen- 
tence,  as  a  maxim  — that  the  uneven  number  is  agreeble  to  God  ;  very 
well ;  but  babbler,  suppose  I  place  before  you,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
number  three,  multipled  by  three,  there  will  result  a  marvelous  num- 
ber  of  Gods."§ 

The  quiet  of  Geneva  was  compromised.  The  Italian  church,  found- 
ed by  Calvin,  menaced  the  very  existence  of  the  reformed  communion. 
The  Italian  refugees  could  not  bear  the  theocrat's  yoke  without  mur- 
muring ;  they  wanted  to  be  free.  Calvin,  comprehending  the  necessity 
of  a  uniform  doctrine,  drew  up  a  formulary  which  the  foreigners  were 
to  subscribe.  Valentinus  Gentilis  imitated  the  rest  of  his  fellow  citi- 
zens :  he  made  oath  to  the  confession ;  but  he  soon  repented,  and  be- 
gan again  to  preach  his  reveries. 

"  1  confess,  said  he,  "that  the  God  of  Israel,  whom  the  holy  books 
propose  to  us,  as  the  true  God,  and  whom  windy  sophists  deny  to  have 
a  Son,  is  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  this  Jesus  Christ, 
whom  he  has  sent,  inasmuch  as  he  is  the  Word,  is  the  true  and  natural 
Son  of  the  Holy  God,  the  Omnipotent  Father."  || 

*  Opuscules,  p.  1921. 
t  Opuscules,  p.  1921. 

J: Porta,  Hist.  Ref.  EcclcSr  Rhjcticarum. — Bock,   liist.-  Antitri.,  t.  IL  p  410, 
411. — Maccrie,  p.  177. 
^  Opuscules,  p.  1923. 
y  Opuscules  de  Culvin,. 


LI5E    OF    JOn^    CALVIN.  501 

When  we  reflect  that  this  Genevese  population,  which  voluntarily 
had  renounced  the  xnagnificent  teachings  of  the  Catholic  school,  is 
taken  by  these  foolish  words,  the  issue  of  a  sick  brain,  we  feel  a  mel- 
ancholy astonishment ! 

Calvin  caused  the  Italian  to  be  put  in  prison;  and  the  unhappy  man, 
who  thought  himself  illumined,  accused  his  judges,  and  implored  God 
to  enlighten  them ;  and  as  the  light  did  not  descend  from  heaven 
rapidly  enough,  he  wrote  to  them  : 

"  Faithful  ministers  of  the  word  of  God,  (he  was  addressing  the  old 
apostates,  Cop,  Remond,  and  Enoch),  Calvin  calls  my  opinion  a 
revery.  In  my  view  it  would  be  desirable  that  the  ancient  doctors  had 
thus  dreamed  :  never  would  they  have  so  greatly  obscured  the  under- 
standings of  men  with  darkness.  But  it  does  not  well  become  me  to 
speak  of  myself;  if  what  I  propose  is  true,  the  praise  thereof  belongs 
only  to  God,  and  not  to  me,  who  never  should  have  had  a  taste  of 
such  things,  had  I  not  learned  them  from  God.  The  father  of  the 
Word  is  the  God  of  Israel,  the  Word  is  the  God  of  Israel.  These  two 
propositions  are  both  true ;  but  if  they  be  reversed,  they  will  not  both 
be  true ;  for  if  you  say,  the  God  of  Israel  is  the  Father  of  the  Word, 
this  is  false,  because  the  Word  denotes  the  quality  of  the  Son  and  the 
essence,  but  the  term  God,  as  that  of  the  Father,  only  the  essence."* 

Calvin  responds  : 

"By  thy  last  writing,  we  have  known  thee  to  have  a  depraved  mind, 
to  be  full  of  intolerable  pride,  and  of  a  venomous  nature,  imbued 
with  a  malignant  spirit,  and  finally  an  obstinate  heretic.  .  .  .  Exclaim 
as  much  as  thou  pleasest  that  thou  recognizest  Christ  as  true  God,  if 
his  Father  alone  be  only  God,  and  the  God  of  Israel,  thou  openly 
rejectest  him  from  the  degree  in  which  thou  placest  his  Father  alone  in 
regard  to  him." 

Then  the  shade  of  Servetus  appeared  to  Gentilis,  who  began  to 
tremble,  and  asked  to  recant.  He  therefore  wrote  from  his  prison  a 
confession,  in  which  he  disavowed  every  thing  he  had  published  upon 
the  Trinity,  and  praised  the  piety,  the  science,  and  the  inspiration  of 
Calvin.  The  reformer  made  use  of  clemency  :  the  judges  pronounced 
a  sentence  of  mercy,  as  it  is  called  by  Protestant  historians  ;  here  it  is  ; 

"In  the  name  of 'the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
"Although  the  malice  and  the  wickedness  which  thou  hast  manifested, 
well  entitle  thee  to  be  exterminated  from  amongst  men  as  a  heretical 
and  schismatical  seducer,  nevertheless,  having  regard  to  thy  repen- 
tance, we  condemn  thee,  Valentinus  Gentilis,  to  be  stript  even  to  thy 
shirt,  having  thy  feet  naked  and  thy  head  uncovered,  holding  a  lighted 
torch  in  thy  hand,  to  kneel  before  us  and  ask  pardon,  of  us  and  of 
justice,  destesting  thy  writing,  which  we  order  thee  with  thy  own  hands 
to  put  into  the  fire  here  lighted,  to  be  reduced  to  ashes,  as  full  of  per« 
nicious  lies." 

On  the  5th  of  September^  Gentilis  left  Geneva,  without  uttering  a 
single  complaint  against  a  city,  which  thus  ignominiously  expelled 
^'the  true   disciple   of  Christ."     Scarcely   had   he  traversed  the  city,. 

•  Op.uscules,  p..  J842«. 


002 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVJiT. 


when  that  heavenly  light,  which  every  where  accompanied  him,  ojice 
more  shone  before  his  eyes.  It  irradiated  from  the  book  which  he 
carried  under  his  arm — the  Bible. — The  unhappy  man  again  resumed 
his  habitual  chant : 

**  The  Father  of  the  Word  is  the  God  of  Israel." 

He  wanted  to  continue  singing  it  on  his  entry  into  Berne;  but  in 
the  name  of  the  reformation,  the  executioner  came  to  interrupt  his 
canticles,  and  some  days  after  the  knife  had  disposed  of  the  theological 
poet. 

On  his  way  to  execution,  Gentilis  shook  his  head  and  said  :  "  Oth- 
ers have  shed  their  blood  for  the  Son,  I  am  the  first  that  will  have  the 
honour  to  shed  my  blood  for  the  glory  of  the  Father." 

You  behold  to  Avhat,  an  abandonment  of  the  principle  of  authority 
has  brought  Ochino  and  Gentilis  !  The  first  to  exile,  'the  last  to  the 
block.  And  had  either  discovered  a  single  truth  by  his  apostacy  ! 
Not  one,  Calvin  is  compelled  to  banish  them  from  his  republic,  which 
they  threatened  to  corrupt.  And  for  v/hom  shall  the  principle  of  pri- 
vate judgment  have  been  an  ark  of  safety  ?  For  no  one,  if  Calvin  be 
the  Noah  of  that  ark ;  for,  according  to  Sandius,  Ochino  is  an  anti- 
Trinitarian.  Gentilis  a  deist,  Valdez,  in  his  cento  c  died  consider ationi, 
a  blasphemer  ;  and,  as  Beza  says,  Mino  Celso,  and  the  two  Socinus  are 
heretics.  And  yet,  the  two  Socinus,  Mino  Cclso,  Valdez,  Gentilis 
and  Ochino,  are  honoured  by  Protestant  historians  as  martyrs  of  truth.* 

There  is  one  question  to  be  asked.  At  the  time  of  which  we  now 
speak,  where  is  that  truth  ?  At  Geneva,  in  the  Pasquillus  of  Csslio 
Secundo  Curione  ?  At  Verceil,  in  the  pulpit  occupied  by  Peter  Mar- 
tyr Vermigli  ?  At  Milan,  in  the  book  of  Paleario,  il  heneficio  di 
Christo  ?  At  Locarno,  in  the  lodgings  of  Benedetto  ?  At  Bentivo- 
glio,  in  the  boudoir  of  donna  Helena  Rangone  ?  At  Vicenza,  in  the 
cenacle  of  Faustus  Socinus,  Camillo  Renato,  and  Blandratus  ?  At 
Venice,  in  Angelo  Buonarici's  explication  of  the  apostolical  epistles  ? . 
,  .  .  Let  one  of  these  sectaries  come  to  Geneva.  Calvin  will  drive  him 
uway  as  a  disciple  of  satan. 

Wiiere  then  is  the  truth  ?  It  can  be  no  where  else  than  in  that 
church,  the  head  of  which  Calvin  is  preparing  to  insult  in  the  style  of 
a  demoniac;  in  the  midst  of  that  Catholic  clergy,  the  fidelity  of  whom 
he  has  vainly  tried  to  shake  ;  among  those  French  populations,  whose 
nationality  he  will  endeavour  to  destroy,  by  snatching  away  their  faith, 
as  he  has  wrested  it  from  the  people  of  Geneva. 

*  Th.  Maccrie,  in  his  history  of  the  progress  and  extinction  of  the  refor- 
mation in  Ital)^  in  8vo.,  London  and  Faris,  places  near  300  sectaries,  of  whom 
not  one  represents  Calvin,  among  tho  reformers,  that  is,  among  the  defenders^ 
of  the  gospel. 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 

tHS    CLERGY    OF    LYO^S.        GABRIEL    DE    SACOiJAY.*      1560 1563* 

■Calvin's  congratulation  to  Gabriel  de  Saconay. — Some  pages  of  tiiis  libel; — 
Bretschneider  vaunting  the  urbanity  of  the  reformer. — Who  Saconay  was.— 
His  love  for  letters. — Ho  is  attacked  by  Calvin  on  the  subject  of  a  preface 
placed  at  the  head  of  tlie  Assertio  of  Henry  VHl. — Idea  of  Saconay's  com* 
mentarvv— Insults  of  Calvin. — Explained.— The  clergy  of  Lyons,  the  sa* 
viours  of  our  liberties  and  our  faith* 

"In  our  timeS',  there  was  a  chanter  of  the  cathedra]  church  of  Or 
leans>  named  Correau,  a  great  gossipi  allowing  hunself  all  licence 
m  reviling  and  evil  speaking ;  who  nevertheless  possessed  this 
cunning,  that  in  order  to  disgorge  more  boldly  whatever  came  into  his 
mouth,  he  commenced  with  himself,  traducing  himself,  so  that  nothing 
could  be  retorted  on  him,  and  by  this  means,  he  anticipated  every 
thing  which  might  have  been  advanced  against  him,  shutting  the 
mouths  of  all  and  leaving  them  without  reply.  Now,  it  was  at  least 
a  sort  of  propriety  as  well  as  shame  for  so  abandoned  and  dissolute  a 
man,  that  he  spared  himself  no  more  than  he  did  all  those  at  whom  he 
cast  his  sneers ;  but  there  is  a  chanter  or  precentor  (  as  he  calls  him- 
self) in  the  church  of  Lyons,  viz  :  one  Gabriel  de  Saconay,  of  a  very 
different  mould.  For  having  assumed  the  mask  of  a  grave  man,  and 
being  well  disguised  to  counterfeit  the  theologian,  he  puts  himself  for- 
ward as  if  he  were  mounted  on  a  scaffold.  Being  thus  bolstered  by 
his  gibberish,  or  rather  mounted  upon  his  cratches  he  boldly  and 
even  with  confident  audacity^  treats  of  the  sacred  mysteries  of  scrip- 
ture ;  as  if  from  his  infancy  he  had  been  nurtured  in  the  school  of  the 
apostles  and  prophets,  and  quite  supplied  with  the  doctrine  requisite  to 
him  who  speaks  in  such  capacity.  Si  Lugduni  quaritur  faniosum 
iwpanar,  domus  ejus  primas  tenebit.  Omiilo  cJioreas  et  saltationes 
quas  severi  castique  homines  tocarent  lenocinta.  He  frequents  many 
nouses  full  of  villainies>  and  scents  their  stench  like  a  hunting  dog> 
running  after  them  as  if  they  were   very   agreeable.     If  he  enter  some 

*  Congratulation  a  venerable  prestre  N.,  touchant  la  belle  preface  et  mig- 
nonne  dont  il  a  rempare  le  livre  du  roi  d'Anglotcrre. 

Collection  of  Calvin's  tracts.     Geneva,  1556,  p.  1822-1850. 

Calvin  has  published  this  same  pamphlet  in  Latin,  with  this  title: 

Gratulatio  ad  venerabilem  presbytcrum  Dominum  Gabrielem  do  Saconay^ 
priEcentofcm  ccclcsiec  Lugdunensis,  de  pultjhra  et  eleganti  praefatione  quara 
libro  regis  Anglise  inscfipsit.  I^GD. 


504  Lift    0^-   JOttJJ    CALVIN. 

houses  more  honest  and  better  regulated^   he   fails  not  to  infect  them, 
with  defilement 

"  How  then,  villain^  whose  mouth  is  so  filthy  that  nothing  but 
stench  could  issue  from  it)  didst  thou  dare  utter  the  word  chastity  ?  He 
makes  invectives  against  debauchery>  which  he  boldly  affirms  is  preva- 
lent amongst  us,  as  if  he  were  narrating  fables  of  the  New  Islands." 

''  I  know  not  with  what  confidence  he  is  femboldened  to  affirm 
transubstantiation  with  open  moiith,  as  if  there  were  no  difficulty  in 
it :  if,  possibly,  it  seem  not  to  him  as  easy  to  transubstantiate  bread 
into  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  to  transform  a  woman  into  a  man."* 

We  have  forgotten  to  place  at  the  head  of  this  chapter,  as  epigraph, 
these  lines  from  the  pen  of  Bretschneider  : 

"Calvin,  reared  in  the  bosom  of  a  civilized  capital,  polished  by  social 
life,  full  of  modesty  and  urbanity,  accustomed^  by  the  study  of  juris- 
prudence, to  avoid  personalities  and  to  weigh  all  external  considera- 
tions, refined  by  his  extensive  intercourse  with  the  worldj  always  kept 
within  the  bounds  of  decency. "f 

Behold  how  Protestantism  has,  for  three  centuries  past,  been  acclis- 
tomed  to  write  history  !  Certainly,  the  name  of  M.  Bretschneider  of 
Gotha  is  honourable  !  But,  is  it  possible  for  any  one  to  do  greater 
violence  to  truth  ?  The  writer  has  read  the  works  of  Calvin;  and,  ill 
the  face  of  Germany,  he  publishes  that  the  reformer  has  nearly  always 
ke'pt  ivithin  the  bounds  of  decency.  To  morrow,  the  eulogy  of  Bretsch* 
neider  will  serve  as  a  text  for  some  neophyte  to  chant  a  hymn  to  the 
reformer. 

But  the  same  thing,  that  here  is  done  by  Bretschneider,  has  been 
done  by  all  the  apostles  of  the  reformation  before  him.  It  is  impossible 
to  say  with  what  audacity  they  have  deceived  posterity  and  their  contem^- 
poraries.  Nay,  before  Ave  had  made  ourselves  acquainted  with  Saxon 
Protestantism,  how  often  were  we  ourselves  seduced  by  the  word  of 
Luther  !  How  cheerfully  did  we  laugh  at  those  ignorant  sallies,  which 
he  causes  to  fall  from  tlie  lips  of  some  monk  of  Louvain  or  Cologne. 
Did  we,  upon  our  route,  encounter  one  of  those  cenobitical  personagesj 
whose  faces  he  has  smeared  over  with  the  lees  of  wine,  we  were  una- 
ble to  repress  an  inclination  to  mirth,  and  every  time  that  a  pupil  of 
Hogstract's  school  passed  by  us,  with  a  book  under  his  arm,  we  were 
on  the  point  of  asking  the  monk  to  tell  us  the  title  of  the  work ;  for 
we  felt  persuaded  that  he  was  ignorant  of  every  thing  except  how  to 
eat  and  drink.  But  we  chanced  to  enter  one  of  those  cells  which 
Luther  termed  ''troughs,"  and  in  Avhich  there  dwelt  one  of  those  "un^ 
clean  animals,"  whom  he  could  not  imagine  to  be  created  in  the  image 
of  God.  And  then,  we  avow  the  fact !  we  folt  as  if  just  awaking 
from  an  attack  of  nightmare.  These  monachal  intelligences  for  the 
most  part  came  down  from  heaven  ;  it  was  easy  to  divine  this  from  all 
the  treasures  contained  in  their  brains  !  How  Luther  has  trifled  with 
us !     But  the  lesson   has   not  been   without   its  value.     A  complete 

*  What  we  here  cite   can   furnish  no   idea  of  the   outrages   which"  Calvin 
lavishes  upon  Gabriel  de  Saconay :  our  pen  refuses  to  transcribe  them, 
t  Calvin  et  I'EgUse  de  Geneve,  p.  33. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  505 

revolution  took  place  in  our  ideas.  We  sought  for  the  truth  :  soon  by 
dint  of  examination,  inquiry,  comparisons,  we  were  led  to  this  twofold 
historic  formulary  : — Regard  every  thing  as  false  which  Luther  gives 
as  true. — Hold  as  glorious  every  thing  that  he  cries  down  or  outrages. 
Apply  these,  whenever  you  have  to  estimate  a  fact  or  person  according 
to  Luther  or  Calvin,  and  you  will  never  be  mistaken. 

There  is  the  head  of  a  precentor  or  chanter,  which  Calvin  has 
blackened  in  a  singular  manner.  Never  in  Germany,  that  classic  land 
of  conventual  debaucheries,  as  represented  by  Protestants,  did  there 
live  a  priest  such  as  Gabriel  de  Saconay,  whose  likeness  is  not  found 
in  Luther's  collection.  Uh'ich  von  Hutten  himself,  with  all  his  talent 
for  calumny,  never  could  have  designed  a  fancy  sketch  equal  to  the 
one  here  furnished  by  Calvin.  Not  one  of  the  capital  sins  v^as  there 
uncommitted,  by  this  being,  created  expressly  for  the  amusement  of 
the  refugees  who  frequented  the  fairs  of  Geneva.  Saconay  is  avari- 
cious, envious,  gluttonous,  proud,  lazy,  choleric  and  lustful ;  hence  at 
once,  if  you  have  studied  the  history  of  the  reformation,  you  may  be 
certain  that  Saconay  is  like  all  the  other  priests  of  Lyons  at  that 
epoch,  that  is,  a  man  of  morals,  science,  evangelical  zeal,  a  good 
ecclesiastic,  a  good  patriot,  a  man  of  one  God,  one  faith,  and  one 
baptism. 

A  body  of  clergy,  quite  worldly,  and  like  those  of  certain  circles  of 
Germany  who  went  to  sleep  and  allowed  revolt  to  march  apace,  would 
better  have  suited  Calvin's  taste,  who  desired  to  stifle  popular  liberty 
throughout  the  Lyonese  and  other  provinces.  But  he  had  to  deal  with 
souls  strengthened  by  faith,  who  feared  neither  outrages  nor  martyr- 
dom. Seated  as  sentinels  at  the  gates  of  Lyons,  our  priests  allowed 
no  admittance  to  those  libels,  signed  Despeville,  in  which  Calvin  in- 
sulted every  thing  dear  to  Catholics;  in  which,  as  in  his  treatise  on 
relics,*  he  demanded  that  the  heads  of  our  martyrs  should  be  cast  into 
the  charnel  house;  as  in  his  antidote  against  the  Sorbonne,  that  they 
should  shut  up  that  school  of  the  sacred  sciences,  "a  veritable  semi- 
nary of  idolatry  ;"  as  in  his  brief  exposition  of  the  epistle  of  Popo 
Paul  III.,  that  they  should,  by  a  conflagration,  destroy  Rome  "that 
impure  sink  of  all  vices."  In  vain  did  he  conceal  himself  under  ficti- 
tious names,  the  Priest  of  Lyons  had  divined  the  deserter  of  Noyon, 
and  he  knew  a  multitude  of  secrets  concerning  the  reformer,  which  he 
made  public  from  the  pulpit.  He  arrested  the  Genevese  colporteurs, 
denounced  them  to  the  authorities,  and  had  them  expelled  from  the 
city,  amid  the  joyous  acclamations  of  the  populace. 

In  1543,  Geneva  had  been  visited  by  a  frightful  pest,  which  deci- 
mated its  inhabitants ;  some  germs  of  the  malady,  having  been  carried 
to  Lyons,  developed  themselves  rapidly,  and  we  have  told  already 
what  then  took  place. 

At  Geneva,  the  ministers  presented  themselves  to  the  council  avow- 
ing "that  it  would  be  their  duty  to  go  and  console  those  infected  with 

*  Admonitio  de  Reliquiis,  Genevae,  per  Joannem  Gerardum,  1648,  in-I2. — 
This  treatise  also  appeared  in  French.  The  Latin  edition,  like  the  Opuscules, 
carries  the  flaming  sword,  with  this  motto:  "Non  veni  ut  mitterem  pacem, 
sed  ffladium," 

43 


606  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

the  pest,  but  that  none  of  them  would  have  sufficient  courage  to 
do  so,  begging  the  council  to  pardon  their  weakness,  as  God  had 
not  accorded  them  the  grace  to  confront  peril  with  the  necessary 
intrepidity."* 

And  Calvin  manifested  himself  still  more  cowardly  in  presence  of 
death  ;  for  he  obtained  a  prohibition  to  select  master  John  to  go  and 
assist  the  sick,  "in  consideration  of  the  great  need  the  church  and  state 
had  of  him."t 

Now  all  this  is  recorded  literally,  and  preserved,  as  an  eternal  mon- 
ument of  shame  to  the  memory  of  the  Genevese  priesthood,  in  the 
archives  of  the  republic.  J 

At  Lyons,  on  the  contrary,  at  the-  very  first  news  of  the  pest,  all  the 
priests,  the  sick,  even  the  infirm,  had  presented  themselves  before  the 
archbishop,  soliciting  to  be  sent  to  carry  succour  to  their  brethren,  and 
to  die  the  martyr's  death,  if  God  were  good  enough  to  crown  their 
devotedness.  Also,  in  that  contest  of  the  two  principles  which  took 
place  at  Lyons  on  the  public  square,  there  were  no  defections  of  the 
people  from  the  Catholic  ranks.  At  intervalf?,  some  noble  seignior, 
such  as  governor  de  Saulx,  made  terms  with  the  enemy  ;  but  the  peo- 
ple remained  faithful  to  the  banners  of  their  patron  saints.  God  and 
Our  Lady  of  Fourviere,  is  the  cry  of  alarm  and  of  safety  in  the  mo- 
ment of  danger.  If  death  come  to  surprise  them  while  combating  for 
their  faith,  they  are  sure  to  find  by  their  side  a  priest  of  whom  necessity 
has  made  a  soldier,  and  who  in  the  ear  of  the  dying  christian  murmurs: 
The  heavens  open  for  you,  God  is  waiting  for  you  in  a  better  world. 

Among  the  champions  of  the  sacerdotal  militia,  the  least  courageous 
is  not  Gabriel  de  Saconay,  whom  Calvin  has  sought  to  vilify,  but 
whose  name  he  has  contributed  to  immortalize.  But  for  the  mud 
with  which  he  has  bespattered  the  visage  of  the  precentor,  perhaps  his 
name  would  never  have  come  down  to  our  times  :  at  least  we  should 
not  have  attempted  to  seek  for  it  in  that  holy  phalanx,  which  so  glo- 
riously combated  for  our  civil  liberties. 

Now,  Gabriel  de  Saconay  was  in  fact,  as  Calvin  relates,  chanter  of 
of  the  church  of  St.  John ;  but  he  has  forgotten  to  tell  us  that  this 
chanter  was  also  count  of  the  chapter,  consequently  of  a  noble  family, 
and  that  he  had  been  deputy  to  the  States  of  Orleans  from  the  pro- 
vince of  Lyons;  a  choice,  which  necessarily  supposes  distinguished 
birth,  science,  and  good  morals,  and  Gabriel  possessed  all  this.  Had 
he  been  but  a  vulgar  priest,  Calvin  would  have  left  him  in  his  ob- 
scurity. 

At  Saconay,  in  the  diocess  of  Lyons,   Gabriel  possessed  a  chateau, 

»  Registres  de  TEtat,  5  juin  1543.  t  lb. 

\  What  ought  a  minister  to  do  in  time  of  the  pest?  Quid  tempore  pcstit 
agendum  ministro  ?  is  a  question  which  has  been  discussed,  and  variously  an- 
swered by  Protestant  theologians.  We  have  before  us  a  book,  entitled:  "Va- 
riorum Tractatus  theologici  de  peste.  Lugd.  Bat.  apud  Joh.  Elzevirium 
(1655)."  It  contains:  "de  Peste  a  Theod.  Beza,  ubi  questionos  duae  expli- 
catae:  una  sit  ne  contagiosa,  altera,  an  et  quatenus  sit  christianis  pet  seces- 
sionem  vitanda." — "  Andreae  Riveti  epistola  ad  amicum,"  on  the  same  subject. 
— Et  "Gilberti  Vcetii  Tractatus  de  peste." 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  507 

whence  have  been  dated  some  of  his  works,  and  where  he  had  col- 
lected a  valuable  controversial  library  full  of  good  books,  of  all  the 
doctors  both  Greek  and  Latin,  who  had,  in  different  ages,  defended  the 
integrity  of  Catholic  dogma.  He  had  turned  over  the  leaves  of  these 
books,  read,  and  re-read,  meditated  and  annotated  them,  with  a  real 
monachal  passion.  His  style  savours  of  all  kinds  of  ascetic  perfumes  : 
in  reading  Saconay,  we,  at  each  page,  perceive  Tertullian,  Origen, 
Augustine,  Chrysostom,  Jerome,  whom  he  knows  by  heart,  and  whose 
treasures  he  moulds  into  his  own  narrative  with  a  skill,  which  Erasmus 
himself  might  have  envied.  Gabriel  delights  to  tarry  amid  these  an- 
cient glories.  He  has  often  been  most  happily  inspired,  while  holding 
communion  with  these  illustrious  dead  :  from  one  of  them,  Vincent  of 
Lerins,  he  has  taken  an  admirable  portrait  of  the  heretic,  which  shows 
you  that  he  was  a  skillful  master  of  language. 

"  In  all  heresies,  the  devil  thus  transformed  into  an  angel  of  light, 
uses  a  diction  and  words  replete  with  craft,  and  fortifies  himself  with 
the  title  of  truth,  which  is  the  word  of  God,  to  cause  his  frauds  and 
falsehoods  to  be  received,  well  knowing,  as  Lirinensis  says,  that  their 
stench  can  suddenly  please  no  one,  if  cast  into  his  face  alone  and  undis- 
guised; for  this  they  sprinkle  them  with  a  celestial  language,  like  a 
fine  aroma,  that  he,  who  immediately  would  despise  human  errors,  may 
not  easily  contemn  divine  revelations.  Wherefore,  they  act  like  those 
accustomed  to  sweeten  certain  bitter  drinks  for  little  children :  they 
first  tinge  the  rim  of  the  cup  with  honey,  that  this  simplicity  of  chil- 
hood  may  not  suspect  bitterness  when  only  tasting  sweets."* 

Do  you  know  what  advantage  Gabriel  had  derived  from  living  thus 
in  his  fine  chateau  amid  the  dust  of  those  illustrious  dead  ?  He  had 
acquired  the  skill  to  recognize  a  heresy  at  the  first  glance,  no  matter 
under  what  mask  it  appeared,  whether  or  not  it  had  honied  its  phrase, 
whether  it  came  on  foot  like  prose,  or  gaily  chanting  like  music.  In 
his  book,  "concerning  the  True  Body  of  Jesus  Ghrist,"t  from  which 
we  have  just  cited  a  few  lines,  taken  casually,  we  should  see  how 
ironically  he  hails  each  word  lisped  by  the  Genevese  reformation  to 
justify  its  doctrine. — This  has  been  stolen  from  Berengarius. — This 
trope,  about  which  you  make  so  much  noise,  is  found  in  Waldo's 
book,  and  here  is  the  very  page. — This  heretical  scolium  had  been 
thrown  into  the  dirt-box  of  a  monk  of  the  twelfth  century,  it  was  there 
you  went  to  seek  it,  in  order  to  exhibit  it  to  us  as  something  new. 
And  what  is  admirable  here  is  not  so  much  the  science  as  the  angelic 
meekness  of  the  writer,  who  never  once  has  allowed  himself  to  fall 
into  the  sin  of  anger,  which,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  we  should 
willingly  have  pardoned  him  ! 

At  this  epoch  of  religious  fever,  theology  was  not  the  business  of 
priests  only,  monarchs  also  dealt  in  it.  Henry  VIII.  of  England  had 
composed  an  apology  of  the  sacraments  of  the  church,  a  strong  work, 

•  Du  vray  corps  de  J.  C.  au  sacrament  de  I'Autel.  A  Lyon  par.  Guit. 
Rovelle,  a  I'Escu  de  Venise,  1567. 

t  Assertioseptem  sacramentorum  adversus  Martinum  Lutherum,  Henrica 
VIII»  Anglieerege,  auctore. 


508  LIFE    OF    JOHIsr    CALVIN. 

written  against  Luther,  who  on  the  evening  be  received  it  slept  not 
before  he  had  blackened  some  pages  in  response  to  his  adversary. 
You  remember  the  exordium  of  that  philippic  :  ''  Eh  !  what  then  ! 
shalt  thou,  Henry,  king  of  Great  Britain,  be  allowed  to  spit  thy  stale 
lies  into  my  face :  to  hurl  thy  stinking  filth  at  the  crown  of  my  king 
and  Lord ;  while  I  should  not  be  allowed  to  daub  thy  royal  diadem 
with  thy  own  drivel  !" 

Now,  the  Assertio  septevi  sacramentorum  of  the  English  monarch, 
enthusiastically  received  at  Rome,  had  agitated  the  whole  theological 
world.  The  struggle  between  the  prince  and  the  monk  was  a  curious; 
spectacle.  Gabriel  de  Saconay  conceived  the  idea  to  reprint  a  part 
of  the  defence  of  the  king  of  England,  to  distribute  it  among  the  Catho- 
lics, and  even  to  cast  it  into  the  very  capital  of  the  French  reformation. 
He  therefore  went  to  work,  and  soon  completed  his  task. 

It  is  this  writing  that  provoked  Calvin's  anger.  Saconay  had  not 
encountered  the  reformer  as  Henry  VIII.  did  Luther :  in  the  preface 
of  his  edition  he  had  attacked  heresy,  and  scarcely  said  a  word  about 
John  of  Noyon  ;  but  Calvin  could  not  endure  that  a  royal  hand  should 
tear  away  its  mask  from  the  reformation,  to  expose,  to  the  gaze  of  all 
passers,  that  leprous  face,  which  was  represented  to  us  as  quite  angelic. 
More,  chancellor  of  England,  says  that  Luther,  to  compose  his 
response  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  had  borrowed  the  dictionary  of 
bath  house  servants,  coach  drivers,  market  women,  and  characters 
whom  we  dare  not  name.  Calvin  has  excelled  Luther  :  Let  his  be 
the  crown  ! 

When  the  Assertio  septem  Sacramentorum  appeared,  Luther  pre- 
tended that  it  was  the  work  of  some  "blackguard"  of  a  bishop  (Lee) 
who  had  whispered  to  the  prince  all  the  arguments,  with  whicli  his 
book  is  crammed.  Had  they  robbed  him  of  his  kingdom,  Henry  VIII. 
could  not  have  manifested  greater  anger.  Now,  without  a  complete 
ignorance  of  history,  how  could  Calvin  publish  that  the  king  of  Eng- 
land had  disavowed  his  work  ?  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the 
Genevese  reformer  had  not  read  the  answer  of  Henry  VIII.  to  the 
insolent  assertions  of  the  Saxon  monk  :  and  yet  see  what  he  dares 
write  : 

"  And  this  book  then  is  concocted  by  some  monk  and  hypocrite, 
versed  in  contentious  loquacity,  and  this  king,  being  persuaded  by 
wicked  advisers,  allows  it  to  be  printed  in  his  name,  and,  as  he  has 
since  repented  his  inconsiderate  zeal,  and  the  book  is  so  dull  and  weak 
that  the  memory  thereof  would  soon  perish,  it  has  remained  hurried 
during  the  spate  of  thirty  years." 

Do  you  see  with  what  boldness  Calvin  here  deceives  us  !  The  As- 
sertio of  Henry  VIII.  in  oblivion,  when  the  stalls  of  the  booksellers 
of  Frankfort  and  Strasbourg,  display  it  to  the  view  of  all,  in  German, 
in  Italian,  in  English  and  in  French,  and  when  his  friends,  Bucer, 
BuUinger,  and  Beza,  have  it  in  their  libraries  !  * 

Gabriel  de  Saconay  would  not  content  himself  with  the  mere  office 

•  In  1522,  The  Assertio  was  printed  at  Antwerp  in  two  forms:  in  eedibus 
Michaelis  Hillenii. 


^  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.]  509 

of  interpreter;  he  had  too  much  science  to  allow  himself  to  be  held  in 
leash  even  by  a  royal  hand.  He  was  desirous  to  show  that,  in  default 
of  a  diadem,  he  had  a  pen  which  he  knew  how  to  use.  I  have  already 
mentioned  the  preface  wherein  the  writer  exerts  himself  to  display 
those  glorious  characteristics  of  unity,  which  render  Catholicism  so  illus- 
trious. By  agitating  the  ashes  of  the  dead,  and  especially  those  of  the 
Pothinuses  and  Polycarps,  who  occupied  the  see  of  the  church  of 
Lyons,  he  proves  that  our  Gallic  faith  dates  from  the  very  cradle  of 
Christianity. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  how  Calvin  leaps  at  the  name  of  Ireneus ! 
One  would  say  that  the  holy  bishop  had  come  forth  from  his  tomb. 
The  reformer  is  troubled,  recollects  himself,  then,  after  a  moment  of 
silence,  hurls  at  Gabriel's  head  every  thing  that  he  can  lay  hands  on  : 
two  or  three  pitiful  arguments  taken  from  the  Institutes,  and  a  host  of 
insults  culled  we  know  not  where. 

<'  Had  this  mastif  known  some  pages  of  the  books  of  the  doctors 
from  whom  he  quotes,  the  common  saying  of  Ireneus  would  have  oc- 
curred to  his  mind, — that  in  the  sacrament  there  are  two  things  :  the 
one,  terrestrial,  which  is  bread ;  the  other,  celestial,  which  is  Jesus 
Christ.  Does  the  villain  dare  set  in  opposition  to  our  doctrine  the 
blood  of  martyrs,  which  he  here  furiously  tramples  under  foot  ?  The 
blood  of  Ireneus  not  only  fills  his  paunch,  but  furnishes  him  with 
money  to  spend  in  debaucheries,  rioting,  and  other  kinds  of  dissi- 
pation." 

Saconay,  who  knew  Calvin  as  well  as  M.  Galiflfe  does,  bethought 
him  to  demand  miracles  of  tolerance  from  the  theocrat,  all  covered  as 
he  was  with  the  blood  of  Servetus  and  of  Gruet ;  miracles  of  evan- 
gelical purity,  from  Beza,  the  poet  of  equivocal  amours ;  miracles  of 
chastity,  from  the  sacerdotal  colleague  of  men  of  most  abandoned 
morals ;  nay,  he  addressed  the  reformer  in  the  language  which  Luther 
used  with  Thomas  Munzer  ! — Where  are  the  signs  of  the  divinity  of 
thy  mission  ?  Calvin  does  not  now  imitate  the  Anabaptist :  he  glori- 
fies himself  as  a  real  prodigy  of  virtue. 

"  As  to  Messire  Gabriel's  attempt  to  be  facetious  in  demanding 
where  are  the  sanctity,  the  chastity,  the  fasts  and  vigils  of  Calvin;  by 
his  efforts  at  sottish  taunts,  he  manifests  that  he  knows  not  what  it  is  to 
be  facetious.  It  were  desirable  that  the  enemies  of  the  gospel, — and  f 
speak  not  of  such  hogs  as  Saconay,  but  of  those  who  have  some  ap- 
pearance of  honesty, — would  come  near  his  virtues,  which  cause  the 
most  furious  advocates  of  the  papacy  to  burst  with  spite.'* 

And  he  continues  : 

<■'  Will  this  dog  still  dare  growl,  saying  that  Calvin  speaks  with, 
out  scripture  ?  Rather,  being  ashamed  to  see  the  sunlight,  let  him  go 
and  hide  himself  in  the  bosom  of  some  prostitute.  Nevertheless  let 
us  follow  this  babbler  for  the  gratification  of  his  ambition,  since,  in  the 
very  face  of  God,  he  has  pushed  himself  forward  in  this  matter.  As 
this  scamp  has  profited  so  little  by  the  scourge  of  his  masters  when  yet 
a  child,  who  will  not  be  of  opinion  that  he  ought  to  be  instructed  with 
good  stripes,  or  put  to  work  upon  the  tread-mill?" 

And  Calvin,  quite  full  of  the  spirit  of  God^  as  he  assures  us,  cotQf< 

4a* 


510  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIBT.  ^ 

pleted  his  pamphlet,  in  which  Saconay  is  introduced  in  the  guise  of  all 
the  characters  of  ancient  mythology  :  in  which  he  is  made  to  bark  like 
a  dog,  to  howl  like  a  wolf,  to  butt  like  an  ox,  to  slaver  like  a  harpy,  to 
bray  like  an  ass.     After  which  the  reformer  says  :  the  Lord  he  'praised. 

In  the  meantime,  under  the  shadows  of  his  solitude,  Gabriel  contin- 
ued his  apostolic  labour,  without  regarding  this  deluge  of  words  steeped' 
in  wine  and  mud,  which  fell  harmlessly  upon  his  head.  He  found- 
consolation  in  his  cenacle  of  fathers  and  doctors — in  that  holy  society 
which  formed  his  joy  and  delight, — for  all  the  outrages  of  the  reformer. 
It  was  amid  that  choir  of  evangelical  labourers,  that  he  composed  his 
treatise  "on  the  Blood  and  Body  of  Jesus  Christ,"  a  noble  controveisiat 
work,  which  one  might  imagine  to  be  from  the  pen  of  the  well  beloved 
disciple,  admirable  for  its  unction,  its  faith,  charity,  ascetic  science, 
frequently  beautiful  for  its  style,  fragrant  with  a  sweet  ambrosia,  and 
reflecting  the  divine  word. 

And  God  blessed  the  zeal  of  his  servant.  The  pamphlets  of  Saco- 
nay were  spread  abroad  among  the  people,  and  contributed  to  preserve 
their  hostility  against  a  heresy,  which  was  menacing  our  national  unity. 
Instead  of  the  Lyonese  clergy,  devoured  by  zeal  for  the  house  of  God 
and  the  interests  of  the  city,  suppose,  for  a  moment,  a  priesthood  like 
that  of  Geneva,  and  perhaps  the  people  Avould  have  allowed  themselves 
to  be  seduced  by  the  cajoleries  of  the  reformation.  Error  would  have 
come  to  Lyons,  as  it  had  to  Berne,  concealed  under  the  mantle  of  a 
primitive  christian,  with  a  pilgrim's  staflT  in  hand,  the  book  of  the  gos- 
pel under  its  arm,  soliciting  merely  a  small  spot  beneath  the  sunlight, 
where  it  might  adore  God  in  spirit  and  truth ;  and  once  it  had  secured 
a  foothold  upon  our  soil,  watered  by  the  blood  of  our  martyrs,  it  would 
have  preached,  excited  the  populace,  stirred  up  families,  broken  our 
crosses,  overturned  our  temples,  mutilated  our  images,  driven  away  our 
bishops,  confiscated  all  our  liberties  and  franchises  that  it  could  have 
reached.  Then  it  would  have  taken  a  chisel  and  engraved  upon  a 
high  wall,  as  it  did  at  Geneva  in  1535  :  In  the  year ....  of  our  Lord, 
Lyons  was  liberated  from  the  chains  of  the  Antichrist. 

Do  not  the  streets,  the  public  places,  and  the  edifices  of  that  city 
still  show  the  traces  of  the  terrible  march  of  the  reformation  ?  One 
day,  in  the  year  1562,  it  seized  upon  Lyons  by  surprise,  and  behold  the 
recital   left  us  by  Calvin,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  one  of  his  brethren  : 

"Very  dear  brethren,  for  a  long  time  have  we  been  expecting  letters 
from  you,  that  we  might  have  occasion,  in  our  reply,  to  unburden  to 
you  our  heart  of  things  which  lie  heavy  on  it.  But  since  the  change 
which  has  taken  place  at  Lyons,  we  have  not  received  a  single  word 
from  the  company  of  elders,  which  causes  us  to  think  that  there  has 
been  much  disorder,  inasmuch  as  we  are  solicited  by  none  to  come  to 
the  aid  of  a  church,  and  you  have  paid  no  attenUon  to  this,  even  when- 
the  sieur  Jerome  des  Gouttes  passed  this  way,  though  he  requested  that 
ministers  be  sent  to  aid  you,  he  declared  that  no  letters  had  been  given 
him.  In  the  mean  time,  we  hear  news  that  has  caused  us  great  distress. 
We  are  well  aware  that  in  such  commotions,  it  is  very  difficult  to  be 
moderate,  and  avoid  committing  excess,  and'  v/e  easily  excuse  you,  if 
you  have  not  held  the  bridle  so   tightly  as  woold  have  been  desirable ; 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  511 

but  there  are  some  things  insupportable,  for  which  we  are  constrained 
to  write  to  you  more  harshly  than  we  would  de^sire.  But  we  should  be 
traitors  to  God,  to  you,  and  to  all  Christendom,  in  dissembling  what  you 
have  done  to  our  great  regret.  It  is  not  a  decent  thing  for  a  minister  to 
make  himself  a  mock  soldier  or  captain  :  but  it  is  much  worse  when 
one  quits  the  pulpit  to  bear  arms  :  the  worst  is,  to  go  to  the  governor 
of  the  city  with  pistol  in  hand,  and  menace  him,  vaunting  force  and 
violence  ;  for  here  are  the  words  which  have  been  repeated  to  us,  and 
which  we  have  heard  from  witnesses  worthy  of  credit :  "  Sir,  you  must 
do  so,  for  we  have  the  power  to  make  you."  We  tell  you,  roundly, 
that  this  speech  appears  to  us  a  horror  and  a  monster.  We  have  also 
s:rongly  detested  the  exclamation  made  by  the  governor  and  the  ministers. 
We  place  in  the  same  category  the  passports  and  similar  thin^^s,  the 
enormity  of  which  has  disgusted,  nay,  has  alienated  many  from  the 
gospel,  and  troubled  and  saddened  all  persons  that  have  the  least  piety 
and  modesty.  Yet,  this  was  not  enough,  but  they  must  scour  the  coun- 
try for  booty  and  pillage  of  cows  and  other  cattle,  until  Monsieur  the 
baron  des  Adresses  came  there  with  authority,  who  did  not  approve 
such  insolent  acts,  in  which  those,  who  make  boast  of  beino-  ministers  of 
the  word  of  God,  were  not  ashamed  to  take  part.  Now,  these  old 
wounds  have  been  opened  afresh  when  we  learned  that  the  spoils  taken 
from  the  church  of  St.  John  were  exposed  to  sale,  to  the  highest  bidder, 
and  sold  for  a  hundred  and  twelve  crowns.  Nay,  that  they  promised 
the  soldiers  to  distribute  to  each  his  portion. 

''  True  it  is,  that  M.  Rufi  is  by  name  charged  with  all  these  thin^-s  ; 
but  it  seems  to  me  that,  in  part,  you  are  guilty,  for  not  having  prevent- 
ed them,  as  you  had  the  liberty  and  power  to  do  so.  For,  if  he  will 
not  submit  to  correction,  let  him  seek  and  erect  a  church  for  himself. 
We  cannot  mildly  call  your  attention  to  these  things,  which  we  could 
not  bear  without  great  shame  and  bitterness  of  soul.  Now,  though  it 
be  late  to  apply  a  remedy,  yet  we  cannot  refrain  from  entreatino-  you, 
in  the  name  of  God,  and  exhorting  you,  as  far  as  is  in  your  power,  to 
compensate  for  past  faults,  and  especially  to  prevent  all  these  rob- 
beries  and  spoliations.  Far  better  abandon  such  persons,  and  with- 
draw from  them,  than  expose  the  gospel  to  such  opprobrium,  by  re- 
niriining  in  association  with  them.  Already  was  there  inconsiderate 
zeal  in  committing  such  ravages  as  they  have  been  guilty  of  in  the  tem- 
ples, but  what  was  done  in  hot  blood,  and  from  a  certain  zeal,  those 
who  fear  God  will  not  judge  rigorously.  What  can  be  said  of  this 
booty?  Under  what  title  will  it  be  lawful  to  take  what  beion^^s  to  no 
individual  person  ?  If  thieves  are  worthy  of  punishment,  it  is  a  double 
crime  to- steal  public  property.  Wherefore,  if  you  do  not  want  to  be 
haled  and  detested  by  all  good  persons,  see  that  reparation  be  made  for 
such  offences, •  for,  if  you  delay  this,  we  very  much  dread  that  you  never 
will  accomplish  it  in  time.  In  which,  we  implore  God  to  give  you  un- 
derstanding and  prudence,  to  direct  you  in  equity  and  justice,  to  fortify 
you  with  constancy  and  virtue,  that  the  exertions  you  make  may  not  be 
useless  ;  but  that  your  doctrine  may  fructify  to  the  increasing  glory  of 
bis  name.     Geneva,  May  the  13th."* 

♦  Lettres  Manus.    Biblioth^ue  du  roi,  coll.  Dupuy,  vol,  iOl-102. 


512  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

A  beautiful  letter,  undoubtedly,  and  one  for  which  we  would  gladly 
give  credit  to  the  reformer !  It  is  unfortunate,  that  he  who  penned  it 
has  been  silent  regarding  those  abominations,  of  which  the  reformation 
was  guilty  at  Geneva.  Why  has  he  not  protested  against  the  sacking, 
of  St.  Peter's,  against  the  pillage  of  the  episcopal  palace,  against  the 
breaking  to  pieces  of  crosses,  and  the  spoliation  of  monasteries?  He 
has  beheld  all  these  saturnalia,  and  looked  on  unmoved  !  Has  he  so- 
licited a  little  bread  for  those  priests,  whose  place  and  bed  he  has  usurp- 
ed, and  who  are  living  at  Chambery  on  charity  ?  Is  not  his  habitation 
furnished  with  articles  which  were  stolen  from  the  convents  of  La  Rive 
and  Saint  Claire  ? 

This  letter  is  the  production  of  a  politician,  and  nothing  more. 
Calvin  is  well  aware  that  the  reformation  can  never  triumph  at  Lyons 
by  pillaging  churches,  and  he  hastens  to  denounce  the  devastators.  But 
let  the  soldiers  of  the  baron  des  Adrets  do,  what  those  of  the  bailiff  of 
Berne  did  in  the  pays  de  Vaud;'\  let  them  not  leave  a  single  cross  in 
the  city,  a  single  church  standing,  a  single  convent  wall  untouched,  and 
let  them  say  :  All  this  is  ours ;  then  will  Calvin  exclaim  :  '•  The  Lord 
has  passed  over  these  ruins/'  and  he  will  come  from  Geneva  to  seat 
himself  at  the  table  of  the  leader  of  the  expedition,  and,  out  of  the  very 
glasses  of  the  monks  and  priests,  he  will  drink  the  triumph  of  the  word 
of  God  1 

But  the  city  will  never  again  allow  itself  to  be  taken  by  surprise; 
the  lesson  has  been  terrible  ;  and,  besides,  God  has  given  to  Lyons  a 
writer  who  will  at  once  watch  over  our  faith  and  our  liberties.  Let 
Spifamus,  the  renegade,  (  at  a  later  period  hung  at  Geneva  for  bank- 
ruptcy),  ambition  the  see  of  Ireneus;  Gabriel  de  Saconay  has  some 
ink  left,  and  this  will  be  sufficient  to  dissipate  all  the  fine  schemes  of 
the  reformation  If 

We  are  now  about  lo  see  of  what  worth  is  a  priest,  who  is  able  to 
diffuse  among  the  mass  of  the  people  the  noble  zeal,  with  which  he 
burns  for  the  glory  of  his  God  and  the  honour  of  his  city. 

"On  the  very  day,  then,  of  their  conspiracy,  they  attempted  to  sur- 
prise France,  and  renew  there  the  Sicilian  Vespers,  leaving  no  village 
where  they  did  not  make  some  effort :  in  which,  also.  Divine  Provi- 
dence has  displayed  itself  greatly  propitious,  and  even  in  this  city  of 
Lyons.  Here,  where  president  Birague,  established  governor  in  the  ab. 
sence  of  the  duke  de  Nemours,  though  he  had  advices  of  these  designs, 
being  from  long  experience  wise  and  provident,  dared,  nevertheless, 
make  no  deaioiistration,  nor  even  openly  keep  on  his  guard,  as  he  had 
command  to  attempt  nothing  new,  lest  he  should  give  occasion  or  colour 
to  the  disturbers  of  the  public  peace  for  a  commencement  of  troubles. 
Besides  the  Catholics  of  the  said  city  were  poorly  united,  in  no  wise 
foreseeing  their  approaching  ruin  which  had  evidently  been  resolved 
on ;  so  that  on  Sunday,  the  Vigil  of  St.  Micliael,  the  night  when  the 
conspiracy  was  to  be  put  in  execution  in  said  city,  though  indeed  they 

♦  Haller,  Plistoire   de   la   Revolution   religieuse  clans  la  Suisse  occidentale,, 

p.  33r. 

't  The  church  of  Lyons  implores  us  to  give  it  James  Spifamus  Sr.  de  Passy», 
for  minister.    Registers  of  Geneva. 


LIFE    or    JOHM    CALVIN.  513 

had  some  warning  thereof,  yet  with  great  trouble  could  some  of  them 
be  assembled,  as  by  order  of  the  consulate  was  required,  in  the  hotel  of 
the  archbishopric,  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  city.  But  on  a  sud- 
den, without  having  conferred  together,  these  lethargic  people  of  Lyons 
were  hurried  and  stimulated  by  Divine  Providence  :  in  such  sort,  that 
about  four  o'clock  in  the  afiernoon,  and  at  the  very  moment  that  their 
majesties,  by  the  Divine  Goodness,  had  been  safely  conducted  to  Paris, 
news  was  received  by  means  unheard  of,  as  it  neither  came  by  post 
nor  had  been  despatched  by  express  :  that,  on  the  night  before,  the  city 
of  Mascon  had  been  surprised  by  the  rebels,  who  had  there  practised 
great  cruelties. 

"  Then,  these  Catholic  populations,  impeled  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
went  to  the  house  of  the  governor  to  receive  his  orders  :  where  they 
learned  that  the  rebels  were  resolved  to  seize  upon  the  place  de  Confort. 
Having  promptly  received  orders,  in  less  than  an  hour,  all  the  places, 
streets,  and  quarters  of  the  said  city  were  occupied.  In  which  all  con- 
ditions exerted  themselves  so  skillfully,  guided  and  commanded  by  said 
governor,  that  there  was  no  murder,  effusion  of  blood,  outrage  or  vio- 
lence, but  even  less  noise  than  in  time  of  great  peace  :  it  being  a  mo- 
ment when  the  hearts  of  said  Catholics  were  so  agreed  and  united,  that, 
in  such  a  city,  composed  of  people  of  so  many  nations,  it  might  have 
been  said  that  there  was  but  one  heart,  one  will,  and  one  mind.  On 
the  contrary,  the  adversaries  of  God  and  man,  with  all  their  devices, 
intelligence,  monopolies,  prudence  and  worldly  strength,  had  their  pride 
crushed,  prostrated,  humbled,  and  dissipated ;  for  God,  in  spite  of  their 
great  numbers,  having  suddenly  deprived  them  of  courage  and  power, 
they  did  not  dare  appear,  nor  utter  one  word,  nor  even  their  very  wives, 
being  seized  with  such  dread,  and  no  one  being  bold  enough  to  come 
forth  and  show  liimself,  they  came  near  perishing  with  famine  in  their 
houses."* 

And  now,  honour  be  to  Gabriel,  whose  writings  exerted  such  a  pow- 
erful influence  upon  the  religious  instincts  of  his  fellow  citizens  :  he 
has  deserved  well  of  his  church  and  his  country  !  Let  the  church  in- 
scribe his  name  among  her  most  eloquent  defenders,  and  let  Lyons  re- 
serve for  him  the  crown,  which  she  owes  to  the  patriot  who  preserved 
her  from  the  yoke  of  the  reformation. 

Deprive  Lyons  of  Gabriel  de  Saconay,  of  father  Henry,  of  the  order 
of  Capuchins ;  of  father  Pyrus  and  father  Maheu,  Jacobins ;  of  father 
Ropitel,  of  the  order  of  Minims;  of  father  Possevin,  a  Jesuit,  and  that 
city  will  no  longer  belong  to  France  :  in  losing  her  faith,  she  will  lose 
her  nationality. 


♦  De  la  Providence  de  Dieu  snr  les  roys  de  France  tres  Chretiens,  par  Gabri- 
el de  Saconay,  precenteur  et  comte  de  Tegise  de  Lyon.     Lyon,  1568,  in  4to. 

The  biographers  of  Lyons  represent,  that  Gabriel  de  Saconay  was  born  a: 
Lyons.  We  tind  the  tollosving  lines  regarding  this  controvertist  in  the  His- 
torical Memoirs  concerning  the  house  of  Savov,  by  3L  de  Costa,  t.  I,  p.  240. 

"Gabriel  de  Sacconex,  or"  an  illustrious  familv,  in  the  province  of  theGene- 
v»-se,  and  in  1540,  dean  of  the  chapter  of  St.  John  of  Lyons,  was  the  author  of 
some  controver.'iial  works,  in  his  time  much  esteeenied." 


CHAPTER    XLVII 


ANARCHICAL      PROPAGANDISM. 


Means  of  propagandism  employed  by  the  reformation.— Nocturnal  assemblies. 
— Sermon  with  closed  doors. — Colporteurs. — Libels  introduced  into  the  con- 
vents.— Calvin's  pamphlet  against  Paul  III. — Notion  of  this  work. — Protest- 
ants, after  the  death  of  Calvin,  reproduce  his  anarchical  doctrines. — Dia- 
logues of  Nicholas  de  Montard.— The  goods  of  the  clergy,— The  convents, 
— The  Maximum. 

Were  we  to  say,  that  in  the  sixteenth  century  there  existed  a  society, 
the  chief  delight  of  the  members  of  which  was,  to  calumniate  their 
brethren,  in  their  morals,  in  their  faith,  and  in  their  intelligence  ;  to 
transform  the  Pope  into  the  Antichrist,  our  bishops  into  sons  of  satan, 
our  priests  into  satellites  of  ignorance ;  to  decry  our  doctors,  our  holy 
fathers,  our  sacred  writers;  to  sully  all  our  glories,  defile  all  our  monu- 
ments, and  all  the  pages  of  our  history ;  to  excite  the  populace  against 
our  doctrines;  to  deny  us  the  least  spark  of  divine  inspiration ;  to  close 
heaven  against  us,  as  idolaters  ;  one  could  scarcely  believe  in  the  exist- 
ence of  such  hatred  and  injustice  !  Yet  this  is  so.  Whence  issued  the 
Protestant  reformers,  if  not  out  of  our  schools,  which  they  represented 
as  the  sinks  of  ignorance  ?  Whence  did  they  derive  that  science,  of 
which  they  considered  themselves  privileged  possessors,  except  from  the 
book  of  some  monk,  whom  they  meanly  calumniated?  Who  had 
taken  them  up,  fed,  and  clothed  them  ?  Bishops,  whom  they  devoted 
in  this  life  to  the  contempt  of  God  and  of  men.  But  for  Catholic 
priests,  what  would  have  become  of  Melancthon,  Luther,  Calvin, 
Capnion,  and  all  the  glories  of  reformed  Germany  ?  See  what  happens! 
Luther,  who,  in  a  convent,  tasted  the  very  first  drop  of  the  milk  of  po- 
lite learning,  passes  his  life  in  degrading  monks;  Calvin,  who  lived  on 
the  alms  of  the  abbe  d'Hangest,  sees  in  the  Catholic  priest  nothing  but 
a  devil  incarnate;  and  Ulrich  von  Hutten  calls  that  city,  whence  came 
light  to  enlighten  the  world,  the  modern  Babylon. 

We  must  show  you  what  means  the  reformation  at  first  employed  for 
the  propagation  of  its  doctrines  in  France. 

It  had  subterranean  cells,  in  which  the  neophytes  of  both  sexes  clan- 
destinely assembled.  Cellars,  whence  no  noise  could  issue,  were  .se- 
lected by  preference.  The  brethren  had  received  warning  on  the 
evening  previous,  as  to  the  place  and  hour  of  rendezvous.  Theper.son 
who  gave  warning  kept  order.     These  nocturnal  as.semblies,  more  thar* 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN,  615 

once,  gave  rise  to  scenes  that  were  not  very  edifying.  The  notifier, 
very  often  the  go-between  of  two  lovers,  was  placed  at  a  distance. 
Sometimes,  the  a^isemblies  were  held  in  some  isolated  house,  which  al- 
ways had  several  entrances,  in  order  not  to  awaken  the  curiosity  of 
persons  passing. 

The  minister,  on  his  arrival,  saluted  the  assembly,  drew  a  Bible  from 
his  pocket,  read  some  verses,  closed  the  book,  and  extemporized  a  ser. 
mon  against  the  papacy.  The  French  reformation  imitated  the  Protestan- 
ism  of  Saxony;  it  called  the  Pope,  the  Antichrist  of  Rome  ;  the  city  of 
Rome,  the  great  harlot ;  the  cardinals,  children  of  hell ;  our  priests,  greas- 
ers and  mass-mumblers.* 

Whilst  the  Council  of  Trent  was  in  session,  it  smiled  scornfully, 
and  called  Paul  III.,  Neptune,  king  of  the  seas;  the  bishops,  Tritons, 
because  Trent  signifies  Trident;  Anthony,  provincial  of  the  Carmel- 
ites  of  Lombardy,  the  brother  of  Venus,  because  he  was  named  Mari- 
niero ;  Robert  Cenal,  bishop  of  Avranches,  a  kitchen-boy,t  from  al- 
lusion  to  his  name. 

In  France,  as  at  Wittenberg  and  at  Erfurth,  at  the  end  of  each  ser- 
mon the  reformation  predicted  the  downfall  of  "the  papism,"  the  ruin 
of  the  episcopacy,  the  end  of  the  Catholic  priesthood.  When  the  min- 
ister had  concluded,  it  prepared  a  table,  took  biead,  which  it  cut  into 
small  pieces,  and  distributed  to  the  assistants,  saying  :  *♦  My  breth- 
ren, this  is  the  bread  of  the  Lord,  which  we  are  about  to  eat  in  memo- 
ry of  his  death  and  passion;"  afterwards,  some  wine,  which  it  gave  to 
be  drunk,  saying  :  "  This  is  the  wine  of  the  Lord."  The  communion 
being  over,  the  minister  commenced  to  return  thanks,  and  always  con- 
cluded his  thanksgiving  with  a  violent  philippic  againt  the  Antichrist: 
if  the  Pope  died,  the  Antichrist  still  lived  ;  this  was  a  burden  which  the 
successors  of  St.  Peter  transmitted  one  to  another.  Li  some  of  the 
mountains  of  Wittenberg,  the  peasants  still  believe  that  the  Pope  is  the 
Antichrist,  but  the  ministers  neither  believe  in  the  Pope,  the  Antichrist, 
the  devil,  nor  even  in  Christ  himself. — •'  Lord  Jesus,"  says  Thiess, 
"overwhelm,  these  impious  rationalists  in  the  lowest  depths  of  hell. "J 

At  the  end  of  each  meeting,  the  assistants,  in  a  low  voice,  swore  to 
observe  secrecy  concerning  all  they  had  just  heard.  Ordinarily,  when 
the  assembly  took  place  in  some  private  house,  the  minister  came  with 
his  pockets  full  of  dice  and  cards,  which  he  threw  upon  the  table 
at  the  sign  of  the  approach  of  some  imp  of  satan.  In  the  mystic  Ian- 
guage  of  the  reformation,  imp  of  satan  signified  simply  an  agent  of  the 
police.  The  police  did  its  duty,  and  saw  through  the  stratagem  ;  and 
then  in  place  of  dice,  story-books  were  substituted,  which,  when  the 
man  in  black  knocked  at  the  door,  the  brethren  seemed  to  be  busily 
reading.  If  the  police  agent  confiscated  the  dice  and  books,  and  took 
some  of  the  assistants  to  prison,  the  reformation  cried  out: — tyranny.  At 
Geneva,  it  was  even  unwilling  to  leave  with  the  Catholics  some  ancient 
images,  which  were  family  heir-looms   and  treasures  of  childhood  :   if 

♦  Christian  Institutes,  passim. 

t  Ut  nomini  suo  respondeat  Cenalis,  ad  culinam  revertetur.     Calv. 

X  Homiletisch-liturglsches  Correspoudenzblatt,  1830,  n.  49,  p.  783. 


616  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

the  christian  resisted,  it  condemned  him  to  bread  and  water;  if  he  grew 
angry,  it  banished  him  j  and  this  was  called  evangelical  justice. 

It  was  at  Poitiers',  in  a  garden  of  the  street  Basse-Treille,  that  Cal- 
vin presided  over  the  first  meeting  of  the  reformed  christians.  There, 
were  present  Anthony  de  la  Duguie,  professor  and  doctor ;  Philip  Ve- 
ron,  procurator  for  tlie  see;  Albert  Babinot,  lecturer  at  la  ministrerie, 
the  hall  in  which  the  professor  expounded  the  Institutes ;  John  Vernon 
Jr.;  John  Boisseau,  sieur  de  la  Boderie,  advocate;  Charles  le  Sage, 
doctor.  These  were  the  first  apostles  who  went  into  the  provinces  to 
preach  the  Luthero  Calvinistic  doctrine.  For  fear  of  creating  sus- 
picion, nearly  all  changed  their  names.  Babinot  was  called  7^171- 
ister,  because,  as  we  have  seen,  he  lectured  in  the  hall  la  miniS' 
trerie,  and  this  name  came  to  be  applied  generally  to  the  reformed 
pastors;  another  was  named  le  Ramasseur,  a  title  of  honour  given 
to  him  by  Calvin,  who  was  acquainted  with  the  neophyte's  zeal. 
"  Le  Ramasseur,"  says  Cayer,  "beat  the  bushes,  and  left  no  coi- 
ner of  Poictou,  Xaintonge,  or  Angouleme,  which  he  did  not  exa- 
mine in  order  to  see  if  he  could  catch  any  thing."  He  was  of  cunning 
mind,  acute,  and  knew  well  how  to  appeal  to  the  passions,  flatter  the 
interests  and  excite  the  imaginations  of  men  :  he  met  with  great  suc- 
cess in  Guyenne.  Vindocrin,  regent  of  Agen,  seduced  by  his  exhorta- 
tions,  made  a  public  profession  of  Calvinism,  and  preferred  death  to 
abjuration.  Andre  Melancthon,  John  Carvin,  Andre  de  la  Voye,  pro- 
fessors of  Tonniens,  Villeneuve,  of  Agen  and  Sainte-Foy,  boldly  con- 
fessed the  new  faith  and  only  escaped  punishment  by  means  of  money 
and  influence. 

The  Calvinistic  symbol  taught,  that  the  use  of  meat  was  a  thing  in- 
different. All  the  students  of  the  University,  who  were  wont  to  pass 
Thursday  night  in  parading  the  streets,  were  delighted  to  be  allowed  to 
eat  meat  on  Friday.  The  reformation  was  very  successful  in  the 
schools;  it  also  met  great  favour  from  certain  ecclesiastics,  to  whom  it 
preached  marriage  ;  from  indifTerent  souls,  who  felt  burdened  by  a  host 
of  observances,  fasts,  and  mortifications,  which  it  retrenched  from  reli- 
gious life  as  useless  for  salvation.  It  had  expressed  itself  in  formal 
terms  with  regard  to  auricular  confession,  which  it  held  to  be  a  mere 
human  invention  :  this  is  the  article  of  the  formulary  which  found 
most  favour  at  court,  and  particularly  am.ong  the  ladies.  The  reforma- 
tion attacked  the  moss,  as  a  popish  action.  It  was  in  one  of  the  cellars 
of  Poitiers  that  Calvin,  after  a  very  warm  debate,  caused  the  abolition 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  to  be  decreed.  Certain  Catholics  were  de- 
sirous to  defend  this  institution.  Charles,  called  le  Sage,  one  of  the 
most  learned  of  the  disciples  of  John  of  Noyon,  who  was  unable  to 
endure  contradiction,  took  his  cap,  threw  it  into  the  midst  of  the  assist- 
ants, and  raising  his  eyes  to  heaven,  exclaimed  :  "  Lord,  if,  at  the  day 
of  judgment,  thou  reprovest  me  for  having  renounced  the  papist  mass,  1 
will  answer  thee  :  Here  is  the  book  of  revelation,  show  me  the  page 
where  thou  givest  the  command  to  hear  mass  :  there  is  no  sacrifice  but 
that  of  the  cross." 

At  Geneva,  the  reformation  kept  in  its  service  poets,  who  had  no 
other  duty  but  to  chant  "  the  mass-mumblers."     Calvin  supplied  them 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN,  617 

with  jokes  wKich  they  had  to  turn  into  ihyme.  At  Geneva  and  Wit- 
lenberg,  in  the  jargon  of  the  reformation,  they  said  that  "  the  mass 
made  the  priest's  kettle  boil."  One  would  scarcely  believe  how  many 
verses  have  been  made  on  this  theme  !  When  the  rhymster's  genius 
began  to  flag  in  denouncing  the  Antichrist,  he  seized  hold  of  the  papist 
Helen,  as  Calvin  termed  the  mass,  in  order  to  revive  it,*  and  God 
knows  what  beautiful  inspirations  he  had,  v/hich  they  printed  on  flying 
sheets  for  the  use  of  the  towns  and  country  places  !  U  they  delected 
one  of  these  colporteurs  slipping  these  seditious  fantasies  into  a  barn, 
and  cast  him  into  prison,  then  you  were  sure  of  a  dreadful  clamour  at 
Geneva  against  the  sacerdotal  tyranny,  which  would  not  allow  the  faith 
of  a  whole  nation  to  be  insulted  in  prose  or  in  verse. 

They  caused  anti-Catholic  libels  to  be  printed  upon  all  the  points  in 
dispute  betw^een  the  two  communions.  There  v/ere  some  especially 
designed  for  convents.  To  cenobites  they  manifested  :  that  their  obli- 
gations were  null  before  God  ;  that  the  divine  law  never  created  slave- 
ry; that,  on  the  contrary,  it  had  made  humanity  free  ;  that  all  vows 
were  superstitious  inspirations ;  that  the  vow  of  poverty  v/as  onerous 
to  the  state ;  that  the  vow  of  virginity  diminished  the  population  ;  that  the 
vow  of  obedience  was  an  outrage  upon  conscience."  Themes,  which 
were  again  taken  up  at  the  epoch  of  our  revolution  and  reproduced 
to  a  surfeit.  In  perusing  the  pamphlets  of  '93,  we  meet  again,  con- 
cerning the  priesthood,  celibacy,  and  convents,  the  ideas,  and  even  the 
very  expressions  of  Calvin. 

In  these  convents,  there  were  souls  who  had  embraced  the  austerities 
of  cenobitical  life  from  purely  human  motives,  and  who  remained  in 
the  cloister  only  because  the  world  would  have  passed  the  sentence  of 
its  reprobation  upon  the  rupture  of  those  ties  which  were  regarded  as 
sacred.  But  when  they  had  come  to  preach  to  them  that  such  vows 
were  not  binding  in  conscience;  that  Christ  no  where  had  made  a  pre- 
cept of  continence,  and  that,  in  this  world  the  prejudices  of  which  they 
dreaded,  there  were  good  persons  ready  to  protect  and  defend  them ; 
then  they  were  driven  out  of  their  monasteries  by  an  ardent  desire  of 
liberty.  Scarcely  had  they  breathed  the  atmosphere  of  the  large  cities, 
when  they  were  like  intoxicated  persons,  and  yielded  to  all  the  im- 
pulses of  the  flesh. t  The  reformation  had  no  missionaries  more  ardent. 
Under  the  garb  of  men  and  women,  they  were  real  tempters,  whose 
greatest  joy  was  to  be  able  to  seduce  som.e  poor  girl,  or  some  youth 
quite  recently  devoted  to  the  service  of  God.  At  Geneva,  they  em- 
ployed these  renegades  to  scour  the  country.  Thanks  to  their  entirely 
mystic  language,  they  obtained  access  to  the  convents,  and  commenced 
to  play  the  part  of  the  fallen  angel.  As  many  souls  as  were  deceived,  so 
many  songs  of  joy  and  messages  to  the  reformer.  Sometimes  it  happened, 
indeed,  that  the  eye  of  some  ancient  sister  portress  or  brother  janitor 
divined  the  trick,  but  the  tempter  was  not  discouraged ;  in  case  of  need, 
he  threw  into  the  convent  garden,  or  clipped  under  the  parlour  grate,  or 

*  Christian  Institutes. 

tPlank,  Geschichte  d«r  Entstehung'des  protestantischen  LehTbegrifTs,  t.  IV-, 
'^.   83. 

44 


his  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIW. 

placed  on  the  praying  desk  of  the  chapel,  some  leaves  of  parchment 
like  those  which  we  put  in  prayer  books,  and  quite  full  of  texts  of 
scripture,  falsified,  against  the  vow  of  chastity,  and  more  frequently 
against  the  Pope. 

Here  is  one  which  we  came  across  in  the  library  of  Mayence,  and 
which  appears  to  have  been  printed  at  Lyons. 

"  The  Apostle  St.  Paul  desires  that  the  children  of  a  christian  pas- 
tor should  be  of  good  morals,  and  well  nurtured  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
Pope  Paul  Frenese  has  had  a  son,  and  his  son  has  children,  and  bas- 
tards  besides ;  and  this  old  m.an,  who  is  on  the  edge  of  the  ditch,  and 
that  half-rotten  carrion 

"  What  is  Peter  Loyse  ?  1  will  tell  you  the  most  horrible  thing  that 
ever  was  heard  of :  and  yet  I  will  tell  you  nothing  but  what  is  true. 
Italy  never  has  produced  such  a  monster.  Why  sleep  you  here.  Sir 
Pope,  since  the  execrable  debaucheries  of  your  son  have  ascended  to 
the  very  heavens  ?  Oh  !  detestable  Pope  !  does  not  the  judgment  of 
God  await  thee  ?  If  God  has  not  spared  Heli,  what  torment  shouldst 
thou  expect !  But  I  must  still  urge  thee  closer  ;  what  is  the  condition 
of  thy  see,  which  ought  to  be  to  thee  like  a  family  ?  What  are  thy 
vicars  doing  ?  On  what  merchandize  do  they  traffic  in  thy  court  ? 
How  are  thy  clergy  governed  ?  Can  there  be  found  a  Sodom,  where 
more  unrestrained  license  is  given  to  all  wickedness,  and  where  sins 
are  less  punished  ? 

*'  Thou  callest  thyself  successor  of  St.  Peter,  thou,  who  art  no 
more  like  him  than  some  Nero,  Domitian,  or  Caligula.  If,  perchance, 
thou  wouldst  not  rather  choose  Heliogabalus,  who  joined  a  priesthood 
or  new  sacrificial  office  with  the  empire.  Thou  wilt  be  vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  thou,  whose  every  thought,  whose  every  effi)rt,  and  whose  every 
act,  tend  to  this  object  :  to  abolish  Jesus  Christ,  provided  the  useless 
name  remain,  which  thou  abusest,  like  a  painted  prostitute  !  Thou 
wilt  be  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ;  thou,  whom  all  children  know  forcer- 
tain  to  be  the  Antichrist?  What  Jesus  Christ  wilt  thou  forge  for  us, 
if  thou  wishest  his  image  to  be  recognized  in  thy  tyranny  ?  We  per- 
ceive that  thou  art  the  prelate  of  all  impiety,  the  standard-bearer  of 
satan,  the  cruel  tyrant  of  souls,  an  inhuman  executioner ;  and  as  to 
life,  that  thou  art  a  monster  made  up  of  all  w^ickedness;  and,  to  say 
all  in  one  word,  that  thou  art  the  son  of  perdition,  of  whom  St.  Paul 
speaks,  and  shall  we  repute  thee  the  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ !  We  see,  I 
say,  a  wolf  devouring  the  sheep  of  Jesus  Christ ;  we  behold  a  thief, 
who  drives  them  off;  we  behold  a  brigand,  who  kills  them ;  and  shall 
we  esteem  thee  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ !...." 

The  leaf  bore  no  signature,  probably,  in  order  that  at  Lyons  and  in  the 
neighbouring  cities  they  niight  be  able  to  attribute  it,  as  the  reformers  said 
of  every  pamphlet,  to  some  ^'converted"  Catholic.  We  are  ignorant 
whether  or  not  at  that  time  they  guessed  the  hand  that  penned  it  :  But 
at  the  first  words,  Vv'e  named  Calvin  as  the  author  and  we  were  not  mis- 
taken :   it  is  an  extract  from  his  Brief  Exposition.'" ^ 

*  Briefve  exposition  sur  TEpistrc  du  pape  Paul  III.,  envoy^e  k  I'empeiew^ 
Charles  V. — Opuscules,  p.  450, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  619 

In  fact,  Calvin  is  the  only  man  capable  of  reproducing  the  infamous 
Gissertions  of  Ochino,  which  made  even  the  protestant  historian  Sleidan 
blush  with  shame. 

It  was  that  great  pope,  Paul  III.,  who  had  instituted  the  order  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  convoked  the  council  of  Trent.  Now,  of  the  disciples  of 
Loyola,  Calvin  said  : 

"  Scoundrels,  who  ought  to  be  hung,  or,  if  the  stake  be  not  conve- 
nient, driven  away,  or  overwhelmed  by  calumny."* 

And  of  the  general  council :   "  A  gang  of  brigands  and  asses." 

But  see  how,  that  great  scourge  of  God,  truth's  lame  foot  moves  on- 
wards !  Here  are  three  Protestants  who  vindicate  what  Calvin  has 
:hought  proper  to  calumniate. 

"  God,"  says  Molan,  "has  promised  to  assist  his  church  to  the  con- 
summation  of  ages,  and  he  could  not  have  allowed  error  to  prevail  in 
those  grand  religious  assises  which  are  called  councils."! 

•''  The  consecration  of  the  Catholic  dogma  by  scripture  and  tradi- 
tion," says  Fessler,  '-'was  the  work  of  the  Council  of  Trent. "J 

•'When  Paul  III.,"  says  A.  Menzel,  *'had  read  the  plan  of  the  new 
Institute  of  the  Jesuits,  he  exclaimed  :  The  finger  of  God  is  there. 
Protestants  have  always  hated  the  disciples  of  Loyola,  the  most  ardent 
adversaries  of  the  reformatio n."§ 

For  the  destruction  of  Catholicism  in  France,  Calvin  indicates  three 
means  :  the  ruin  of  the  papacy,  the  secularization  of  convents,  and  the 
sale  of  the  property  of  the  clergy;  the  same,  indeed,  that  had  been 
employed  at  Wittenberg  and  Geneva.  In  Saxony  and  Switzerland, 
the  possessions  of  the  clergy  served  for  the  support  of  Protestant  schools, 
pastors,  and  preachers.  Luther  considered  the  unfrocked  monk  a  pow- 
erful auxiliary  of  the  reformation,  which  he  enriched  by  the  numerous 
progeny  that  he  left  behind  him.  The  idea  of  increasing  the  popula- 
lion  by  means  of  the  monachal  race  has  not  escaped  Calvin.  In  his 
little  tracts,  there  are  various  works  of  exegesis  upon  the  crescite  et  mul- 
tiplica7nini  {'increase  and  multiply ),  which  our  modern  economists 
often  have  done  no  more   than  recopy,   without  indicating  the  source 


*  Jesuitae  vero  qui  se  maxime  nobis  opponunt,  aut  necandi,  aut  si  hoc  com- 
mode fieii  non  potest,  ejiciendi,  aut  certe  mendaciis  et  calumniis  opprimendi 
sunt.  Calv.,  apud  Becan.,  t.  I,  op.  17,  aph.  15,  de  mode  propagandi  Calvin- 
i^mum. 

Basil  was  not  the  first  to  say :  calumniate.  Probably,  Beaumarchais  had 
read  the  following  lines  in  Luther's  correspondence:  Noshic  persuasi  sumus, 
papatum  esse  veri  et  germani  antichrist!  sedem,  in  cujus  deceptionem  et  ne- 
quitiam,  ob  salutem  aniraarum  nobis  omnia  licere  arbitramur.  De  Wette,  Lu- 
mbers Briefe,  t.  I,  p.  378,  n.  201. 

tChristus  ist  durch  alle  lahrhunderte  bei  seiner  Kirche,  und  laszt  nicht  zu, 
dasz  in  solcht'  einem  Konzilium  ein  dem  Glauben  zuwiderlaufender  Auss- 
pruch  gesch.  Molan,  Explicatio  alt.  Method,  reunionis  eccelsiee :  cited  by 
Hoeninghaus,  p.  145-146. 

:}:  Auch  das  Werk  der  zu   Trient  versammelten  ehrwQrdigen  Vater,  war  die 
durchaus  solgerichtige  Festsetzungr  der  Katholisch-kirchlichen  Glaubenslehre 
ausgemittelt,  aus  derheiligen  Schrift  und  apostolischen  Ueberlieserung.  Gesch  - 
Ichten  der  Ungern,  t.  VIII,  p.  384. 

9  Die  Protestanten  erkanhten  und  haszten  in  den  Jesuiten  ihre  gefahrlich- 
Sten  Gegner. 


520 


LIFE    OP   JOHN    CA'LVIN. 


whence  they  derived  their  views.  Calvin,,  while  affecting  to  pity  the 
condition  of  the  Catholic  populations,  in  several  of  his  works,  advises, 
as  a  plan  for  ameliorating  the  lot  of  the  poor,  the  sale  of  our  reliquaries. 
He  had  scarcely  shut  his  eyes  upon  the  light  of  this  world,  when  his 
disciples  of  France  developed  the  theories  presented  in  his  Acts  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,*  in  his  Treatise  on  Relics,t  in  his  Brief  Exposition, 
and  urged  France  to  an  insurrection  against  the  nobility  and  clergy. 
The  whole  of  our  revolution,  even  to  the  Maximum,  is  contained  in 
dialogues  from  which  we  are  about  to  give  a  few  extracts.  The  au- 
thor, Nicholas  de  Montand,  in  several  places  of  his  work,  affirms  that 
he  is  but  a  modest  workman  content  to  enchase  the  diamond  polished 
by  master  Calvin  4 

THE    G0OD&    or    THE    CLERGY. 

HoNOEATus.  The  question  regards  incorporating  with  the  king's 
domains,  the  dukedoms,  counties,  baronies,  goods  and  seigniories  of  the 
clergy,  in  proportion  as  prelates  and  other  beneficiaries  shall  die,  or 
even  if  they  would  do  better,  dis'possessing  them  immediately. 

TuBALCAiN.  Thou  hast  bit  the  nail  on  the  head,  Honoratus,  and  I 
am  not  surprised  that  thou  hast  left  the  war  to  come  after  this  most  sa- 
voury and  delicate  morsel  that  is  in  all  France. 

Honor/tus.  Let  us  come  to  the  matter  of  relics.  Thinkest  thou 
that  the  finest  money  can  be  made  out  of  the  silver  which  will  be  ob- 
tained from  this  source  ? 

TuBALCAiN.  Why  not  ?  as  well  as  has  been  done  with  other  relics 
which  have  been  employed  for  this  purpose  :  but  it  is  necessary  to  bo 
in  haste  and  lose  no  time  in  securing  the  articles,  for  fear  lest  they  take 
wings  and  fly  away. 

HoNOKATUs.  Should  there  be  some  detainers  and  receivers  of  these 
relics,  who  obstinately  should  persist  in  declaring  that  they  had  neither 
concealed  nor  retained  the  reliquaries,  it  will  only  be  necessary  to  set 
apart  some  money  for  informers  who  shall  discover  them,  and  the  nest 
and  birds  will  easily  be  found.  .  .  There  is  no  canon  so  little,  from  the 
largest  to  the  smallest,  but  has  some  nuts  worth  picking,  and  especially 
in  his  cabinet  each  has,  besides  the  relics  of  their  temples,  all  the  ap- 
paratus necessary  for  the  game  of  goblets  on  the  altar,  just  as  any  jug- 

*  Acta  synodi  Tridentinse  cum  antidoto. 

t  Treatise  on  Relics,  or  a  very  useful  admonition  of  the  great  advantnge 
which  would  accrue  to  Christendom,  if  inventory  were  made  of  all  the  bodies 
of  saints  and  relics  which  exist  as  well  in  Italy  as  in  France,  Germany,  Spaia 
and  other  kingdoms  and  countries  :  by  J.  Calvin. 

\  The  note  book  of  the  conferences  of  the  diocess  of  Lyons,  (year  1840) 
drawn  up  by  M.  Catet,  an  ecclesiiistic  well  versed  in  the  history  of  Protectant 
heresies,  first  put  us  upon  the  trace  of  the  book  of  Nicholas  de  Montand,  to- 
day very  rare,  and  a  copy  of  which  we  found  in  the  library  of  the  Arsenal. 
Here  is  its  title  :  Le  Mirroir  des  Francois,  "compris  en  trois  livres  ;  par  Nico^. 
las  de  Montand,  1581.  in-12;  Those  who  desire  to  write  the  history  of  Pro- 
testantism in  France,  ought  to  consult  the  very  curious  letter  of  Scipio  and 
Milo,  commissaries  of  war,  to  Gregory,  bishop  of  Rome..  M.Daunou,  author 
of  the  Essay  on  the  Temporal  Power  of  the  Popes,  has  evidently  availed  hiiu* 
self  of  this  document  for  the  C'Smposition  oi"  his  work. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  621 

^ler  may  have  for  his  tricks  and  pass-pass.     It  is  true,  one  has  his  table 
utensils  of  silver,  another  of  tin. 

TuBALCAiN.  Perhaps  they  will  have  to  mix  these  with  the  silver 
of  the  reliquaries,  and  none  of  the  same  should  be  used  till  it  be 
accurately  known  how  many  marks  of  silver  there  are  in  bars,  and 
how  many  quintals  of  bell  and  other  metals^  and  should  they  desire  to 
use  some  of  it  for  casting  artillery,  they  would  be  unable  to  find  any 
better  material. 

HoNORATDs.  Consider  a  moment  in  your  own  mind  how  many 
bells  there  are  in  Paris,  how  many  relics  may  be  there,  and  how 
many  canons  who  separately  have  their  chalices  and  other  garniture 
for  the  altar,  and  calculate  w^hat  will  be  obtained  from  other  cities  and 
towns,  such  as  Toulouse,  Naibonne,  Carcasonne,  Bordeaux,  and  other 
cities  which  have  not  yet  been  despoiled,  accumulate  all  this  into  an 
inestimable  treasure.* 

When  then,  search  shall  be  made  for  relics,,  it  will  be  proper  to 
look  seriously  to  other  saints  who  have  been  richer  than  the  Virgin  and 
more  worldly,  and  they  will  find  that  if  this  good  lady,  who  had  given 
birth  to  the  true  Emmanuel  in  a  manger,  has  after  her  death  possessed 
so  many  dresses  and  rings,  that  the  others  must  be  much  better  fur- 
nished with  richer  articles  in  comparison  with  hers,  who  was  but  a  poor 
little  woman  ;  besides  I  think  she  looked  higher  than  her  silver  and 
sandals.f  Then  will  they  stop  fabricating  and  making  saints  of  both- 
sexes,  when  the  others,  which  the  king  will  seize,  shall  have  been 
melted  down. 


THE    CONVENTS. 

TuBALCAiN.  Your  remark  is  good  and  salutary  ^  but  let  us  speak 
of  other  things.  And  in  fact,  I  know  not  what  course  they  will 
pursue  to  deliver  that  nursery  of  persons  existing  in  the  sink  of  the 
convents. 

HoNOKATUS.  I  think  there  will  be  no  need  of  much  pulling  at  the 
ears  of  most  of  the  monks  to  make  them  come  forth  from  their  den. 

TuBALCAiN.  When  once  out  of  their  convents,  enough  occupation 
can  be  given  them,  if  they  will  put  hand  to  the  work. 

HoNOKATUs.  To  economize  well,  they  should  observe  the  law  of 
the  two  emperors,  Valentinian  and  Valens,  by  which  it  was  ordered  that 
those,  who  should  follow  the  monastic  life,  thereby  flying  from  public 
duties,  should  be  forced  out  of  their  hiding  places,  and  either  con- 
strained  to  serve  their  country,  or  deprived  of  all  other  necessaries, 
which  should  be  transferred  to  those  who  sustain  the  labours  and  dan- 
gers of  the  republic. 

TuBALCAiN.  Thou  commenccst  to  make  terrible  regulations  ;  but 
what  ?  would  it  be  necessary  that  the  four  mendicant  orders,  the  white 
monks,  the  black  monks,  the   Celestins,   Mathurins,  Jesuits,  Capu- 


•  Miroir,  etc.,  page  170. 
t     Id..  page  175. 

44* 


522  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

chins,  Carthusians,  good  men,  canons,  priests  and  other  gentry  of  the- 
clergy  and  even  our  masters  of  the  Sorbonne,  should  throw  off  their 
habits  and  till  the  earth.  How  could  this  be  done  ?  More  than  a 
third  of  those  who  did  nothing  would  be  constrained  to  labour.  And 
then,  if  they  married,  (as  in  fact  they  might  do  were  they  to  frequent 
the  world  freely)  there  would  not  be  half  enough  towns  to  support  the 
population,  which  in  twenty  years  would  multiply  and  cover  the  earth. 

HoNOEATUS.  The  earth  Avould  be  no  more  filled  with  people  than 
it  is  now  ;  for  whilst  each  one  will  have  but  one  wife,  it  is  sufHciently 
manifest  that  conventual  and  monastic  men  are  entirely  carried  away 
and  enflamed  by  their  concupiscence,  shamelessly  scouring  the  country 
after  their  sensuality  and  pleasures,  like  bulls,  so  that  the  land  is  pol- 
luted by  their  bastard  boys  and  girls,  Avho  come  from  the  unchaste 
amours  of  these  shameless  villains,  and  I  much  regret  to  hold  such 
language,  for  fear  my  readers  be  horrified,  in  reading  what  I  say,  to 
learn  such  wicked  and  abominable  things. 

TuBALCAiN.  When  all  these  things  shall  be  well  considered,  it 
"will  be  found  that  there  are  great  disorders  in  this  monachal  life,  and 
that  it  Avould  be  requisite  to  allow  those  to  marry  who  have  not  the 
gift  of  continence,  for  it  is  a  pure  folly  in  men  to  have  vowed  chastity, 
and  given  a  promise  to  keep  it,  if  they  look  no  higher  than  their  own 
strength ;  for  it  is  not  given  to  all ;  and  all  those  vows  are  to  be  con. 
demned  which  are  not  sanctioned  by  the  word  of  God,  such  as  those 
of  monks  and  nuns,  as  the  author  to  the  Hebrews  warns  us  that  mar- 
riage is  honorable  in  all  and  the  bed  undefiled;  but  God  will  judge 
debauchees  and  adulterers,  and  in  the  first  epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians,  it  is  said':  "  Do  not  deceive  yourselves  :  neither  fornica- 
tors, nor  idolaters,   nor   adulterers,    nor  the shall   possess   the 

kingdom  of  God."  Hence,  Honoratus,  I  yield  to  thy  opinion;  and 
it  is  my  will  that  it  be  soon  well  executed  provided  they  proceed  there, 
in  with  requisite  civility  and  honesty. 

Honoratus.  The  steps  proper  to  be  used  for  this  would  be,  that 
honest  persons  should  withdraw  their  brothers,  sisters,  and  near  rela- 
tions  who  are  in  the  cloisters,  nunneries,  and  convents,  from  that  nursery 
where  they  live,  and  keep  them  for  a  time  with  themselves  to  admon- 
ish them,  cheer  theui  in  the  Lord,  encourage  them  to  learn  some  honest 
employment  in  order  to  pass  through  this  frail  and  deceitful  life,  and 
not  give  them  occasion  to  be  sad  for  having  employed  their  time  so 
badly,  but  rather  remind  them  of  God's  goodness  in  withdrawing  them 
from  the  idolatries  and  pollutions  in  which  they  were  plunged,  to  lead 
and  conduct  them  back  to  a  belief  in  one  only  Jesus  Christ  who  was 
crucified, 

TuBALCAiN.  The  order  which  you  propose  has  great  appearance 
of  being  well  devised  as  far  as  concerns  young  persons  and  others  who 
are  forty  years  of  age  and  under  :  for  they  will  be  able  to  learn  some 
employment  by  which  to  support  life  according  to  their  rank;  some 
could  be  employed  in  agriculture,  others  in  some  honest  trade  to  which 
their  taste  shall  incline  them,  others  could  be  college  rectors,  principals, 
or  professors.  But  those  who  are  over  forty  years  of  age,  and  shall 
have  been  from  childhood  in  a  claister,.  should,  in  my  opinion  during 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  525' 

life  only,,  receive  some  small  annuity  from  the  domain  and  revenues  of 
their  convent,  that,  with  this  and  what  they  may  derive  from  their 
labour,  study,  and  industry,  they  may  finish  their  days  in  peace. 

HoNOKATus.  Some  of  these  old  persons  will  be  fit  for  keepers  or 
masters  of  hospitals,  others  will  be  able  to  study  and  benefit  the  public 
in  future,  and  can  be  employed  in  good  universities,  others  who  know- 
how  to  make  some  thing  unusual,  such  as  bitters  and  cordials,  and 
the  greater  part,  who  love  the  management  of  country  houses,  can  labour 
there  in  taking  care  of  the  stock,  so  that  if  this  take  place,  never  has 
there  been  such  harmony,  such  abundance  of  grain,  of  wine,  and  all 
good  things  as  then  will  be  seen,  for  each  one  will  take  pains  to  cul- 
tivate the  earth  well,  to  clean,  polish  and  level  those  rugged  places,, 
which  grow  full  of  bushes  for  want  of  cultivation. 

TuBALCAiN.  Thou  Still  fofgcttest  the  principal  point;  which  is 
that  should  any  sworn  enemy  of  the  country  want  to  make  war  against 
our  king,  he  could  raise  the  finest  and  largest  army  ever  monarch 
levied  in  Europe. 

HoNOKATus.  Ink  and  paper  would  fail  me  should  I  undertake  to 
set  forth  all  the  advantages  which  will  result  from  this  new  change ; 
for  whilst  at  present  artizans  can  be  found  only  at  great  expense  and 
with  difficulty  :  we  shall  then  have  a  choice  of  them  :  so  that  silks, 
woolen  cloths,  leather,  and  generally  all  other  articles  of  merchandize 
would  be  cheaper,  and,  what  is  more,  some  of  these  cloistered  gentry 
will  invent  several  good,  elegant,,  and  useful  things,  not  yet  seen,  made,. 
or  used. 


THE    MAXJMUM.- 

RoNOKATUs.  My  soul  leaps  with  joy  at  seeing  our  plan  so  well 
matured  :  but  we  must  ornament  it  with  a  regulation  for  all  goods  and 
merchandize  whatever,  that  they  may  ordinarily  be  at  the  same  price. 
For  the  greatest  of  all  disorders,,  at  present,  pervades  all  goods  and 
merchandize  which  are  sold  wholesale  and  retail,  and  if  things  be  not 
amended  and  equalized,  it  is  to  be  feared  lest  in  a  short  tiaie,  the  nour- 
ishment  of  a  man  will  require  as  much  gold  as  he  will  weigh.  To 
obviate  which,  nothing  will  be  better  or  more  expedient  than  to  make 
a  catalogue,  and  a  rate  of  price  for  grain,  wines,,  meats,  poultry,  which 
shall  be  sold  in  market,  at  the  butcher's  stalls,  and  the  hotels,  and  to 
fix  up  said  catalogue  and  rate,  at  the  street  corners  and  most  remarka- 
ble points  where  said  markets,  butcher's  stalls,  and  hotels  are  found, 
giving  express  command  to  venders  and  purchasers,  under  penalty  of 
imprisonment  and  pecuniary  fine,  to  observe  the  said  rate,,  and  to  the 
police  to  use  strict  watch  and  requisition  that  his  majesty  be  obeyed. 

TuBALCAiN.  Since  we  have  a  mode  of  life  well  adapted  for  our 
France,.  I  shall  present  it  to  the  States,  to  know  their  good  pleasure,. 
and  as  soon  as  I  have  perceived  that  it  will  be  conformable  with  our 
own,  I  shall  place  the  papers  on.  the  table,  and  cause  them,  to  be  readi 
to  them.  .  .  .. ." 


524  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

Do  you  now  comprehend  the  fears  entertained  by  the  clergy  and 
the  people  of  Lyons  for  their  faith  and  their  nationality ;  the  severity  of 
the  civil  power,  if  you  choose  so  to  designate  it,  against  those  politi- 
cal agitators  who  came  from  Geneva  quite  full  of  the  spirit  of  the 
theocrat,  and  spread  themselves  over  our  provinces,  in  order  to 
preach  up  disobedience  to  our  laws,  revolt  against  our  priests,  con- 
tempt for  our  liturgical  forms,  pillage,  murder,  incendiarism  ?  Gen- 
eva  was  the  grand  rendezvous  of  all  the  malcontents  of  France. 
There,  was  concocted  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise  ;  there,  was  devised 
tlie  attack  upon  Lyons,  and  its  capture  by  stratagem.  There,  they 
gave  up  to  one  Spifamus  the  first  see  of  the  Gauls  !  And  had  not  God 
placed  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  a  faith  so  pure,  in  his  clergy  a 
devotedness  so  ardent,  in  the  magistrates  a  vigilance  so  active,  and  in 
Calvin  the  germs  of  a  premature  death,  who  knows  what  would  have 
been  the  fate  of  our  southern  provinces  ? 


CHAPTER    XLYIII. 

Calvin's    death.    1564. 

The  Reformer  is  afflicted  by  various  maladies. — His  letter  to  the  physicians  of 
Montpellier. — Causes  of  his  last  sufferings. — His  doctrines  abandoned  by 
Zurich. — His  adieux  to  the  council. — His  last  testament. — The  approach  of 
death. — His  last  moments. — His  funeral. 

At  the  age  of  forty  Calvin  already  presented  all  tlje  signs  of  decre- 
pitude, his  back  was  stooped,  his  face  emaciated,  his  lips  were  discol- 
oured, his  hair  was  grey,  and  his  brow  despoiled.  His  eye  alone 
preserved  its  habitual  fire.  From  infancy  he  had  been  subject  to 
various  maladies  which  time  had  only  served  to  aggravate ;  when  at 
college  he  already  complained  of  the  megrim,  which  afterwards  sud- 
denly smote  him  like  a  thunderbolt,  when  at  tabJe,  at  the  council,  or 
in  the  pulpit.  The  approach  of  the  infliction  could  be  discerned  by 
the  purpling  of  his  lips,  the  contraction  of  the  facial  muscles,  the  feb- 
rile irritation  of  the  brain.  In  perusing  his  later  writings,  it  is  not 
even  difficult  to  indicate  the  very  passage  at  which  the  malady  seized 
him  :  his  phrase,  usually  dull,  then  emits  a  few  pale  sparks.  But 
this  over  excitement  of  the  brain  soon  troubles  the  intellect  of  the 
writer,  who  is  compelled  to  pause,  to  cease  from  labour,  and  even 
to  suspend  the  exercise  of  thought.  Luther  also  was  tormented  with 
vertigos,  during  which  his  head  Avas  filled  with  the  roar  of  crumbling 
mountains,  the  din  of  tempests,  and  the  hiss  of  serpents  ;  but  he  had 
early  begun  to  resist  the  assaults  of  the  demon  by  whom  he  imagined 
himself  visited  at  such  times,  and  his  word,  forced  to  work  its  way 
through  the  thick  strata  of  white  clay  beneath  which  satan  wanted  to 
hold  it  in  bondage,  resembled  the  lightning  flashing  athwart  the  dark 
clouds,  and  fell  upon  the  paper  in  torrents  of  fire.  Calvin,  who  did 
not,  like  the  monk,  believe  in  the  domineering  influence  of  the  evil 
spirit,*  paused  when  his  pains  were  too  violent.  He  then  invoked 
obscurity  to  his  aid ;  he  shut  himself  up  in  his  room,  drew  thick  cur- 
tains before  his  windows,  cast  himself  on  his  bed,  and  allowed  the 
disease  gradually  to  exhaust  itself.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life  all 
these  sedative  expedients  had  become  inefficient.  His  head  continued 
to  burn  for  entire  hours,  and  the  volcano  emitted  no  flames.  A  suf- 
focating catarrh  nailed  him  to  his  bed,  deprived  him  of  sleep,  of  the 

*  See  chapter  entitled:  The  Devil  and  the  Antichrist., 


526 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIHT. 


power  to  move  his  legs  or  arms,  and  even  of  the  ability  for  serious  re- 
Section.  During  his  last  years,  and  particularly  in  winter,  he  passed 
the  nights  before  a  large  fire  quite  covered  with  woolen  blankets. 
Beza  says  that  at  intervals  he  calmly  slept  "the  sleep  of  childhood." 
Did  Calvin  then  escape  the  chastisement  of  those  who  have  stained 
their  hands  with  blood  !  More  than  once  must  he  have  been  visited 
by  the  shades  of  Berthelier,  Servetus,  Gruet,  and  of  all  the  patriots 
whom  he  had  handed  over  to  the  executioner.  God  is  just !  and  those 
attacks  of  cholic,  those  spasms,  that  gout,  those  piles,  that  gravel,  those 
cancerous  wounds,  and  that  train  of  maladies,  which  assailed  him  at 
the  same  time  just  before  his  death,  were  but  a  temporal  expiation  o( 
all  the  tears  and  sufferings  he  had  cost  humanity.  He  had  no  joy, 
because  joy,  says  St.  Thomas,  is  the  fruit  of  charity,  and  he  had  never 
loved.* 

Some  time  previously  to  his  death,  Calvin  had  addressed  to  the  phy- 
sicians of  Montpellier  a  letter  in  Latin  full  of  details  regarding  the 
various  torments  which  he  was  enduring  at  that  time,  and  a  part  of 
which  we  here  translate. 

"  When  Sarasin,  my  ordinary  physician,  had  informed  me  of  the 
remedies  you  advised  in  my  case,  I  said  to  him  :  But  who  then,  with- 
out my  knowledge,  has  applied  to  the  doctors  of  Montpellier  ? — It 
was,  said  he,  at  the  express  solicitation  of  your  colleagues,  that  I  drew 
up  a  consultation,  setting  forth  all  your  infirmities. — Your  answer  man- 
ifests the  interest  your  feel  for  me,  and  the  desire  you  entertain  to  pro- 
long my  existence. 

"  Twenty  years  since,  learned  doctors  had  the  idea  which  you  ex- 
press  to   day  :  they   wished  to  cure  me.     But  at  that  time  I  was  not 
tormented  by  the  gout,  the   stone,  the  gravel,  the  cholic,  the  piles,  nor 
by  an  internal  hemorrhage ;  all  these   maladies  have  at  once  pounced 
upon  me  like  an  inimical  hord.     The  quartan  fever  has  scarcely  left 
me,  when  I  am  seized  with  cramps  in  the  calf  of  the  legs,  which  at 
first  allow  me  some  respite,  and  then  are  converted  into  a  pulling  and 
hauling  of  the  muscles   from  the  foot  to  the  knee.     And  here  I  am 
through  the  whole  summer  a  prey   to  a  frightful  neuralgy.     The   mo- 
tion of  the  horse  has  become  insupportable  to  me,  and  I  have  tried  a 
litter  or  portable  chair ;  in  returning  from  a  little  excursion  to  the  coun- 
try,  I  wanted  to  walk  :   I  had  scarcely  gone  a  league  when  I  was  com- 
pelled to  stop  :  my  legs  were  swollen.     Having  reached  home  I  went 
to  bed,  and  experienced  nervous  pains  which  the  efforts  of  art  were 
unable  at  first  to  alleviate.     The  malady  yielded,  after  I  had  passed  a 
stone  so  large  that  it  injured  the  arteries  and  caused  a  hemorrhage  which 
was   finally  arrested  by  the  probe.     Since  then   several  stones  have 
come  away,  and  my  nervous  pains  are  somewhat  assuaged;   but  I  have 
no  hope  of  cure,  for  I  can  neither  take    exercise  on  foot  nor  on  horse- 
back ;  add  to  all  these  ills,  a  debility  of  stomach  so  great  that  the  food 
I  take  remains  entirely  undigested.    But  in  place  of  returning  you  my: 


*  Gaudium  est  efTectus  charitatis. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  627 

ihanksj  I  am  afflicting  you  with  all  these  details  which  serve  no  other 
purpose  than  to  give  you  alarm."* 

When  on  the  point  of  leaving  this  earth,  he  beheld  his  work  going 
to  ruin.  The  Consensus  Tigurinus  and  the  Consensus  pastoruin 
Genevensium  were  about  to  be  divided  :  Zurich  was  returning  to  the 
ideas  of  Zwingle  regarding  the  Lord's  Supper.  Berne  decidedly  re- 
jected predestination.!  Lyons,  thanks  to  what  the  reformation  in  its 
pamphlets  called  the  "papal  vermin  and  low  priesthood,"  drove  Viret 
beyond  its  walls.:}:  The  blood  of  the  Franci5cans,§  with  which  the 
Soane  had  been  crimsoned,  had  cried  to  God  and  been  heard.  Henry 
d'Albon,  Saconay,  and  Auger,  aided  by  the  people,  rescued  the  city 
from  the  yoke  of  the  sectaries.  The  conspiracy  of  Renaudie,  i|  con- 
cocted at  Geneva,  failed;  France  preserved  its  God,  its  faith  and  its 
king. 

In  the  month  of  February  1564,  Calvin  ascended  the  pulpit  for  the 
last  time  :  in  the  midst  of  his  discourse  he  was  seized  with  violent 
attacks  of  coughing. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  he  wish  to  make  his  final  adieux  to  the 
council.  Two  men  supported  him  upon  the  steps  of  the  hotel  de  milt. 
He  was  only  able  to  articulate  a  few  words  of  sympathy  :  "I  am 
about  to  die,  said  he  to  the  counselors,  nature  can  hold  out  no  longer."^ 

On  the  2d  of  April,  Easter  day,  he  assisted  at  the  services,  and  after 
the  sermon  received  communion  at  the  hands  of  Beza.** 

His  strength  was  exhausted ;  God  afflicted  him  in  the  most  potent  or- 
gan of  the  understanding.  His  brain,  rendered  sterile,  could  no  longer 
obey  the  impulses  of  thought  without  causing  his  body  to  suffer  most 
poignant  agonies.  His  hand  was  paralyzed  as  well  as  his  head:  at  that 
moment  it  could  not  have  written  as  it  did  in  1546  :  If  Servetus  come 
to  Geneva,  he  shall  not  leave  it  alive.  His  fingers,  which  had  traced 
so  many  calumnies  against  Catholicism,  blackened  so  many  glorious 
reputations,  vilified  so  many  noble  spirits,  shaken  up  so  much  gall  and 
wormwood,  signed  so  many  decrees  of  exile  and  death,  were  frozen,  as  if 
already  stiffened  with  the  cold  of  the  tomb.  He  was  like  the  sick 
man  of  Dante,  who,  in  turning  from  side  to  side  on  his  bed  of  pain, 
vainly  tries  to  elude  death. 

E,  se  ben  ti  ricorda,  e  vedi  lume, 
Vedrai  te  simigliante  a  quella  'nferma, 
Che  non  puo  trovarposa  in  su'le  piume, 
Ma  con  dar  voha  suo  dolore  scherma.  ft 


*  8  fev.  1564. 

t  Schroeckh,  Amosnit.  t.  II,  p.  204,  t.  V,  p.  177-181. 

:j:  See :  Discourse  concerning  the  vermin  and  low  priesthood  of  Lyons,  ex- 
pelled by  the  mighty  arm  of  tlie  Lord,  1562. — Lyons  and  the  just  puiiishment 
\)f  God  on  the  papal  vermin. 

^  Les  Grands  Cordeliers  deLyon,  par  I'abbe  Pavy. 

IJEpist.  XVI,  1561. 

V  Life  of  Calvin,  for  the  use  of  Protestants  schools,  by  E.  Haag.  1840. 

*♦  Discourse  of  Theodote  Beza,  containing  a  brief  history  of  the  life  and 
death  of  master  John  Calvin,  1564,  p,  45-49. 

tt  Purgatorio.  C,  VI. 


628  LIFE    Of   JOHjJf    CALVIN, 

He  became  aware  that  his  final  hour  was  about  to  strike,  and  before 
bidding  farewell  to  Geneva  he  wanted  first  to  dictate  his  last  will. 
On  the  twenty-fifth  of  April  he  caused  the  notary  Chenelat  to  be 
called,  who  took  down  the  testamentary  dispositions  of  the  dying  re- 
former.  The  thing  which  occupies  the  mind  of  Calvin,  at  the  mo- 
ment of  his  appearing  before  the  tribunal  of  God,  is  the  judgment  of 
the  world  which  he  is  about  to  leave.  On  his  death  bed,  you  will  still 
behold  the  same  despot  who  sought  to  deceive  posterity  as  he  had 
deceived  Geneva,  and  to  induce  us  to  believe  that,  in  the  whole  course 
of  his  life,  he  never  used  ''cunning  and  sophistries ;  but  always  pro- 
ceeded roundly  in  defence  of  his  quarrel."  The  reformer  did  well  to 
abolish  confession,  for  the  Catholic  priest  who  should  have  come  to 
visit  him  would  never  have  suffered  the  dying  man  to  lie  thus  to  God 
and  men.  He  would  have  opened  the  windows  of  the  sufferer's  cham- 
ber, and,  with  his  finger,  pointed  to  that  hill  of  Champel,  where,  by 
searching  carefully,  some  of  the  ashes  of  Servetus  might  still  have 
been  found.  Here  is  the  last  page  that  Calvin  signed  before  he  gave 
up  his  soul  to  God.* 

"  In  the  name  of  God.  Be  it  knownand  manifest  to  all,  that  in  the 
year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-four,  on  the  twenty-fifth  day 
of  the  month  of  April,  I,  Peter  Chenelat,  citizen  and  sworn  notary  of 
Geneva,  have  been  called  by  the  respectable  M.  John  Calvin,  minister 
of  the  word  of  God  in  the  church  of  Geneva,  and  burgher  of  said 
Geneva,  being  sick  and  indisposed  in  body  only,  who  has  declared  to 
me  his  wish  to  make  his  testament  and  the  declaration  of  his  last  will, 
praying  me  to  write  the  same  as  he  should  dictate  and  pronounce  ;  his 
said  request  I  have  complied  with,  and  I  have  written  it  under  him  and 
according  as  he  dictated  and  pronounced  it  word  by  word,  without 
omitting  or  adding  anything,  in  the  form  which  follows.  Tn  the  name 
of  God,  I,  John  Calvin,  minister  of  the  word  of  God  in  the  church  of 
Geneva,  feeling  myself  so  prostrated  by  various  diseases  that  I  cannot 
think  otherwise  but  that  God  designs  shortly  to  withdraw  me  from  this 
world,  have  desired  to  make  and  record  in  writing  my  testament  and 
the  declaration  of  my  last  will,  in  the  form  following. 

*'  In  the  first  place,  I  render  thanks  to  God,  not  only  because  he  has 
had  pity  on  me,  his  poor  creature,  and  rescued  me  from  the  abyss  of 
idolatry  into  which  I  was  plunged,  by  attracting  me  to  the  light  of  his 
gospel  and  making  me  participator  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation,  of 
which  1  was  too  unworthy,  and  also  because,  continuing  his  mercy,  he 
has  borne  with  me  in  so  many  vices  and  so  great  misery,  which  merited 
that  I  should  a  hundred  times  have  been  rejected  by  him.  But  what  is 
more,  he  has  extended  to  me  his  mercy,  even  so  far  as  to  make  use  of 
me  and  my  labour  to  carry  and  announce  the  truth  of  his  gospel :  pro- 
testing my  wish  to  live  and  die  in  that  faith  which  he  has  given  me  ; 
having  no  other  hope  or  refuge  except  in  his  gratuitous  adoption,  on 
which  all  my  hope  of  salvation  is  grounded  :  embracing  the  merit  of 
his  death  and  passion,  that  by  this  means  all  my  sins  may  be  buried, 
■end  beseeching  him  to  so  wash  and   cleanse  me  with  the  blood  of  that 

*  Vie  de  Calvin,  par  Bclze. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN,  529 

great  Redeemer,  which  has  been  shed  for  all  poor  sinners,  that  1  may 
be  able  to  appear  before  his  face,  bearing  his  image.  I  protest  also,  that 
1  have  endeavoured,  according  to  the  measure  of  grace  which  he  gave 
me,  to  teach  his  word  purely,  as  well  in  sermons  as  by  writing,  to  ex- 
pound the  scriptures  faithfully.  And  even  in  all  the  disputes  which  I 
had  against  the  enemies  of  the  truth,  I  have  used  neither  cunning  nor 
sophistry;  but  I  have  proceeded  fairly  to  maintain  his  quarrel.  But 
alas !  the  wish,  and  the  zeal  I  had,  if  I  can  so  call  it,  has  been  so  cold 
and  pusillanimous  that  I  feel  myself  very  responsible  throughout  and  in 
all  things;  and  but  for  his  infinite  goodness  all  the  affection  I  have 
would  be  only  smoke  ;  nay-,  the  very  graces  he  has  given  me  would 
render  me  so  much  the  more  culpable  :  so  that  my  only  recourse  is, 
that  as  he  is  the  Father  of  mercy  he  may  show  himself  a  father  to  so 
miserable  a  sinner.  Moreover,  I  desire  that  my  body,  after  my  death, 
should  be  buried  in  the  usual  way,  to  await  the  day  of  the  happy  resur- 
rection. Regarding  the  little  property  which  God  has  given  me  here  to 
dispose  of,  I  name  and  appoint  as  my  sole  heir  my  well  beloved  bro- 
ther Anthony  Calvin,  yet  this  being  only  honorary,  as  all  that  J  leave 
him  in  his  own  right,  is  the  cup  which  I  have  received  from  M.  de  Va- 
rennes;  praying  him  to  be  satisfied  wdth  this,  as  I  am  sure  he  will,  as 
he  is  aware  that  I  do  so  for  no  other  reason  but  in  order  that  what  I 
leave  behind  may  be  enjoyed  by  his  children.  Afterwards,  I  bequeath 
to  the  college  ten  crowns,  and  as  many  to  the  purse  for  the  poor.  Item, 
to  Jane,  daughter  of  Charles  Costan  and  my  half-sister  by  the  father's 
side,  the  sum  of  ten  crowns.  Then,  to  Samuel  and  John,  sons  of  my 
-said  brother,  being  my  nephews,  forty  crowns  each.  To  my  nieces, 
Anne,  Susan,  and  Dorothea,  thirty  crowns  each.  As  to  their  brother, 
my  nephew  David,  as  he  has  been  light  and  inconstant,  1  only  give 
him  twenty-five  crowns  by  way  of  chastisement.  The  sum  of  this  is 
all  the  property  that  God  has  given  me,  as  well  as  I  have  been  able  to 
estimate,  considering  books  and  furniture,  table  utensils  and  other 
things.  Yet  should  the  amount  be  found  greater,  I  wish  that  it  may  be 
distributed  among  my  nephews  and  nieces,  not  excluding  David,  if  God 
give  him  the  grace  to  be  more  moderate  and  more  sedate.  But  I  be- 
iieve  as  to  this  article  there  is  no  difficulty  :  especially  when  my  debts 
shall  have  been  paid,  as  I  have  enjoined  on  my  brother,  on  whom  J  re- 
ly, naming  him  executor  of  this  present  testament,  together  with  respect- 
able Laurent  of  Normandy,  investing  them  with  all  power  and  author!- 
ty  to  draw  up  an  inventory,  without  the  forms  of  law,  and  make  sale  of 
my  moveables  to  reduce  the  same  to  money,  in  order  that  what  is  here- 
in written  may  be  accomplished.  This  twenty-fifth  day  of  April,  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-four.     Thus  be  it. 

"John   Calvin." 

"  After  having  written  as  above,  at  the  same  instant  the  said  respect- 
able Calvin  has  with  his  usual  signature  signed  the  very  document  of 
said  will." 

"  And  on  the  next  day,  which  was  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  April,  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-four,  the  said  respectable  Calvin  caused 
me   immediately  to  be   summoned,   together  with  the  respectable  The- 
odore Beza,  Raymond  Chauvet,  Michael   Cop,  Louis  Enoch,  Nicholas 
45 


530  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIK, 

Celadon,  James  de  Bordes,  ministers  of  ihs  word  of  God  in  this  churchy 
and  respectable  Henry  Seringer,  professor  of  arts,  all  burghers  of  Ge- 
neva, in  the  presence  of  whom  he  declared  that  he  caused  me  to  write 
under  him  and  his  dictation  the  said  testament,  in  the  form  and  in  the 
very  words  as  above  ;  praying  me  to  read  it  in  his  presence  and  that  of 
said  witnesses  to  this  request  and  demand ;  which  1  did  aloud  and  word 
for  word.  After  which  reading,  he  declared  that  such  was  his  will  and 
last  testament,  wishing  that  it  should  be  observed.  And,  for  further 
approbation  of  this,  he  besought  and  required  the  above  named  persons 
to  subscribe  it  together  with  me  :  which  also  was  done  on  the  day  and 
year  before  written,  at  Geneva,  in  the  street  called  des  Chanoines,  at 
the  house  of  said  Calvin.  In  testimony  whereof,  and  to  serve  as  proof, 
I  have  placed  the  present  testament  in  the  above  form,  to  be  sent  to 
whom  it  shall  belong,  under  the  common  seal  of  our  honoured  seig- 
niors and  superiors,  and  with  my  accustomed  sign  manual. 

''  Signed  :   P.   CnEifELAT." 

There  is  one  Pope,  whom  Calvin  treated  as  Luther  did  Henry 
VIII. ,  covering  his  face  with  mud  :  this  was  Paul  III.,  who,  v;hen  dy- 
ing, forgave  all  his  enemies  after  the  example  of  the  Saviour  on  his 
cross.  If  you  have  witnessed  the  last  moments  of  our  Catholic  glories, 
you  must  have  seen  exhale  with  their  final  breath  a  word  of  love  for 
those  who  caused  them  to  suffer  in  this  life  :  without  this  evangelical 
wish,  the  priest  never  would  say  to  the  soul  :  Depart,  christian  soul 
(  Proficiscere,  anima  Christiana).  Calvin,  in  his  last  hour,  pardoned 
nobody.  Would  Beza,  who  undertakes  to  describe  the  last  moments 
of  his  friend,  have  forgotten  to  record  the  words  of  mercy  which  he 
should  have  heard  1 

On  the  27th,  the  disease  augmenting,  Calvin  wished  to  bid  farewell 
to  the  counselors,  '"but,"'  relates  the  historian,  "the  good  seigniors  made 
answer,  that  because  of  his  debility  and  so  great  indisposition  they  be- 
sought him  earnestly  not  to  take  the  trouble,  but  that  they  themselves 
altogether  would  go  to  visit  him,  which  they  did,  going  to  his  lodgings, 
from  the  council-chamber,  accordins:  to  their  accustomed  order."*  Then, 
the  reformer  collecting  ail  his  energies,  v;hich  were  perceptibly  failings 
retraced  to  the  assistants  all  the  different  phases  of  that  long  and  painful 
struggle  in  which  they  had  assisted ;  the  perils  they  had  encountered  ;  the 
graces  which  God  had  poured  out  upon  their  city,  and  he  said  to  them  ; 
"Persevere,  walk  ever  in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  by  the  light  of  his 
holy  word." 

On  Friday,  the  28th  of  April, f  the  ministers  of  Geneva  and  the  en- 
virons assembled  in  his  bed-chamber.  Calvin  conjured  them  to  per- 
severe in  the  way  which  he  had  opened  before  them,  never  to  lose 
courage,  but  to  brace  themselves  up  against  the  assaults  which  undoubt- 
edly the  demon  would  make  upon  them.  "  God  will  support  the  city,'"" 
he  said,  "and  the  church  and  doctrines  which  I  have  preached  to  you. 
Behold,  naturally  I  am  timid  and  fearful,  yet,  by  the  aid  of  the  Lord, 
I  have  foiled  my  enemies,    both   external   and   internal,    for    God  has 

•  Beze,  Vie  de  Calvin. 

t  Calvin  tind  the  Swiss  reformation,  by  John  Scott,  p.  394. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  531 

Strengthened  me  to  remain  firm  in  doing  what  was  right."  He  added, 
"let  each  one  fortify  himself  in  his  vocation  and  observe  due  order  ; 
let  him  watch  over  the  people,  to  keep  them  always  in  doctrinal  obedi- 
ence ;  that  there  were  some  good  persons,  but  also  there  were  some 
mutinous  and  rebellious."* 

Then  he  raised  his  icy  hand  and  presented  it  to  be  kissed  by  each  of 
those  present. 

Old  Farel,  broken  down  by  age  and  sufferings,  having  been  inform- 
ed of  the  dangerous  condition  of  his  friend,  was  about  setting  out  to 
embrace  him,  when  he  received  a  letter  in  which  he  recognized  the 
signature  of  the  person  he  had  loved  with  an  affection  so  ardent. 

''  May  you  be  well,  very  good  and  very  deai-  brother,  since  it  pleases 
God  that  you  should  remain  behind  me,  live,  mindful  of  our  union,  the 
fruit  of  which  awaits  us  in  heaven,  as  it  has  been  advantageous  to  the 
church  of  God.  I  do  not  wish  you  to  undergo  any  fatigue  on  my  ac- 
count.  I  breathe  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  am  hourly  expecting 
my  last  breath.  It  is  enough  that  I  live  and  die  for  Christ,  who  is  in 
life  and  death  the  greatest  gain  for  those  who  are  his.  I  recommend 
you  and  the  brethren  there  to  God.     Geneva,  this  2d  of  May,  1564. 

"  Yours  devotedly, 

"John  Calvin." 

But  Farel  started  and  arrived  at  Geneva  barely  in  time  to  embrace 
fiis  friend  and  say  farewell,  t 

Beza  stayed  with  Calvin,  who,  at  intervals^  lifted  up  his  eyes  to- 
ll eaven  and  murmured  ;    Gemeham  sicut  columha. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  the  vigil  of  Pentecost,  a  day  on  which  it 
was  customary  for  the  ministers  of  Geneva  to  sup  together,  Calvin 
intimated  a  wish  thai  the  repast  should  take  place  as  usual,  but  in  his 
chamber.  An  arm-chair  had  been  prepared  for  the  sick  man,  who  took 
his  seat.  "My  brethren,"  said  he  to  his  colleagues,  "I  come  to  see 
you  for  the  last  time,  and  after  this,  I  shall  never  more  sit  at  table." 
Then  his  lips  opened  and  murmured  some  words  of  prayer.  But  soon 
be  asked  to  be  alone.  "  They  are  about  to  remove  me  to  my  bed- 
room," said  he  to  them  ;  "a  wall  shall  not  prevent  me  from  being  with 
you  in  spirit." 

He  passed  a  bad  night :  the  air  which  the  sick  man  breathed  painful- 
ly revolved  in  his  lungs  like  columns  of  fire,  whilst  the  coldness  of 
death  seized  upon  his  legs,  his  right  side,  his  tongue,  and  paused  around 
that  eye  which  had  so  long  held  the  consistory  in  awe  :  this  was  the  last 
organ  that  expired  in  Calvin.  On  the  27th,  he  lost  consciousness,  and 
the  agony  commenced  :  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  had  ceased 
to  breathe.  "  On  that  day,"  says  Beza,  ''the  sun  went  down,  and  the 
greatest  luminary  that  ever  came  into  the  world  for  the  direction  of  the 
church  of  God  was  withdrawn  to  heaven.  On  that  night  and  the  fol- 
lowing day,  there  were  great  lamentations  throughout  the  city  :  the 
prophet  of  the  Lord  was  no  more. "J 

*  Beze, 

t  Calvin  and  the  Swiss  reformation,  p.  395 

%  Beze,  Vie  de  Calvin. 


332 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.. 


Reza  adds  :  "  There  were  many  strangers  who  came  from  a  distance 
and  marvelously  desired  to  see  him,  dead  as  he  was,  and  urged  to  be 
allowed  this....  But,  to  prevent  all  calumny,  he  was  taken  away 
about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  about  two  hours  after  noon,  he 
was  borne  in  the  usual  manner,  as  he  had  ordained,  to  the  common 
burial  place,  called  Plein-Palais,  without  any  pomp  or  parade  what- 
ever ;  there  he  now  lies,  expecting  the  resurrection  which  he  has  tauglit 
us,  and  for  which  he  has  so  constantly  laboured." 

This  calumny  of  which  Baza  here  speaks  was  public  rumour,  which 
recounted  strange  things  regarding  the  last  moments  of  the  reformer. 
It  was  said  that  no  one  had  been  allowed  to  enter  the  death  chamber, 
because  the  body  of  the  deceased  bore  traces  of  a  desperate  struggle 
v/ith  death,  and  showed  a  decomposition  in  which  the  eye  would  have 
seen  visible  signs  of  divine  anger,  or  marks  of  an  infamous  disease ; 
also,  they  had  hastened  to  veil  the  face  of  the  corpse  Avith  a  black  cloth, 
and  to  bury  it  before  the  rumour  of  death  had  been  spread  through  the 
city,  so  great  fear  had  they  of  indiscreet  looks  !  But  it  chanced  that  a 
young  student,  having  glided  into  the  chamber  of  the  dead  man,,  lifted 
the  cloth,  and  beheld  the  mysteries  which  it  was  their  interest  to  keep 
concealed.     No  one  had  asked  him  to  reveal  the  secret.     He  wrote  : 

"  Calvin  died,  smitten  by  the  hand  of  an  avenging  God;  the  victim 
of  a  shameful  disease  which  ended  in  despair."* 

This  student  was  Harennius,  who  had  come  to  Geneva  to  attend  the 
lessons  of  the  reformer. 

The  funeral  was  simple,  as  Calvin  had  desired.  The  counselors,  pas- 
tors,  professors,  a  crowd  of  strangers,  accompanied  the  coffin  to  Plein- 
Palais. 

''  He  had:  lived,,  as  to  this  mortal  life,  during  the  space  of  fifty-five 
year^,  less  one  month  and  thirteen  days,  of  which  he  had  passed  the 
hal^  precisely  in  the  holy  ministry,  preaching  and  writing,  without  ever 
haying  changed,  diminished,  or  added  any  thing  as  regarded  the  doctrines 
he  announced." 

Beza  is  mistaken,  as  Liebe  has  acknowledged  :  Calvin,  at  differ- 
ent times,  had  revised  the  Institutes  which  contain  his  whole  symbol. f 

"  The  Lord,  adds  his  panegyrist,  tried  the  blessed  reformer  with 
regard  to  persons  who  were  very  dear  to  him ;  but  worse  happened  to 
Jacob   and  to    David."     Bteza  intends  here  to  refer   to  the   family  of 


♦■Calvinus  in  desperatione  finiens  vitam  obiit  turpissimo  et  foedissimo  mor- 
bo  quern  Deus  rebellibus  et  malediclis  comminatus  est,  prius  excniciatus  et 
consumptus,  quod  ego  verissime  attestari  audeo  qui  funestum  et  tragicum  illi- 
us  exitum  et  exitiumhis  meis  ooulis  prjesens  aspexi.  Joann.  Harennius,  apud 
Pet.  Cutzenum. 

t  We  have  already  called  the  reader's  attention  to  various  alterations  made 
by  Calvin  in  his  primitive  work  ;  let  us  here  add  that  in  the  edition-  of  1539., 
in  fol :  Argentorati,  apud  Vuendelinum  Rihelium,  mense  augusto,  the  dedi- 
cation to  Francis  I.  is  altered  in  different  passages,  for  instance  page  6,  Uses, 
3  to  19,  page  10,  lines  2.4  to  3/5. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  633 

Anthony,   which  "  gave  the  example  of  complete  disunion  and  great 
faults."* 


♦  Galiffe,  Notices,  t.  Ill,  p,  111.  Here  are  the  details  given  by  the  histo- 
rian concerning  Calvin's  family. 

Anthony  Calvin,  received  burgher  of  Geneva  on  the  3d  of  August  1546,  gra- 
tuitously, out  of  consideration  for  his  brother  ;  one  of  the  Two  Hundred  in 
1558;  of  the  Sixty,  in  1570;  died  in  1573.  He  made  his  will  on  the  28th  of 
March  1569.     He  had  for  wives: 

1st.  Anne,  wife  of  Nicholas  le  Fert,  divorced  for  adultery,  and  again  mar- 
ried to  the  noble  John  Louis  Ramel; 

2d.  This  I4th  of  January  1560,  Antoinette  Commelin,  widow  of  the  noble 
John  de  Saint  Andre,  minister,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Toussaint  Commelin, 
burgher  of  Douay.     By  the  first  wife,  he  had  : 

1st.  Samuel  Calvin,  a  disobedient  son,  reduced  to  the  third  of  an  hereditary 
portion,  living  in  1590; 

2d.     David  Calvin,  still  more  disobedient,  reduced  to  the  sixth,  born  in  1551 ; 

3d.  Anne,  wife  of  Firmin  Bachelier,  who  was  received  burgher  of  Geneva, 
gratuitously  in  1565,  out  of  love  for  his  father-in-law; 

4th.  Susan,  who  died  of  the  pest  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  in  1571,  and  by 
the  second  marriage; 

5th.     John; 

6th.     Dorothea; 

7th.     Judith; 

8th.     Marie ; 

These  last  three  fell  victims  to  the  pest  in  1571. 

John  Calvin,  one  of  the  Two  Hundred  in  1590,  died  in  1601,  being  destitute 
of  children,  he  made  his  will,  on  the  10th  of  July  1590,  in  favour  of  his  mother, 
:o  whom  he  substituted  her  brother  Peter  de  Saint  Andre. 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 


CALVIN,    CONS-IDEEED    AS    A)  WRITEE. 

Calviii  and,  Luther  in  the  pulpit. — Causes  of  Calvin's  oratorical  inferiority, — - 
He  disdains  images. — The  Genevese  and  the  Wittenberg  auditories.— Self 
predominates  in  Calvin.— The  Libertines. — In  what  different  degrees  the 
reformers  are  masters  of  their  style. — Is  Calvin  one  of  the  creators  of  the 
French  language? — Syntactical  procedure. 

The  reformation  can  boast  of  but  one  writer.  Luther,  in  the  pul- 
pit  an  orator  and  exegetist,  is  a  type  which  has  no  model  in  Protestant- 
ism. The  doctor  has  studied  profoundly  the  holy  books,  the  fathers  of 
the  church,  and  the  poets;  he  knew  by  heart,  Virgil,  the  prophets,  and 
especially  the  Saxon  people.  Mathesius  exhibits  him  to  us,  descend- 
ing into  the  mines  in  order  to  hear  the  conversations  of  the  workmen, 
seating  himself  amid  the  fields  to  speak  of  agriculture  with  the  hus- 
bandmen, pausing  before  the  stall  of  some  butcher  to  learn  all  the  parts 
of  a  slaughtered  animal ;  interrogating  the  lapidary  to  learn  the  names 
of  all  the  precious  stones  which  ornament  the  ducal  crown;  and  on 
market  days  studying  the  language  of  the  peasants,  the  merchants,  the 
nobles,  and  soldiers.  From  these  various  dialects,  he  had  selected 
technical  terms,  market-house  proverbs,  bar-room  tropes,  in  order  to 
mould  them  into  an  idiom,  the  secret  of  which  he  reserved  to  himself. 
One  day,  he  wants  to  strike  the  imagination  in  a  lively  manner,  he  is 
about  to  speak  of  the  emperor  Charles  V.  After  having  summoned  to 
his  aid  the  worm  of  earth,  the  clay,  the  slime,  comparisons  which  the 
sacred  writers  employ  to  paint  to  us  our  magnificent  nothingness,  he 
rummages  the  carpenter's  vocabulary  for  expressions  known  to  every 
journeyman,  and  he  nails  the  living  emperor  in  his  coffin,  apd  planes  it, 
lor  these  are  his  terms,  and  the  frightened  auditory  look  to  earth  as  if 
the  monarch  were  descending.into  his  tomb. 

The  Saxon  had  appeared  at  the  very  moment  when  all  the  evangeli- 
cal truths  were  in  their  blossom.  Hence  that  inexhaustible  variety  of 
entirely  Catholic  images  of  which  he  could  avail  himself  in  preaching 
the  gospel.  In  his  sermons,  he  invokes  the  seraphim  whom  the  refor- 
mation can  no  longer  summon,  since  it  has  transformed  them  into  pure 
allegories ;  he  commands  satan  and  his  legions,  whom  it  has  consigned 
to  an  imaginary  world;  he  sounds  the  trumpet  of  the  last  judgment, 
which  it  has  broken  to  pieces ;  he  caused  the  rich  man  to  cry  for 
mercy,  out  of  whom  it  has  made  a  fable;  he  opens  the  deep  abyssof 
eternal  fire,  which  it  has  closed ;  in  fine,  in  order   to  arouse  sleeping 


LrFE    OF    JOHN    CALVI2f,  535 

souls,  he  employs  tropes  which,  since  the  inroad  of  rationalism,  it  has 
banished  from  its  language.  Had  Calvin  then  been  even  as  admirably 
organized  as  Luther  for  the  pulpit,  his  relative  inferiority  could  easily 
be  explained  ;  when  he  appeared,  reason  had  prevailed  against  faith ; 
the  source  of  those  images,  so  powerful  with  the  mass  of  the  people 
because  of  their  poesy,  had  for  him  been  completely  dried  up ;  the 
tree  of  life  had  been  despoiled.  To  the  relinquishment  of  the  syllogistic 
argument,  Luther  was  indebted  for  his  noblest  successes.  Calvin 
thought  to  continue  the  monk's  work  by  the  aid  of  the  Aristotelian 
formula,  and  made  himself  a  pulpit  logician;  that  is,  in  order  to  sacri- 
fice to  the  Lord,  to  borrow  the  picturesque  expression  of  his  rival,  he 
ascended  the  mountain  with  his  ass ;  whilst  Luther  was  of  opinion 
that  one  should  imitate  Abraham,  and  leave  the  ass  in  the  plains  below. 

Luther  possessed  another  advantage  over  Calvin  ;  he  spoke  a  Ian* 
guage  which  of  right  becomes  the  property  of  the  first  comer,  which 
yields  to  all  the  exigences  of  the  philosopher,  to  all  the  fancies 
of  the  poet,  to  all  the  caprices  of  the  artist;  w^hich  amid  its  ceaseless 
transformations  is  ever  new.  Fortunately  was  it  for  that  noble  Teu. 
tonic  language,  that  the  man  who  had  to  represent  it  in  the  pulpit  was 
at  once  a  theologian,  a  historian,  an  orator,  and  especially  a  linguist. 
A  person  opening  one  of  Luther's  sermons,  imagines  himself  at  Rome, 
at  Athens,  and  at  Jerusalem  :  it  seems  by  turns  a  Jewish  elegy  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jordan,  a  harrangue  of  the  Gracchi,  and  a  satire  of 
Juvenal.  ''  Look  at  him,  he  goes,  comes,  breaks  down,  burns  the 
hedge  which  he  cannot  leap,  thunders  on  like  a  descending  rock,  scam- 
pers away  over  mountain  and  valley,  after  the  fashion  of  the  devil."  * 

Calvin's  figure  was  supple,  his  breast  contracted,,  the  veins  of  his 
neck  were  prominent,  his  lips  of  a  bluish  colour,,  his  mouth  was  well 
made,  his  brow,  large,  bony  and  furrowed  with  wrinkles.  There  was- 
no  inspiration  in  his  face,,  but  there  were  many  premature  wrinkles, 
which  bore  witness  to  extraordinary  labours.  On  beholding  him,  one 
divined  an  organization  which  needed  the  silence  of  meditation  to  make 
itself  prolific ;  and  in  his- preaching,  there  came  nothing  unexpectedly, 
Luther,  in  ascending  the  pulpit,  knew  not,  as  he  informs  us,  what  he 
was  about  to  say  to  his  auditors.  The  Bible,,  opened  by  chance  at  any 
page,  a  cloud  which  passed  over  the  temple,  a  ray  of  sunlight  which 
pierced  the  windows,  the  last  remark  of  one  of  his  disciples  from  whom 
he  had  just  parted,  are  for  him  so  many  sources  of  inspiration.  More 
than  once  has  it  happened  to  him  to  take,  as  text  for  a  harrangue 
against  the  papacy,  some  of  those  fantastic  figures  which  the  architect 
has  afiixed  to  the  walls  of  the  church.  Calvin  also  extemporized;  but 
he  had  need  to  rub  his  brow  with  his  hand  in  order  to  recall  to  mind 
the  discourse  prepared  beforehand.  His  memory  was  wonderful;  he 
said  every  thing  that  he  had  thought,,  and  in  the  very  order  in  which 
the  ideas  had  been  produced.  Ask  him  not  for  flashes,  flames,  colours ; 
it  is  not  his  part  to  dazzle,  to  surprise,  to  inflame,  but  merely  to  reason, 
and  to  convince.  As  he  has  never  wept  himself,  he  seeks  not  to  open 
the  fountain  of  tears  in  his  auditory,  but  he  wants  those  who  hear  him. 

*  See :  Reformations  Almanach  fttr  Luthers  Verehrer,  Erfurth,  1817. 


536  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

to  give  him  their  silent  attention,  and  often  he  forces  them  to  grant  it,,- 
Calvin  possesses  neither  the  knightly  language  of  Luther,  the  harmo- 
nious period  of  Melancthon,  nor  the  adventurous  phrase  of  Zwingle  ; 
but  he  is  the  superior  of  all  of  them  in  propriety  of  expression ;  remove 
or  change  a  word,  and  you  risk  depriving  him  of  an  idea.  Obstinate 
as  master  Martin,  he  has  not  the  scruples  of  conscience  of  master 
Philip ;  once  he  has  resolved,,  he  imitates  Luther,  and  dreads  neither 
rocks  nor  hedges ;  except  that  if  he  perceives  his  adversary,  he  squats 
in  order  to  wait  for  him.  He  is  of  the  serpent's  nature  :  his  strength 
lies  in  his  cunning.  To  the  very  moment  of  his  appearance  before 
God,  he  resorts  to  artifice.  His  act  of  "candour"  dictated  to  the  notary 
Clienelat,  his  "moaning  of  a  dove"  before  Beza,  are  profound  traits  of 
character.  Perhaps  he  thought  to  deceive  God  as  he  had  deceived  his- 
fellow-citizens.  The  whole  history  of  the  reformation  presents  no  more 
skillful  comedian  ;  the  part  he  played  in  the  prosecution  of  Servetus  is 
his  triumph.  Gibbon  has  said  :  "  I  am  more  deeply  scandalized  at  the 
single  execution  of  Servetus,  than  at  the  hecatombs  which  have  blazed 
in  the  Auto-da-Fes  of  Spain  and  Portugal."  To  be  just,  he  should 
have  added,  that  the  inquisition  of  Venice  had  never  acted  clemency 
so  well  as  Calvin. 

Calvin  compared  the  sinner  to  an  enemy,  the  divine  word  to  a 
sword  which  must  strike  the  guilty  before  he  has  time  to  anticipate  or 
parry  the  blow.*  His  voice  was  slow,  interrupted,  and  painfully  ex- 
haled  from  a  breast  oppressed  by  an  hereditary  asthma ;  also,  at  the 
end  of  his  sermons,  his  words  were  found  entire  on  the  paper  of  a  scribe 
who  sat  at  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  to  collect  them,  and  who  gained  bis 
livelihood  by  means  of  this  oral  transcription. f  The  auditor  had  full 
time  to  follow  the  preacher,  often  to  divine  what  he  intended  to  say, 
and,  if  he  had  come  there  with  an  indocile  heart,  to  revolve  in  his 
brain  some  objection  to  the  minister's  argumentation.  Here  Luther 
still  had  the  advantage. 

The  Saxon  auditory  in  no  wise  resembled  that  of  Geneva.     When 

*  Letter  to  Sommerset. 

tVir  quidam  erat  Genevee  qui  in  Calvini  concionibus  scribendis  victum  sibi 
comparabat.  Asthmaticus  erat  et  lente  loquebatur,  ideoque  facile  erat  scribere 
quee  pronuntiabat.  Multo  magis  mihi  placent  Calvini  conimentarii  quam  ejus 
condones  quas  nunquam  scripsit.  Scaligeriana  secunda.  Calvin's  manuscript 
sermons,  to  the  number  of  two  thousand  and  twenty-three,  form  44  volumes 
IM  folio,  in  the  library  of  Geneva.  Senebier,  hist.  litt.  1. 1  et  II,  p.  256  a  258. 
Catalogue  raisonne,  p.  312  a  314.  These  sermons  embrace  a  period  of  only 
eleven  years,  from  1549  to  1560.  Those  which  he  preached  in  1536,  during 
t'le  time  of  his  first  sojourn  at  Geneva,  at  Strasbourg  in  the  French  church, 
at  Frankfort,  are  perhaps  still  more  numerous.  Dennis  Raguenier,  who- 
wrote  them  in  the  church,  has  collected  the  evangelical  discourses;  John 
Bude  and  Charles  de  Joinvillers  his  lectures  to  the  theological  auditory.  Nich- 
olas des  Gallars,  Francis  Bourgoing,  and  John  Cousin,  stenographed  some  of 
his  sermons.  Andre  Spifamus  transcribed  the  sermons  on  the  epistle  to  the 
Galatians  (Seneb.,  cat.  314),  which  have  since  been  printed,  and  those  on  the 
epistle  to  tlie  Romans,  left  in  manuscript,  and  to  be  found  in  the  library  of 
Berne.  There  still  exists  of  Calvin,  Cop,  and  Beza,  a  collection  of  different- 
sermons  or  homelies  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  MSS.  n.  15.  The  dis- 
courses which  he  preached  in  France,  and  always  ended  in  the  same  way:  If 
God  be  for  us  who  shall  be  against  us?  have  not  been  collected  or.  have  beem 
lost. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  537 

Martin  ascends  the  pulpit  you  see  crowding  to  the  church  of  All 
Saints,  apostate  monks,  who  under  the  impulse  of  the  grosser  instincts 
have  cast  away  their  cowl,  nuns,  escaped  from  the  convents,  who  are 
■waiting  for  the  husbands  that  were  promised  them,  electors,  just  from 
the  abbeys  where  they  have  been  copiously  drinking  the  wine  of  the 
Catholic  presbyteries,  cavaliers,  who  hunt  down  the  monks  on  the  high- 
ways, doctors,  in  labour  with  a  new  spiritual  Jerusalem,  jurists,  desirous 
of  remodeling  the  written  word,  Jews,  who  are  expecting  a  messiah,  stu- 
dents, who  have  burned  Aristotle  and  the  decretals  on  the  public  square, 
peasants,  tired  of  the  yoke  of  their  seigniors,  poor  souls  who  are  seek- 
ing for  the  truth.  For  each  of  these  intelligences,  the  orator  has 
different  and  appropriate  words  and  figures. 

If  you  place  yourself  among  the  people  who  are  listening  to  Calvin 
in  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  at  Geneva,  you  will  not  discover  around 
you  such  a  variety  of  individualities  as  strikes  your  view  in  the  temple 
of  All  Saints.  The  auditory  is  partly  made  up  of  merchants  who 
were  lately  Catholics,  and  who  have  exhibited  more  courage  in  defend- 
ing their  shops  than  their  faith,  and  adopted  the  reformation,  less  from 
love  for  the  new  symbol  than  from  antipathy  to  the  ducal  house  by 
which  they  imagined  their  independence  threatened.  These  people 
have  defects  and  vices :  they  are  vain,  detracting,  indocile,  restless, 
lying,  but  they  are  not  yet  gangreened  aud  sullied  like  the  Saxons, 
nor  have  they  exhibited  such  great  scandals  of  lust,  avarice,  and  im- 
piety, as  afflict  us  in  reading  the  recital  of  the  contests  of  the  electors 
with  the  peasants  of  Suabia. 

Calvin  has  taken  the  pains  to  collect  together  in  one  of  his  sermons 
the  principal  features  of  the  religious  physiognomy  of  Geneva,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Sixteenth  century.  You  shall  see  whether  the 
wounds  of  a  community  which  had  just  repudiated  Catholicism  were 
sufficiently'profound  to  cause  their  cure  to  be  despaired  of. 

''•  Some  practice  the  old  proverb  of  being  near  the  mill  and  far  from 
God,  others  have  their  ears  tingled  and  their  hearts  in  no  wise  affected. 
God  omits  no  means  to  secure  our  salvation  ;  let  us  then  fear  that  re- 
proach  which  he  makes  in  [saias  the  prophet,  chapter  LXV  :  I  have 
daily  stretched  forth  my  arms  to  this  rebellious  people.  If  those  who 
are  wandering  through  the  deserts  of  the  papacy  shall  not  be  spared 
for  not  having  walked  the  right  way,  what  will  become  of  us  who  are, 
as  it  were,  nourished  in  the  house,  under  the  eyes  of  our  heavenly  fa- 
ther !  Some  have  abandoned  the  land  of  their  birth  to  enter  a  christian 
church,  others  have  had  more  privileges  because  God  has  visited  them 
in  their  nest.  Now,  if  those  who  are  natives  of  a  place  do  not  recog- 
nize such  a  blessing  by  giving  themselves  entirely  to  God,  who  has 
thus  drawn  near  them,  shall  such  ingratitude  remain  unpunished  ? 
Rather  let  them  say  :  Lord,  thou  hast  built  thy  temple  and  erected  thy 
altar  in  the  midst  of  us,  grant  us  then  the  grace  to  purify  ourselves, 
that  we  may  not  by  our  defilement  pollute  the  sanctity  of  thy  gifts, 
nor  turn  the  glory  of  thy  benefits  into  opprobrium."* 

*  Sermons  on  subjects  suited  to  our  times. — On  the  sacrifice  of  Abra- 
ham.— On  the  ten  commandments. — On  the  birth,  passion,  death,  resurrection 
aad  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ. — On  Providence  and  Eternal  Election. 


533  LIFE    OF    JOH>J    CALVIX. 

Now  behold  the  picture  of  the  new  church  ;  it  is  a  curious  moral 
study.     The  preacher  here  becomes   historian. 

"  Let  those  who  have  come  from  afar  see  that  they  conduct  them- 
selves in  a  holy  manner,  as  becomes  the  house  of  God.  They  might 
indeed  have  lived  elsewhere  in  debauchery,  and  to  lead  dissolute  lives 
it  was  not  necessary  for  them  to  have  budged  from  the  papacy.  And 
in  fact  there  are  some,  who  would  have  done  better  to  have  had  their 
necks  broken  than  set  foot  in  this  church  to  conduct  themselves  so  wick 
edly.  Some  unite  themselves  with  merry-makers  in  order  to  render  thenc 
obdurate  in  their  malice,  others  are  gourmands  and  drunkards,  others 
again  seditious  and  quarrelsome.  There  are  some  households  where 
husbands  and  wives  live  like  dogs  and  cats.  There  are  some  who  ex- 
alt their  condition  and  counterfeit  seigniors,  without  propriety,  they  are 
given  over  to  pomps  and  worldly  superfluities;  others  grow  so  delicate 
that  they  no  longer  know  how  to  work,  and  are  never  satisfied  with 
tlieir  food.  There  are  backbiters  and  detractors,  who  would  find  fault 
with  the  very  angels  of  heaven ;  and  though  ready  to  burst  with  vices,  ^ 
they  make  all  their  sanctity  consist  in  mocking  their  neighbour.  Y^ 
all  seem  to  imagine  that  God  is  greatly  indebted  to  them,  for  having 
made  a  journey  to  Geneva,  as  if  it  would  not  have  been  better  they  had 
remained  on  their  dunghill,  than  have  come  here  to  cause  such  scandals 
in  the  church  of  God."* 

The  orator  has  not  told  the  whole  :  he  wanted  the  necessary  cour- 
age. He  should  have  seized  that  great  sword  of  the  Lord,  of  which  he 
lately  spoke  to  us,  to  smite  all  those  bankrupts,  those  felon  merchants, 
those  pickpockets,  who  had  fled  from  Lyons,  not  to  avoid  the  eye  of 
God  for  whom  they  felt  but  slight  concern,  but  to  escape  creditors,  who 
have  not,  like  the  Lord,  an  eternity  at  their  service,  and  human  justice, 
whose  limping  foot  might  at  last  have  come  up  with  them,  had  they  re- 
mained on  the  French  territory,  and  had  them  strung  upon  the  gibbet. 

The  absence  from  the  reformed  temple  of  an  audience  made  up 
of  strongly  characterized  individualities,  has  exercised  a  fatal  in- 
fluence  on  the  style  of  the  orator  :  and  were  you  even  to  lend 
Calvin  that  admirable  German  language,  so  powerful  in  its  resour- 
ces, you  could  never  elevate  him  to  the  level  of  his  rival.  What 
we  admire  in  him,  is  a  frank  speech,  a  luminous  style,  a  close 
logic,  and  sallies  rather  than  sustained  outpourings  of  eloquence.  At 
times,  the  preacher  seems  moved ;  his  lips  swell,  his  eye  lights  up,  and 
tiie  auditory  is  all  expectation.  Do  you  know  what  can  thus  change 
Calvin's  nature,  warm  his  soul,  and  inflame  his  style  ?  Look  round 
you,  and  you  will  observe  among  the  columns  some  ardent  enemies  of 
tlie  French  refugee,  known  by  the  name  of  libertines.  You  will  easily 
recognize  them  by  their  mocking  air,  the  smiles  that  play  round  their 
lips,  and  their  physiognomy  bearing  the  impress  of  disdain  and  ridicule. 
Cursed  "  merry-makers,*'  who  listen  to  the  minister  with  the  mirth  of  a 
student,  remain  cold  as  marble  under  his  evangelical  transports,  and, 
on  leaving  the  temple,  make  comments   to  each  other  on  the  discourse- 

•  Literary  Studies  upon  the  French  writers  of  the  Reformation  ;  hy  A.  Say- 
ous,  Geneva,  1839,  in-Sv^o. 


et  1 

.d     \ 
Jo       > 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIlf.  539 

of  master  John,  and  revenge  themselves  for  his  attacks,  by  quoiibets 
which  reach  his  ears  in  the  old  sacristy  of  the  temple,  whither  he  has 
retired  to  wipe  his  brow  and  rest  himself.  These  laughs  last  through- 
out the  whole  day,  and  in  the  evening  are  again  renewed  in  the  Gene- 
vese  bar-rooms.  Calvin  is  merciless  towards  these  "jesters,"  he  presses 
on  them,  claws  them,  pursues  them  with  his  wrath ;  his  word  is  not 
like  smoking  tow,  as  it  was  but  lately,  when  he  was  handling  those 
mercantile  gentry  who  had  been  driven  away  from  Lyons  for  their 
crimes ;  but  it  sparkles  like  a  flaming  bush  ;  for  these  merry-makers  re- 
present all  wicked  citizens,  the  denouncers  of  the  minister ;  Calvin's 
part  has  become  more  grand,  it  is  that  of  a  tribune.  Behold  him  in 
presence  of  the  libertines;   listen  to  him  : 

*'  I  care  little  for  scoffers  who  say  that  we  speak  of  them  ac= 
cording  to  our  pleasure,  nor  are  they  attacking  me,  since  there 
is  here  nothing  of  my  invention,  as  they  imagine.  The  same 
I  say  regarding  all  philosophers,  who  pronounce  their  opinion 
without  knowing  wherefore  :  for  since  they  will  not  hear  God,  who 
speaks  to  them  in  order  to  instruct  them,  I  adjourn  them  over  to  his  ju- 
dicial tribunal,  there  shall  they  hear  his  sentence,  against  which  there 
Avill  be  no  question  of  replication.  As  they  now  disdain  to  listen  to 
him  as  their  master,  they  shall  then  feel  him  as  their  judge,  in  spite  of 
their  teeth.  The  most  skillful  and  cunning  will  here  find  themselves 
out  in  their  calculations.  Let  them  be  trained  as  much  as  they  please, 
to  overturn  or  obscure  what  is  right;  their  furred  caps  in  which  they 
contemplate  themselves,  and  in  viewing  themselves  are  blinded,  will 
not  insure  the  gaining  of  the  cause.  I  say  this,  because  these  gentle- 
men counselors,  judges,  and  lawyers,  not  only  undertake  to  plead  against 
God,  to  have  privilege  to  scoff  at  him,  but  in  rejecting  the  holy  scrip- 
ture, disgorge  their  blasphemies,  as  if  they  were  sovereign  decrees.  And 
such  little  monkies,  after  having  said  their  say,  are  so  proud,  as  not  to 
he  able  to  endure  the  truth.  I  take  occasion  to  tell  them,  that  it  would 
be  far  better  they  would  reflect  upon  the  horrible  vengeance  that  is  pre- 
pared against  such  as  cliange  truth  into  falsehood.  Let  these  chamSer 
and  table  doctors  be  careful  not  to  assume  a  degree  too  elevated  for 
them,  thus  to  argue  against  tlie  heavenly  Father,  to  whom  it  be- 
comes us  all  to  give  ear.  Fine  titles  will  here  be  of  no  avail  to  ex- 
empt  any  one,  except  that  messieurs  the  abbots,  priors,  deans,  and  arch- 
deacons shall  be  constrained  to  lead  off  the  dance  of  condemnation 
which  God  will  ordain.  If  messieurs,  the  courtiers,  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  content  men  with  their  blessed  water,  let  them  not  expect  to 
do  the  same  with  God.  Let  all  merry-makers  cease  to  strike  with  their 
beaks,  and  cast  abroad  their  usual  jests,  if  they  wish  not  to  feel  the 
strong  hand  of  him,  before  whose  word  they  should  tremble.  It  is  an 
abuse  too  silly,  to  indulge  the  belief  that  in  making  an  attack  on  me  they 
will  not  have  God  for  their  judge.  Let  them  spatter  my  name  on  their 
papers,  as  regards  this  matter,  yet  I  pretend  nothing  but  that  God  should 
be  heard  and  obeyed,  and  seek  not  to  govern  consciences  according  to 
my  notion,  or  to  impose  necessity  or  law  upon  them. — As  to  others  who 
do  not  with  such  pride  reject  the  word  of  God,  and  yet  are  so  infirm  and 
pusillanimous,  that  they  cannot  be  moved,  I  exhort  them  to  reflect  a  little 


540  LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN. 

better  upon  their  conditiorij   and  not  flatter  themselves  as  they  have 
hitherto  done.     Let  them  open  their  eyes,  etc.  etc." 

This  substitution  of  man  for  God,  of  the  creature  for  the  Infinite,  of 
the  eye  of  flesh  for  eternal  light,  is  not  merely  accidental  in  Calvin,  it 
is  a  form  in  which  he  takes  pleasure,  a  human  artifice  which  robs  his 
w^ord  of  all  dogmatic  influence.  For  Calvin,  the  libertine  is  like  Ban- 
quo's  ghost ;  it  haunts  him  at  every  moment;  but  the  preacher's  phan- 
tom  cannot  terrify  like  that  of  the  poet.     You  shall  judge  : 

•«  We  behold  other  dissolute  deeds,  so  that  every  place  is  full  of  them, 
and  debaucheries  now  become  entirely  common ;  and  yet  these  low  fel- 
lows  will  come  here  to  play  pass-pass  ;  when  one  of  them  shall  be  con- 
victed of  fornication,  they  will  say: — Ho  !  it  is  not  he,  but  another  who  is 
a  hundred  leagues  away;  and  not  only  will  try  to  mock  men  but  God; 
and  cause  his  name  to  be  profaned  and  exposed  to  disgrace.  When, 
therefore,  all  things  shall  be  well  calculated  and  weighed,  and  when 
the  matter  shall  be  considered,  it  will  appear  that  the  word  of  God  no 
longer  avails  us  except  to  give  light,  that  they  may  contemplate  us  from 
afar,  and  that  the  papists  and  other  infidels  be  there  appointed  to  judge 
us  for  the  enormities  and  villainies  which  are  prevalent  amongst  us. 
As  to  myself,  1  can  declare  that  I  am  ashamed  to  preach  the  word  of 
God  in  this  place,  where  there  are  such  villainous  confusions,  as  are 
here  seen,  and  that  if  I  had  my  own  wish,  I  would  desire  God  to  with- 
draw"  me  from  this  world,  and  not  allow  me  to  live  here  three  days 
amid  such  disorder  as  exists."* 

Two  centuries  ago,  we  Catholics  also  one  day  beheld  a  priest  ascend 
the  pulpit,  and,  pointing  to  his  locks  whitened  in  the  holy  ministry, 
tremble  with  dread  in  contemplating  the  God  who  was  soon  to  judge 
him.  But  that  bishop,  for  it  was  Bossuet,  asks  not  to  abandon  the  post 
which  has  been  assigned  him  by  Providence.  He  desires  to  die,  saluting 
with  his  last  gaze  that  holy  church  which  the  Lord  has  confided  to  his 
care.  It  is  in  the  midst  of  his  career,  that  these  words  of  grief  fall 
from  Calvin's  lips  :  "  I  would  desire  God  to  withdraw  me  from  this 
■world,  and  not  allow  me  to  live  here  three  days  amid  such  disorder  as 
exists."  Calvin,  therefore,  has  not  yet  "accomplished  the  moral  regene- 
ration of  an  entire  people,  and  given  to  a  new  society,  formed  of  such 
various  elements,  that  force  and  solidity  which,  in  the  institutions  of  this 
world,  ordinarily  result  only  from  the  duration  of  tradition  !''t  Other 
wise,  what  does  his  cry  of  despair  signify  ? 

In  perusing  those  pages  on  which  the  stenographer's  skill  has  been 
so  long  collecting  the  reformer's  word,  the  heart  is  pained  by  the  inces- 
sant apparition  of  that  self,  which  is  called  Calvin.  And  yet  this  ora- 
tor had  it  in  his  power  to  discover  light,  had  he  wished ;  he  should 
cease  to  look  to  earth ;  and  this  he  did  sometimes,  as  in  the  following 
representation  of  the  wickedness  of  man  : 

"  The  hire  of  those  who  shall  have  laboured  for  our  profit,  if  retain- 

♦  In  einer  Predigt  liber  die  ersten  Epistel  an  Timotheus  wider  seine  Gegen- 
parthei  in  Genf,  steht  man  unter  andern  auch,  wie  es  seine  Art  war,  von  dem 
gliilienden  Zorn  zu  einer  apostolischen  Warme  iiberzugehen.  Paul  Henry, 
t.  II,  p.  80,  Beilage  6. 

t  Literary  Studies,  by  Sayous, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  541 

ed  by  us,  will  cry  to  heaven,  and  all  creatures  will  be  forced  to  give 
testimony  against  our  wrongs  and  extortions  which  we  shall  have  com- 
mitted against  our  neighbours;  as  the  prophet  Habacuc  declares,  thut 
the  walls  of  the  houses  which  shall  have  been  built  by  frauds  and  rob- 
beries will  cry  aloud  and  clearly,  will  take  the  parts  of  chanter  and 
sub-chanter ;  will  respond  from  either  side ;  that  one  will  say  :  Behold 
blood  !  the  other,  behold  murder !  one,  behold  fraud ;  the  other,  behold 
cruelty ;  one  will  cry,  pillage  ;  the  other,  avarice  ;  here  is  perjury,  here 
is  larceny,  here  is  malice/' 

We  have  seen  that  Luther  created  for  himself  an  idiom  which  no 
one  after  him  had  the  gift  to  speak,  because  it  was  the  reflection  of  the 
orator  himself,  in  whom  the  Saxon  people  loved  to  discover  the  com- 
plete personification  of  an  ideal  world.  Sent  by  God  to  revolutionize 
German  society,  the  doctor  had  felt  the  need  of  a  manifold  language 
with  which  to  address  priests,  monks,  knights,  jurists,  students,  and  the 
people  especially,  who  alone  have  the  power  to  convert  transitory  ac- 
cidents into  historical  facts.  He  did  not  exclude  the  grossest  terms  from 
his  vocabulary,  but  with  a  master's  art,  he  knew  how  to  disguise  the 
rudeness  of  their  presentation.  This  was  rarely  Calvin's  fortune. 
The  two  reformers  here  present   us  specimens ; 

"  Children,"  says  Luther  in  one  of  his  Postillae,  "  there  is  a  milk 
sweeter  than  that  of  your  motiier,  a  broth  worth  more  than  that  which 
you  eat  in  the  house  of  your  father ;  it  is  the  milk  of  the  Divine  Word,  it 
is  that  manna  descended  from  heaven  which  you  will  find  at  the  holy 
table."* 

Calvin,  in  consequence  of  his  contempt  for  forms,  often  changes 
the  pulpit  into  a  drinking-house  : 

•'Now  a-days,  as  soon  as  children  are  ten  years  old,  they  imagine 
themselves  men ;  it  would  be  necessary  to  switch  them  fifteen  years  af- 
ter they  have  begun  wearing  the  insignia  of  manhood ;  for  they  are  but 
nasty  little  things;  and,  as  to  any  correction  or  doctrine,  they  will  none 
of  it :  it  seems  to  them  that  this  would  be  doing  them  a  wrong  or  in- 
jury      These  little  rustics   act  like   brave  fellows  and  toss  up  their 

horns  :  they  in  no  wise  understand  what  discipline  is :  they  are  but 
dirty  little  sucklings,  and  yet  they  want  to  imitate  men.  And  we  see 
that  the  sons  of  Job,  who  were  of  age,  and  had  conceived  a  notion  to 
have  their  own  households,  were  still  kept  under  the  government  and 
authority  of  Job."t 

We  now  comprehend  how  Calvin,  with  so  gross  a  contempt  for  im- 
agery, was  necessarily  inferior  to  his  rival  as  a  pamphleteer.  Both, 
during  their  lives,  attacked  popes  and  emperors.  Calvin  with  his  tem- 
perate style,  could  not  rise  even  to  caricatures,  whilst  Luther,  with  his 
sparkling  wrath,  has  produced  some  magnificent  pictures.  We  should 
follow  them  in  their  struggle  with  Clement  VIL  and  Paul  IIL  The 
object  is,  to  despoil  the  papacy  in  its  human  personification.  Calvin 
stirs  up  the  rivulet  and  throws  its  mud   at  the  head  of  the  pontiff,  as 

*  Mathesius. 

t  Second  sermon  on  Job,— Paul  Henry,  U  I,  p,  205, 

46 


542  LJFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

would  have  been  done  by  Crespin,  the  theological  book-binder  of  Gene- 
va ;  whilst  Luther  summons  to  his  aid  that  grand  figure  of  the  holy 
books,  called  the  devil,  who  takes  possession  of  the  body  of  the  vicar 
of  Jesus.  In  all  his  duels,  the  demon  is  his  ordinary  second ;  a  second 
who  assumes  every  kind  of  form ;  becomes  seraph,  frog,  serpent,-  bloody 
spectre,  angel  and  man.  Satan  also  appears  in  Calvin's  work,  but 
enveloped  in  such  obscurity,  that  one  cannot  divine  if  he  be  a  real  be- 
ing, or  an  illusion. 

In  his  contests  with  Catholicism,  Luther  constantly  persevered  a  he- 
liever  in  legends;  Calvin  seems  to  have  rejected  all  that  belongs  to  the 
marvelous.     The  blood  of  the  rationalist  runs  in  his  veins. 

Even  syntax  itself  assumes  an  entirely  different  aspect  with  the  two 
reformers.  Luther  is  the  king  of  his  style.  From  the  moment  of  his 
very  first  combat  wiih  Tetzel,  obliged,  in  order  to  make  himself  under- 
stood,  to  borrow  the  language  of  the  convents,  he  used  principles  of 
language  peculiar  to  himself,  and  v/hich  belong  neither  to  St.  Thomas 
nor  to  Cicero.  He  invents  and  creates ;  his  Dodorculus,  his  Sanctulus, 
his  Perdiabolus  are  found  rieither  in  Varro  nor  in  Scot.  At  a  later 
period,  he  sets  to  studying  Greek  and  Hebrew^  speaks  German  to  his 
auditors,  and  while  his  diction  g.low&  with  oriental  colours  he  still  re- 
mains  a  German.  The  monk  is-  as  much  a  demagogue  in  his  syntax 
as  in  the  propositions  he  attached  to  the  walls  of  the  church  of  All 
Saints  :  he  treats  words  as  he  does  the  Pope  ;  he  respects  no  crown. 

During  his  theological  life,  Calvin  has  spoken  two  languages ;  at  first 
Latin,  afterwards,  French.  With  this  twofold  idiom,  his  phrase  has 
nearly  always  an  uniform  aspect.  It  is  perceiveable  that  he  studied 
Rome  less  as  an  artist  than  a  scholiast.  He  is  the  imitator  of  Seneca 
the  philosopher ;  he  follows  him  throughout,  derives  inspiration  from 
him,  and  thinks  and  writes  according  to  him ;  the  same  artifice,  the 
same  procedure,  the  same  attractions  of  style.  At  a  later  perioel,  he- 
abandons  Seneca  for  St.  Augustine,  but  the  sun  of  Africa  is  not  able 
to  inflame  his  imagination.  He  treats  language  as  the  sculptor  does 
the  block  of  marble,  plastically. 

Even  when  remaining  master  of  the  material  sign,  he  is  generally 
ruled  by  the  usages  of  syntax.  From  the  moment  he  began  to  have 
need  of  a  vulgar  instrument,  in  his  schemes  of  religious  propagandism, 
he  subjected  himself  to  the  Latin  influence.  In  that  dedication  to 
Francis  I.  the  finest  page  he  ever  wrote,  we  perceive  throughout  the- 
student  who  has  worn  out  his  energies  amid  the  grammars  of  Mathurin 
Cordier ;  he  is  a  translator,  who  never  experiences  a  more  lively  satis- 
faction^  than  when  by  dint  of  labour  he  has  succeeded  to  invest  his  syn- 
tax with  a  Roman  physiognomy,* 


*  M.  Sayous,  in  his  beautiful  Literary  Studies,  has  presented  several  exam- 
ples of  this  attachment  of  Calvin  lor  Latin  constructions.  We  will  cite  some 
of  these: 

*■' Vous  mesmes  nous  pouuez  estre  tesmoin,  sire,  par  corabien  fausses  caloiB- 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  543 

Hence,  notwithstanding  all  his  fine  qualities  of  style,  his  perspicuity, 
abundance,  richness,  Calvin  has  no  right  to  rank  among  the  creators  of 
the  French  language.  In  place  of  forcing  it  out  of  the  pathway  of  the 
Latin,  he  retains  it  there.  He  was  no  revolutionist,  whether  considered  as 
a  sectary  or  as  a  writer ;  his  style  is  Gallo-Roman,  his  symbol  Reformed 
Protestant. 


nies,  elle  est  tous  les  iours  diffamee  (la  Reforme)." 

"  Cette  fraude  Bt  trahison  que  sans  eesse  elie  est  notee  de  sedition  et  rnal- 
6fice." 

"  Ici  est  ote  le  conge  d'ouurir  la  bouche." 

"Et  ne  pensez  pas  que  je  tasclie  A  trailer  ici  ma  defense  particuUere  pour 
impetrer  reiour  aupays  de  ma  nais?ance." 


CHAPTER    L. 


INFLUENCE    OF    CALVIN, 

Calvin  has  bestowed  upon  the  world  no  truth. — The  principal  articles  of  his 
symbol  are  rejected  by  the  Protestant  School. — ^He  has  corrupted  the  morals 
of  Geneva. — ^Testimony  of  M.  Galiffe. — He  has  perverted  the  instincts 
of  his  co-religionists. — Mania  for  disputation  introduced  into  theology. — The 
cultivation  of  the  arts  neglected. — His  despotism  survives  the  reformer  and 
only  yields  place  to  anarchy  of  doctrine^ 

In  1835,  a  proposition  was^  made  to  Geneva  to  erect  a  monument  to 
Calvin  in  the  cathedra^  of  St.  Peter.  On  a  granite  rock  they  were  to 
write  :   ''To  the  Reformer  of  the  Laws  and  of  Religion." 

The  proposition  was  not  accepted. 

The  venerable  company  of  pastors,  remembering  that  in  1535  Gene- 
va had  engraved  on  the  walls  of  the  hotel  d&  Ville  the  titles  of  Calvia 
to  the  gratitude  of  the  christian  world,  decided  that  this  inscription  suf- 
ficed.    You  are  acquainted  with  it. 

IN    AUGUST,    1535, 

THE    tyranny    of    THE     ANTICHRIST    AT    ROME 

HAVING    BEEN     PROSTRATED, 

AND    HIS    SUPERSTITIONS    ABOLISHED, 

THE     HOLY    RELIGION    OF    JESUS      CHRIST 

HAVING    BEEN    RJB-ESTA  BLISHED    IN    ITS    PURITY, 

AND  THE    CHURCH    REPLACED   IN   GOOD  ORI>ER. 

AT    THE    SAME  TIME, 

THE   ENEMY  HAVING   BEEN    REPULSED  AND   PUT  TO   FLIGHT. 

THE    SENATE    AND     THE      PEOPLE    OF    GENEVA 

HAVE     ERECTED      THIS      MONUMENT 

EOR    A    PERPETUAL    MEMORIAL    OF    THESE    THINGS, 

AND    HAVE    PLACED    IT    HERE 

TO    TESTIFY 

TO    THEIR    DESCENDANTS 

THEIR    GRATITUDE    TO     GOD.* 

Now,  shall  we  be  allowed  to  ask  the  person  who  has  perused  our 
book  as  it  has  been  written,  that  is,  without  anger,  if  he  believes  that: 
the  reformer  was  for  Geneva  an  apostle  of  Christ,  a  prophet  raised  up 
by  God,,  a  missionary  of  truth  :   fine  names  which  Eeza  has  lavished 

♦  L'ombre  de  Rousseau  ^  Calvia. 


LIFE    OF    JOHK    CALVIN.  545 

«pon  Calvin  ?     Leo  Judae  thus  saluLedZwIngle,  and  Aurifaber  Luther. 
Zvvingle,  whom  the    Saxon   monk  considered   an   incarnate   demon ; 
Luther,  whom  Calvin  treats  as  a  furious  fool.     In  the  progress  of  this 
history,  you  must  have  perceived  that  never  was  human  soul  so  vain,  des. 
potic  and  insolent  as  Calvin's.  "  Hell  with  Beza,"  they  were  wont  to  say 
at  Geneva,  "rather  than  heaven  with  John  of  Noyon."     What  sort  of 
instrument,  then,  would  Providence  have  used  in  order  to  manifest  himself 
to  men  ?     Jf  this  stone  speak  the  truth;  if,  previously  to  1535,  Geneva 
was  plunged  in  the  darkness   of  superstition,    what   truths   did  Calvin 
cause  to  shine  upon  it  ?     Let  us  study  the  light  which  he  came  to  bring 
to  this  fallen  people.     But  who  shall  be  our  guide  ?     Our  brethren  of 
the  reformation  would  reject  the   testimony   of  Catholic  writers ;  well, 
let  us  appeal  to  Protestantism. 

Calvin's  golden  book  is  his  Christian  Institutes  :  let  us  then  consult 
this. 

And  first,  what  shall  we  say  regarding  that  Trinitarian  symbol  which 
the  reformer  wishes  to  impose  on  his  communion  ?  Gentilis  has  open- 
ly repudiated  it;  but  Gentilis  has  been  rejected  by  Beza  and  Drelin- 
court.  Here  comes  Hennius,  that  pure  disciple  of  the  gospel,  as  he 
is  called  in  Silesia.  Has  not  Hennius  denounced  Calvin  as  a  doctor 
who  has  Judaized,  corrupted  the  Bible,  denaturalized  the  word  of  God, 
falsified  sctripture  texts,  and  blasphemed  the  Trinity  ?* 

The  stone,  then,  has  lied  ! — Calvin   did  not   bring  the  truth  to  Ge-. 
neva  regarding  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity. 

We  are  acquainted  with  his  Eucharistic  mythos,  in  which  Catholi- 
cism  has  been  able  to  find  neither  body  nor  soul,  form  nor  reality  :  this 
constitutes  his  glory  in  the  Genevese  school.  He  has  prosecuted  its  tri- 
umph with  an  obstinate  perseverance.  And  the  Lutherans  have  han- 
dled his  Eucharistic  system  still  more  severely  than  the  Catholics.  The 
Protestant,  who  most  powerfully  attacked  it,  is  no  obscure  intelligence  : 
he  is  a  humanist,  who,  by  the  age  of  twenty,  lectured  from  the  Witten- . 
berg  chair,  which  had  been  made  illustrious  by  Melancthon  ;  who,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four,  was  principal  of  the  college  of  Eisleben,  the 
birth-place  of  Luther ;  at  thirty,  general  dean  of  Mansfeld  ;  at  thirty- 
five,  professor  of  theology  at  Jena;  in  fine,  Grawer,  who  has  dealt  with 
Calvin's  metonymy,  as  Martin  did  with  the  monks  of  Cologne,  and 
prostrated  it  amid  the  applauses  of  his  co-religionists.f  Never  did  a 
Leipsic  Dominican  speak  of  Hutten  as  irreverently  as  Grawer  does  of 
Calvin.  Would  any  one  believe  that  at  the  head  of  one  of  his  books 
he  has  placed  this  really  untranslateable  title  ?  Absurda  adsurdorum, 
absurdissima  Calvinistka  absurda,X  and  the  pamphlet  met  with  great 
success. 

*  Calvinus  jiidaizans,  sive  confutatio  corruptelarum  in  explicandis  Scriptures 
testiraoniis  in  veteri  testamento  de  Trinitate.     In-8.  Francfort,  1575. 

Paraeus  undertook  to  defend  Calvin's  honour.  Hennius  went  to  work  again 
and  published;  "  Anti  Paraeus,  id  est  refutatio  in  defensionem  corruptelarum 
quibus  Joannes  Calvinus  scripturae  testimonia  de  trinitate  et  Christo  corrupit. 
Wittebergae,  in-4,  1594." 

t  Solida  etinvicta  defensio  argumentorum  quibus  Calvinistarum  metonymia 
%uam  verbis  Christi  in  sacra  coena  affigunt  funditus  destruitur.   Leipzig,  in-4. 

$.Iena. 

46*- 


546  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVOT. 

The  stone  then  has  lied  !  Grawer  tells  us  that  Calvin's  metonymy  is 
an  absm'dity.     Pelisson,  the  Catholic,  was  more  polite. 

In  the  reformer's  eyes,  the  system  of  predestination  is  a  heavenly 
revelation.  At  Geneva,  to  refuse  to  admit  this  barbarous  God,  who, 
at  his  own  pleasure,  destines  and  impels  his  creatures  to  evil  as  well  as 
to  good,  is  a  crime  punished  by  exile,  and  sometimes  even  by  death. 
Bolsec,  for  having  laughed  at  the  pagan  fatum,  is  driven  out  of  Swit- 
zerland ;  Gentilis,  who  had  been  bold  enough  to  say  :  "  This  God  is 
not  the  God  of  the  gospel,"  has  scarcely  time  to  save  himself  by  flight, 
from  fear  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  executioner.  What  beautiful 
pages  has  Beza  written  to  prove  that  the  Calvinistic  predestination  is  a 
dogma  which  must  be  believed  under  penalty  of  eternal  damnation  ! 
He  calls  those  infamous  who  are  bold  enough  to  reject  it.  John 
Weber  cared  not  for  the  anathemas  of  Calvin's  disciple.  He  has  at- 
tacked the  predestination  of  the  reformer,  in  terms  full  of  bitterness, 
perhaps  like  a  bad  christian,  but  certainly  like  an  excellent  logician. 

Whilst  Calvin  was  yet  living,  the  Bernese  prohibited  his  doctrines 
on  grace  from  being  preached,  under  severe  penalties.*  The  U/iiver- 
salism  of  BuUinger  was  sapping  the  foundations  of  the  Partialism  of 
the  reformer.! 

The  stone,  therefore,  has  lied  for  the  third  time  !  Show  us,  then,  the 
light  which  Calvin  brought  to  Geneva  ? 

Does  it  shine  forth  in  that  justification  without  works,  which  at  first 
Melancthon  defended,  and  which  afterwards,  to  the  great  scandal  of  the 
reformed  school,  he  abandoned  ?  or  in  that  confession  of  faith  imposed 
on  the  Genevese,  and  in  which  Calvinists  pretend  to  discover  the  en- 
tire dogma  contained  in  the  Augsburg  confession  ?  A  falsehood  which 
the  fictitious  Andrew  Anti  Krell  has  exposed  thoroughly  in  his  learned: 
dissertation,  which  agitated  the  Saxon  world  in  the  sixteenth  century.:}: 

If  Calvin's  quariernary  Trinity,  if  his  Eucharist  in  figure,  if  his 
pagan  fatalism,  are  not  the  truths  spoken  of  by  the  marble  of  the  hotel 
de  ville,  where  are  they  to  be  found  in  tlie  Genevese  confession  ?  These 
are  the  grand  novelties  that  John  of  Noyon  came  to  announce,  as  his 
panegyrists,  inform  us,  and  even  might  we  contest  his  claim  to  the  in- 
vention of  these;  and,  like  the  preachers  of  Lausanne,  give  the  credit 


*  In  dem  Canton  Bern  entstanden  Qber  Calvin's  Lehre  von  der  Pradestina- 
tion  solche  Unruhen,  dasz  die  Landesobrigkeit  verbot,  Niemand  solle  von  den 
unerforsohlichen  Gelieimnisssn  und  Gerichten  Gottes  weiter  reden. — 
Schrftckh.  t  Ibid. 

:j:  Vindiciaa  Disscrtationis  de  Momento  discrepantise  inter  Lutheranos  et 
Culvinianos  et  calumniis  et  cavillationibus  chris.  Krellii.  in-4.  Dresden. 

In  our  times,  they  have  endeavoured,  in  several  works,  to  establish  the  con- 
formity of  the  Lutlieran  and  Calvinistic  doctrines.  It  will  not  be  useless  to 
cite  here,  as  we  have  done  elsewhere,  some  controversial  works  in  which 
this  alliance  of  the  two  communions  is  formally  disavowed. 

Anti-Calvinisti  syllogismi.  Rostock.  1625,  in-8, 

Anti-Calvinismus  Grundlichc.par  G.Nigrinus  de  Battemburg..  Francf.  S. 
L.  M.  1595. 

More  than  once  did  the  Calvinists  propose  to  make  peace  with  the  Luthe- 
rans in  irenical,  conciliatory ^  and  syncretistical  treatises,  (Nicole,  Prejuges. 
chap.  XII),  but  the  Lutherans  have  always  refused  to  be  reconciled. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN.  547 

of  the  fatalist  system  to  Zwingle  and  (Ecolampadius;*  but  let  them  be 
his,  we  give  them  up  to  him ;  except  that  we  hold  ourselves  ready  to  estab- 
lish,  grounding  ourselves  on  testimony  that  is  irrefragable,  that  each  of 
these  novelties  is  a  falsehood  which  the  Spirit  of  God  never  could  have  in- 
spired. If  this  decree  has  been  uttered  by  Protestant  lips,  what  be- 
comes  of  that  crown,  which  after  three  centuries  the  venerable  compa- 
ny of  Pastors,  one  of  whom  is  an  anti-Trinitarian,  wished  to  place  on 
the  brow  of  Calvin  ? 

If  there  be  any  historical  fact  incontrovertible,  it  is,  that  Calvin's 
apostolate  was  fatal  to  the  morals  of  the  republic,  "Ah,  undoubted- 
ly," says  M.  Galiflfe,  'nhe  ancient  Genevese  were  not  angels  of  celes- 
tial purity,  but  at  least  they  were  not  hypocrites.  They  did  not  go  to 
profane  the  temple  by  demonstrations  of  an  exalted  piety,  when  just  re- 
turning from  having  exposed  the  fruit  of  their  libertinism.  They  were 
violent  in  their  enmities,  but  they  were  not  false  witnesses,  spies,  and 
informers.  They  stood  in  need  of  indulgence,  but  they  were  not  desti- 
tute of  it  themselves,  and  did  not  seek  to  conceal  their  natural  frailty 
by  sentences  of  death,  inhumanly  severe.  They  were,  what  they 
again  became  in  the  eighteenth  century  when  Calvinism  amongst  us 
was  nothing  but  a  ballad  of  the  past, — proud,  bold,  independent  men, 
good  friends,  irrascible  enemies,  but  easy  to  be  reconciled,  charitable 
and  devoted,  above  all  things,  good  patriots,  because  they  had  a 
country  which  they  could  love."t 

With  the  ancient  Genevese  blood  which  so  long  had  remained  pure, 
Calvin  mingled  the  blood  of  the  refugees,  his  pretorian  body-guard ; 
sharpers,  rogues,  bankrupts  by  profession,  who  sit  in  the  consistory,  who 
enter  the  councils,  are  received  as  burghers,  and  in  exchange  for  so 
many  honours  perpetrate  villainies  of  which  the  city  had  scarcely  any 
conception.  During  the  whole  period  of  the  theocrat's  rule,  espionage 
was  a  lucrative  dignity.  Let  the  moralist  undertake  to  ransack  the 
archives  of  the  government;  M.  Galiffe  will  accompany  him  in  order 
to  show  the  registers,  covered  with  records  of  illegitimate  children,  who 
were  exposed  on  the  bridge  of  Arve ;  wills,  in  which  the  dying  voice 
of  a  father  accuses  his  children  of  abominable  crimes;  acts  before  no- 
taries, in  which  a  mother  allots  a  dowery  to  the  bastards  of  her  daugh- 
ter; marriages,  where  the  husband  passes  from  the  altar  to  the  prison;, 
women  of  all  ranks,  who  place  their  new-born  babes  in  the  hospital,, 
that  they  may  live  in  abundance  w^ith  a  second  husband.:}:  Let  us  wait 
awhile  :  the  reformed  puritan  who  has  passed  his  life  amid  the  dust  of 
archives  will  soon  open  his  hand,  at  least  he  promises  to  do  so,  and 
then  will  tumble  forth  leaves  written  in  a  dead  language,  for  he  fears  to 
make  modesty  blush,  and,  in  the  language  of  Petronius,  he  will  narrate 
the  little  suppers  of  the  Genevese  ministers..  Balduinus  has  already 
told  us  of  one  of  these  nocturnal  repasts  where  Beza  was  host ;  but  no 
one  would  credit  his  account.      M.   Galiffe,  wbo  intends  to  die  in  the 

*Die  Prediger  in  Lausanne  erklarten,  dasz  sie  diese  Lehre  nicht  von  C  ilvin 
angenommen  haiten,  indeni  sie  bereits  von  Zwingli  un  Oekolampadius  voro-o- 
tragen  worden  sey — Schiockh.  ^ 

t  Galiffe,  Notices  gen.,  t.  Ill,  Preface,  p.  16-17,. 

:J:Galiffe,  Notices,  t.  Ill,  p.  15-16. 


54&  I/IFE    OF    JOKS    CALVIK. 

bosom  of  Protestantismy  will  be  believed,  at  least !  Behold  how  he  al- 
ready, with  the  whole  energy  of  his  soul,  rejects  all  communion  with 
that  mean,  bastard,  intolerant  reformation  which  Calvin  sought  to  im- 
pose on. his  fellow  citizens  !  Thanks  to  his  researches,  some  Catholic^ 
names,  .among  others  that  of  Bolsec,  have  been  honourably  vindicated. 

The  old  champion  of  historical  truth  who  has  merited  the  eulogy  of' 
Lord  Brougham,  will  not  permit  himself  to  be  frightened  by  the  clam- 
ours  of  certain  fanatical  Calvinists,  who  would  to  day  have  us  believe  in- 
tlie  civilizing  influence  of  the  reformer.  In  case  of  need,  he  could 
open  the  book  of  the  author  of  the  Treatise  on  Scandals,  and  read- 
there  this  avowal,  escaped  from  the  lips  of  Calvin  : 

"  There  is  a  wound  still  more  deplorable  :  our  pastors,  who  ascend' 
the  sacred  pulpit  of  Christ,  and  who  ought  to  edify  souls  by  a  supera-- 
bundant  purity  of  good  morals,  scandalize  the  church  of  the  Lord  by 
their  disorders  :  miserable  comedians,  who  are  astonished  that  their 
preaching  has  no  more  authority  than  a  fable  acted  in  public,  and  that 
the  people  point  the  finger  at  them  and  hiss.  What  surprises  me  is 
the  patience  of  women  and  children  who  do  not  cover  them  with  mud 
and  filth."* 

Calvin  himself  before  his  death,  had,    like  Luther,  foreseen   the  des- 
tiny of  the  word  which  he  announced  to  men. 

"  The  future  terrifies  me,  he   said,  1  dare  not  think  of  it ;  for  unless- 
the  Lord  descend  from  heaven  we  shall  be  swallowed  up  by  barbarism. 
Ah  !  would  to  God  that  our  sons  may  have  no  reason  to  look  upon  me 
as  a  prophet !"  f 

He  was  a  prophet.  The  Lord,  who  was  unwilling  to  descend  from 
heaven,  had  delivered  over  the  word  of  Calvin  to  the  disputes  of  his 
successors  in  the  ministry.  And  then  that  word,  which  to  be  true 
should  have  been  immutable,  was  mercilessly  tortured.  If  at  the 
Haye  you  have  beheld  the  corpse  painted  by  Rembrandt,  you  can  form 
to  yourself  some  idea  of  the  operation  to  which  the  Calvinistic  doc- 
trine has  been  subjected  at  Geneva.  The  operators  assumed  different' 
names  according  as  they  attacked  a  system  in  its  essence  or  in  its  parts  r 
there  were  therefore  partialists  and  universalists.  The  scalpel  did  not' 
merely  cut  away  dead  flesh;  but  formed  in  the  shape  of  a  pen,  in  the 
name  of  divine  grace  the  nature  of  which  it  was  desirous  to  indicate, 
it  poured  out  ink  and  insults,  in  such  sort  that  one  fine  day  the  Two 
Hundred  gave  orders  to  terminate  all  those  disputes,  which  disturbed 
the  repose  of  the  citizens  and  were  a  subject  of  laughter  to  the  Catho- 
lics :   now,  this  laughter  was  contagious. 

Calvin's  w^ord,  having  been  brought  to  the  low  countries  and  sub- 
jected  to  examination,  had  been  found  insufficient,  foolish,  dangerous. 
Each  city  of  Holland  had  an  apostle  sent  by  God,  a  Paul  or  John  the  • 
Baptist.  Of  all  Calvin's  books,  the  only  one  which  they  considered  th«- 
work  of  the  Lord  was  the  Treatise  concerning  the  punishment  of  here-' 
tics  (  de puniendis  Hereticis),  which  each  sect  translated  in  order  to* 


••Liber  de  Scandalis. 

tiPrsefatio  catechismiecclesise.ij}enevenBis.  p.  11 


LIFE    or    JOHN    CALVIN.  549 

put  it  in  practice  against  those  who  dissented.*  Bogermann,  professor 
at  Francker,  wrote  comments  on  the  pamphlet,  and  added  some  new 
texts  to  prove  that  the  civil  power  has  the  right  to  put  to  death  the 
blasphemer  of  God's  name.  He  called  every  one  a  blasphemer  who 
did  not  think  with  him  on  the  subject  of  grace.  Jacob  Arminius  and 
Franz  Gomar  revived  the  subjects  of  dispute  which  had  occupied 
Luther  and  Erasmus.  Franz  Gomar  damned  Arminius,  who  main- 
tained the  liberty  of  the  will ;  Arminius  doomed  to  the  flames  Franz 
Gom.ar,  who  preached  the  doctine  of  serf.will.  There  were  intoler- 
ants  and  toleranls,  rigid  Calvinists  and  moderate  Calvinists,  lapsa- 
rians  and  swpralaysarians.  Fifteen  years  had  not  elapsed,  and  they 
might  have  written  upon  a  finger  nail  every  thing  that  was  left  of  that 
neology  which  they  had  crowned.  '*  Every  divine  work,  said  Claud- 
iuSj  is  immutable  by  nature ;  only  human  works  change  form  and 
colour."  t  Calvin's  word  was  not  then  a  word  of  truth  ?  And,  there 
is  something  very  remarkable  in  this  perpetual  generating  of  doctrines, 
that  never  does  the  christian  abandon  an  opinion  which  has  been  given 
to  him  as  a  truth ;  so  that  if  there  be  a  new  apostacy,  you  may  be  sure 
it  issues  from  the  reformed  sanctuary.  And  how  can  this  intellectual 
disorder  be  arrested  ?  When  the  breath  of  the  human  mouth  becomes 
noisy,  choleric,  or  disorderly,  power  intervenes  and  discharges  the 
priest's  office.  And  there  is  a  council  ready,  like  that  of  the  Two 
Hundred,  which  says  to  its  sheep:  There  is  enough  disputing!  the 
Calvinistic  predestination  is  a  gospel  truth  ; — a  prince,  who  says  to  the 
Lutheran  :  Thou  believest  in  the  Real  Presence  !  to  the  Calvinist : 
Thou  admittest  only  a  life-giving  symbol ;  here  is  the  table  :  come 
and  commune  together  !{ — and  in  the  Berlin  ministry,  an  ecclesiastic 
salaried  by  the  monarch,  who  writes  and  if  need  be  swears — that  to 
day  there  are  no  longer  Lutherans  or  Calvinists;  but  only  evangelical 
christians. 

"During  the  latter  half  of  the  Sixteenth  century,  says  one  of  Calvin's 
panegyrists,  the  heirs  of  the  legislator  of  the  reformation,  without  hav- 
ing his  power  and  his  genius,  adopted  his  dogmatism  and  his  inflexible 
obstinacy;  they  declared  that  no  one  was  a  christian  who  did  not 
think  like  Calvin ;  they  considered  the  search  after  religious  truth  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  master's  principles,  as  an  impiety,  and  by  the 
contractedness  of  these  views,  they  came  near  destroying  the  whole 
work  of  the  reformation  at  Geneva."  § 

A  century  and  a  half  later,  this  dogmatism  was  still  ruling.  The 
academy,  founded  by  the  reformer,  had  transformed  itself  into  an  cecu- 

*  We  refer  those  of  our  readers,  desirous  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
variations  of  the  reformation,  to  the  German  book  of  Hoeninghaus  :  My  ex- 
cursion through  Protestantism,  or  the  Necessity  of  a  Return  to  the  Catliolic 
church,  demonstrated  exclusively  by  the  avowals  of  Protestant  theologians 
and  philosophers. — It  is  one  of  the  finest  books  of  the  epoch,  unfortunately 
almost  unknown  in  France. 

t  Menschiiche  Werke,  wie  alle  Werke  dieser  Welt,  wanken  und  verandern 
Gestalt  und  Farbe.    Die  Wahrlieit  ist  nur  Eine,  die  bleibt  und  wanket  nicht. 

J  Discussions  on  the  subject  of  Protestantism,  preceded  by  an  analysis  of  a 
lecture  of  M.  Lacordaire,  by  the  abbe  Chuine,  in-8  p.  16.  Metz,  1838. ' 

§  Calvin  a  Geneve,  p.  142,  143. 


550  LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 

menical  council,  which,  with  its  eye  upon  the  written  confession  of 
John  of  Noyon,  imprisoned,  exiled,  condemned  to  bread  and  water, 
any  innovator  sufficiently  bold  to  contest  its  teachings.  Did  some 
lofty  intellect  come  from  France  to  Geneva  to  study  the  new  symbol, 
they  presented  him  the  master's  golden  book,  and  he  was  bound  to 
reverence  it  as  a  gospel  brought  from  heaven.  This  was  the  price  of 
hospitality.  Simonius,  after  having  reverently  touched  this  confession 
of  faith  with  his  lips,  erects  himself,  reflects,  and  manifests  some  dis- 
quietude ;  they  cast  him  into  prison,  and  afterwards  they  banish  him.  ^ 
At  times,  on  coming  forth  from  the  temple,  some  christian  assailed  by 
doubts  goes  to  expose  the  state  of  his  conscience  to  one  of  the  minis- 
ters ;  the  minister  is  without  pity ;  the  christian  is  chastised  and  thrown 
into  prison.     To  be  saved,  it  is  necessary  to  believe  in  Calvin. 

We  acknowledge  that  M.  Gaberel  has  found  noble  words  to  stigma- 
tize this  harrassing  dogmatism,  the  legacy  of  Calvin,  and  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  beautiful  expression  of  M.  Guizot,  seeks  to  imprison 
conscience  in  the  consequences  of  an  argument,  f 

But  M.  Gaberel  should  have  known  that  the  Calvinistic  symbol  can 
only  live  when  upheld  by  the  strong  arm  of  power.  Let  the  arm  of 
flesh  be  withdrawn,  and  the  reformer's  work  will  perish  amid  the  con- 
vulsions of  anarchy.  When  at  a  later  period,  thanks  to  the  efforts  of 
the  synod  of  Dort,  thought  was  allowed  to  scrutinize  the  Genevese 
confession,  see  how,  each  day,  some  one  or  other  of  the  articles  of  the 
formulary  has  been  given  up,  till  of  all  Protestant  cities  Geneva  has 
become  the  least  Calvinistic.  And  now  that  free  examination  is  tri- 
umphant, it  happens  that  a  minister  who  has  denied  the  Trinity,  can 
with  impunity  seat  himself  on  the  bench  which,  for  twenty  years,  was 
occupied  by  him  who  put  the  anti-Trinitarian  Servetus  to  death. 

However  the  reformation  may  seek  to  hide  itself  beneath  the  mantle 
of  Zwingle,  of  Luther,  of  Calvin,  of  CEcolampadius  or  of  Knox,  it 
cannot  enjoy  a  dogmatic  existence  except  by  the  favour  of  princes  :  its 
kingdom  is  of  this  world.  Follow  it  through  Germany  when  it  sets  out 
.from  Wittenberg  :  wherever  it  essays  to  establish  itself  it  has  need  of  a 
human  hand.  Upon  what  could  it  rest,  after  it  had  destroyed  memen- 
tos, creeds,  faith,  traditions?  All  ideal  life  having  become  extinct 
within  it,  it  becomes  wholly  material,  and  gives  itself  over  body  and 
soul ;  in  England,  to  a  woman  who  acts  the  part  of  Pope  ;  in  Prussia, 
to  a  monarch  who  even  regulates  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  prepares 
liturgies  for  two  communions  formed  into  one  by  contract  ;*  at  Geneva, 
to  laymen  transformed  into  doctors  of  Israel.  There  is  not  in  the 
world  a  country  where  faith  in  power  is  more  blind  than  in  Prussia, 
that  land  where  Lutheranism  flourishes.  J 

When  the  theocrat,  who  at  Geneva  calls  himself  minister  of  God, 
demanded  the  banishment  of  Gentilis,  the  imprisonment  of  Ami  Perrin, 
the  blood  of  Gruet,  of  Berthelier,   and  of  Servetus,  you  must  have  ob- 


♦  Senebier,  Hist.  litt. 

t  Preface  to  the  constitutional  History  of  England,  by  Hallam. 

*  A  few  words  regarding  the  last  conference  of  the  abbe  Lacordaire.     Cotti;= 
rier  de  la  Moselle,  18th  January,  1838. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVlIf.  551 

served  if  the  civil  power  showed  any   hesitation,    and   did   not   accord 
every  thing  without  a  murmur  and  without  remorse. 

At  Geneva,  civil  and  religious   liberty,   nationality,  poesy,  painting, 
literature, — -every  thing  has  been  blighted,  disfigured,  destroyed  by  CaU 
vin.     But  for  him,   Geneva  like  other  cities  would  have  progressed  in 
the  light  which  irradiated  from   Rome,  Florence  and  Venice ;  it  might 
have  been  painter,  poet,    orator,  artist.     Believe  not  what  the  reforma- 
tion says,  that  the  Genevese  is  not  born  for  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  ; 
this  is  a  calumny.     It  was  necessary  to  absolve  the  man   who  trans- 
formed choice  spirits  into  mere  theologasters.     And  even  did  the  theo> 
logians  born  of  Calvin   resemble  those  scholastics  of  the  revival  who 
are  too  much  cried  down,  and  who  often  amuse  us  by  their  ingenuous- 
ness, it  would  be  less  deplorable  !     But  the  monks   of  Geneva  are  pe- 
dantic and  tiresome.    Instead  of  theses,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Cologne 
school,  such  as  Hogstraet  affixed  to  some  church,  they  send  forth  enor- 
mous volumes  destitute  alike  of  style  and  life.     Calvin  has  not  even  left 
them  a  choice  of  subjects  :  they  can  only  move   in  one  circle.     The 
miserable  men  incessantly  revolve  around  grace,    freewill  and  predesti- 
nation.    Whilst  the  city  thus  wearies  itself  in  vacuum,  Rome,    under 
the  vivifying  breath  of  the  papacy,  gives  existence  to  master-pieces  in 
history,  exegesis,  philology,  and  philosophy.     We  are  mistaken.    Gen- 
eva pretends  to  be  allied  with  the  universal   progress  of  intellect ;  and 
here    are  the  names  of  some  of  the   diamonds   of  her   literary  crown  : 
The  tiieologians  Tagaut,  Perrot,  and  La  Faye;  the  philologist  Portus ; 
the  Latin  poet   Beaulieu;    the   polygraphist    Goulard;  the   humanist 
Sarazin.* 

At  Wittenberg,  as  well  as  at  Geneva,  the  reformation,  which  never 
comprehended  popular  instincts,  had  broken  to  pieces  all  the  material 
images  of  religion  ;  but  at  Wittenberg  when  once  mistress  of  the  Cath- 
olic temple,  it  set  to  work  to  raise  up  the  statues,  restore  the  pictures, 
and  repair  the  stained-glass  windows,  for  fear  of  being  accused  of  van- 
dalism. At  Geneva,  to  satisfy  Calvin,  it  stained  the  walls  of  the  cathe- 
dral  with  some  coloured  wash,  sold  the  statues,  and  had  the  pictures 
burned. 

Calvin  never  comprehended  art.  In  all  his  writings  you  would  in 
vain  search  for  one  ray  of  light.  He  indeed  one  day  tried  to  write 
some  Latin  verses ;  but  what  verses  !  He  bequeathed  his  prosaic  dis- 
position to  his  new  country.  Had  Geneva  remained  faithful  to  Catho- 
licism, what  a  noble  place  would  she  now  occupy  in  literary  history  I 
Each  day,  during  the  Sixteenth  century,  she  received  the  visit  of  nu- 
merous Italians.  Does  it  not  seem  to  you  that  these  southern  imagina- 
tions so  passionately  fond  of  form,  should  have  revived  the  worship  of 
the  muses  on  the  banks  of  lake  Leman  ?  But  scarcely  have  they  set 
foot  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  than  they  of  their  own  accord  cease  sing- 
ing. The  theological  atmosphere  which  is  every  where  diffused,  even 
in  the  inner  sanctuary  of  families,  stifles  in  them  all  the  happy  germs 
which  they  had  brought  with  them  from  Rome  or  Florence.  They  feel 
themselves  impelled   to    take  part  in  theological  disputes.     The  two 

*  Spazier,  Revue  du  Nord. 
tSenebier,  Hist,  litt,  de  Geneve. 


552 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALVIN. 


bloods  mingle  and  constitute  a  dull  thick  blood,  which  can  neither  be 
stirred  or  quickened  by  the  harmonies  of  the  musical  world,  the  fancies 
of  the  ideal  world,  nor  by  the  wonders  of  the  material  world.  Before 
dying,  Calvin  bequeathed  to  the  land  of  his  adoption  a  mania  for  con- 
troversy, which  the  refugees  were  compelled  to  experience.  Natives 
and  foreigners  exhaust  their  understanding  in  an  investigation  of  ontolo- 
gical  problems,  far  more  obscure  than  those  scholastic  speculations, 
about  which  so  many  reproaches  are  heaped  on  the  monks  of  the  middle 
ages.  These  problems  are  discussed  at  college,  in  the  consistory,  at 
home.  Geneva,  surrounded  by  treasures  of  antiquity,  dares  not  touch 
them.  All  the  fountains  of  intellectual  emotion  have  been  dried  up 
by  Calvin.  He  forbids  the  soul  to  concern  itself  with  visible  forms, 
which  might  occasion  it  to  fall  into  idolatry;  with  painting,  which 
would  awaken  in  it  false  notions  concerning  the  Divine  nature ;  with 
music,  which  would  seduce  it  into  idle  reveries.  Thus  was  accom- 
plished the  decree  entered  up  by  Menzel  against  Saxon  Protestantism  : 
"  The  reformation  at  first  was  a  devouring  fire,  afterwards  an  aurora 
borealis,  the  sign  of  coldness."  * 

Even  the  exegetic  school  which  Calvin  created  at  Geneva,  reacted 
upon  intellectual  progress  in  a  fatal  manner.  From  a  prevision  of 
hostilities  on  the  part  of  Catholicism,  the  reformation  had  continued  its 
pitiful  collations  of  biblical  texts.  This  verbal  labour  was  not  calcu- 
lated to  warm  the  imagination.  They  studied  neither  the  images,  the 
figures,  nor  the  inspired  meaning  of  the  holy  book  :  ihey  abandoned  gold 
for  lead.  It  is  curious  to  see  how  joyous  these  scholiasts  are,  when  in  a 
Greek  letter  they  have  removed  or  added  a  stroke ;  they  announce  this 
good  fortune  with  as  much  parade,  as  we  Catholics  do,  when  at  Rome, 
Raphael  paints  the  picture  of  the  Transfiguration,  or  at  Bale,  Erasmus 
has  just  completed  the  preface  to  his  St.  Jerome.  From  all  these  in- 
telligences of  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  centuries,  the  offspring  of 
Calvin,  do  not  ask  for  some  historical,  scientific  or  moral  discovery  ;  f 
they  consider  their  task  accomplished,  when  they  have  sullied  some 
pages  of  paper  with  glosses,  of  which  the  idea  is  as  barbarous  as  the  lan- 
guage. This  city,  which  boasts  to  have  received  the  gift  of  faith  in 
1535,  has  not  even  one  mystic  book  of  some  value.  After  long  re- 
searches, Senebier  could  find  nothing  of  this  kind  worthy  to  be  cited, 
except  the  "  Mellifickim  STjmholi  apostolici  circa  iiicarnationem  •" 
'*  The  Opening  of  the  seals  of  St.  John's  Apocalypse,"  and  "  The 
sword  of  Goliah."  J  Even  at  present  such  is  the  poverty,  as  regards 
works  of  exhortation,  to  which  Calvin  has  reduced  it,  that  it  is  forced 
to  borrow  from  us  "  The  voice  of  the  Pastor"  (La  voix  du  Pasteur), 
the  work  of  our  mountaineer  cur6.  Regis,  having  retrenched  therefrom 
every  thing  which  regards  faith,  every  thing  that  appeals  to  the  imagina- 
tion— the  chapters  which  are  dogmatic.  And  if  the  Divinity  of  Christ 
is  denied  in  a  work  of  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  venerable  company, 

*  Spazier.  Revuo  du  Nord. 

t  Calvin  and  his  colleagues  seem  only  incidentally  to  have  attended  to  that 
science,  the  objects  of  which  are  virtue,  life,  and  morals,— Histoire  de  la  Refor- 
jination  par  W.  Meiners,  p.  271,  272, 

t  Senebier,  Hist.  litt.  de  Geneve. 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    CALV1N«  553 

the  person  bold  enoiagh  to  step  forward  in  its  defence  is  a  Methodist, 
—M.  Molan. 

We  are  aware  that  Geneva,  by  proclaiming  that  "  Calvinism  is  not 
Christianity",  has  emancipated  herself  from  the  doctrinal  yoke  of  the 
reformer.  The  right  of  free  examination  having  been  re-established, 
another  abyss  opened  before  her — religious  anarchy ;  and  a  voice  has 
been  heard  exclaiming  to  her  pastors  :  *' You  have  denied  Christ, 
Christ  denies  you." 

This  Protestant  voice  came  from  Scotland. 

47 


ERRATA, 

Page    14,  line    19;  for  1545,  read  1546. 

Page    17,  line  35 ;  for  god  read  God. 

Page    36,  line  15;  for  '^pupils  tvhich''  xend^'  piipils  whom.'' 

Page  107,  line  16;  for  "from  1610  to  1635  "  read  ''from  1510  to 

1535." 

Page  249,  line  15;    for  vended  read  rent. 

Page  426  line  8;  for  1545,  read  1546. 

Page  446  line  11 ;  for  epigram  read  epigraph. 


TABLE     OF     CONTENTS. 


Preface  to  the  last  French  Edition,           ...  3 

Introduction, 5 

Chapter  I.— First  Years  of  Calvin.— 1509— 1529,     -         -  15 

Birth  of  Calvin. — His  parents. — His  Father,  Gerard,  destines  him  for  the  study 
of  Theology. — The  family  of  the  Mommors. — Calvin  at  Paris,  in  the  house 
of  his  uncle  Richard. — Mathurin  Cordier. — Farel. — Return  to  Noyon. 

Chapter  II. — The  Universities,       .         .         .         .         .  26 

The  Student  at  the  University. — Renting  of  chambers. — When  he  must  pay 
the  rent. — His  right  to  eject  all  renters  who  make  a  noise, — Is  not  bound  to 
render  service  to  the  State. — Costume. — His  books  not  seizable. — Civil  rights 
of  students. — They  cannot  be  excommunicated. — Student's  prayer. — Re.^ 
buffy's  advice. 

Chapter  III. — Calvin  at  the  University  of  Bourges. — 1529 — '32,   33 

Death  of  Gerard  Calvin. — Letter  of  John  Calvin  to  Daniel. — Bourges,  Andrew 
Alciati. — Melchoir  Wolmar. — Calvin  resumes  the  study  of  theology. — Theo- 
dore Beza. — System  of  Predestination. — Calvin's  return  to  Paris. — The 
Civil  Power  deals  severely  with  the  Reformers. 

Chapter  IV. — -The  Treatise  on  Clemency. — 1532,      -         -         45 

Examination  of  the  work. — Trouble  and   torments  of  the   author. — Various 

letters. — Calvin  sells  his   benefice,  and  his  part  of  the  family  inheritance. 

Chapter  V. — Calvin  at  the  Court  of  Margaret.     The  Psychopan- 
nychia.— 1534— 1535, 49 

Cop  and  Calvin  fly  from  Paris. — The  Court  of  Nerac. — Calvin  at  Claix. — Da 
Tillet. — Calvin  at  Orleans. — The  Reformation  in  France. — Servetus — Exile 
of  Calvin. — Strasbourg. — Bale. — The  Psychopannychia. — Examination  of 
the  work. — Judgment  of  Calvin. 

Chapter  VI. — Francis  the  First,      -         -         -         -         -  58 

When  Calvin  appeared  the  Reformation  had  already  been  commenced  in 
France. — Influence  of  Francis  I.  on  Letters. — The  Bishops, — Poncher, — 
Pelissier,— Du  Bellay.— The  Literati,— Bude,—Vatable,— Danes,— Postal.— 
The  College  of  the  three  Languages. — Marot. — The  Sorbonne. — The  Poet 
protected  by  the  Prince. — Literary  movement. 

Chapter  VII.— The  Ladies, 69 

intrigues  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Court  to  introduce  the  Reformation  into  France. 
— =The  Duchess  d'Etampes. — The  Ladies  de  Pisseleu  and  de  Cani. — The 
Mass  of  the  Seven  Points. — Reformation  Colporteurs. — Le  Coq,  cure  of  St. 
Eustache,  preaches  before  Francis  I. — An  eifort  is  made  to  bring  Melancthon 
$0  France.— Letter  of  his  to  the  King.— Cardinal  de  Tournon  frustrates  the 
sonspiracy  of  the  Ladies. — The  Placards. 


556  G  0  N  T  EN  T  S  ,. 

Chapter  VIII. — The  Christian  Institutes,  .         ,         ,  80 

The  reception  given  to  this  work  by  the  Reformation. — It  is  a  manifesto  against 
Protestantism. — Antagonism  of  Calvin  and  the  German  reformers. — Some 
doctrines  of  the  Institutes. — Variations  of  Calvin's  Symbol. — Servetus. — 
Idea  of  the  polemics  of  the  Institutes. — Appeal  to  Catholic  authority. — Pre 
face  of  the  Institutes. — Style  of  the  work. 

Chapter  IX. — Calvin  at  Ferrara. — 1536,  .         .         .  91 

Italy  is  faithful  to  the  forms  of  religion. — Calvin  at  Ferrara. — Ariosto  — Cal- 
gagnini. — Marot. — The  Duchess  of  Ferrara. — Calvin  is  compelled  to  leave 
Ferrara. — Epistolary  correspondence  with  the  Duchess. 

Chapter  X. — The  Reformation  in  Switzerland,         -        -  97 

Commencement  of  the  reformation  in  Switzerland. — Ulrich  Zwingle. — Causes 
of  the  success  of  the  reformation. — The  nobles. — The  people. — The  Coun- 
cils.— The  Senate. — Violent  proceedings  against  Catholicism. — Portrait  of 
Farel. — His  theses. — Geneva  before  the  reformation. — Political  condition. — 
The  house  of  Savoy. — The  Eidgenoss. — Religious  monuments  of  Geneva. 

Chapter  XL — The  Bishops  and  the  Patriots,     -         -         -         110 

A  picture  of  the  services  rendered  to  the  material  and  religious  interests  of 
Geneva  by  the  Episcopacy.:— Ardutius. — Adhemar  Fabri. — John  de  Com- 
pois. — Struggle  of  the  Patriots  and  the  Episcopacy. — Berthelier,  Besan^on 
Hugues. — Pecolat. — Bonnivard. — Punishment  of  Berthelier,  of  Levrier. — 
Bishop  de  la  Baume  is  obliged  to  leave  Geneva. — His  character. — Berne 
profits  b}'  the  intestine  divisions  of  Geneva  to  spread  the  reformation. 

Chapter  XII. — Sister  Joanna  de  Jussie. — 1532 — 1536,      -         120 

The  Sister's  book. — Recital. — Marges  pillaged  by  the  Reformers. — The  Ber- 
nese at  Geneva. — Devastation  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter; — Of  the  Oratory; — 
Of  St.  Victor; — Of  St.  Lawrence. — Combat  in  the  streets  of  Geneva. — As- 
sassination of  Peter  Werli. — Punishment  of  Malbosson. — Farel. — The  syn- 
dics wish  to  compel  the  Sisters  of  St.  Clair  to  assist  at  a  theological  dispu- 
tation.— The  Sisters  refuse,  and  are  driven  away. 

Chapter  XIII.— Calvin  at  Geneva.— Farel.— Viret.— 1536,         131 

Calvin's  arrival  at  Geneva. — He  is  discovered  by  Viret. — Farel's  adjuration. — 
Calvin  consents  to  remain. — Character  of  the  three  reformers:  Farel,  Viret 
and  Calvin. — Preparations  for  the  conference  of  Lausanne. — Shifts  and 
tricks  of  the  reformation. — Its  outrages  against  the  Papacy. 

Chapter  XIV. — The  Disputation  of  Lausaane. — 1536,  -  133 
Means  employed  by  the  reformation  fo^•  the  conversion  of  Catholic  Switzer- 
land.— Pillage  of  the  churches. — Exile  of  the  priests. — Sale  of  the  property 
of  the  proscribed. — Conduct  of  Berne. — Disputation  of  Lausanne. — Theses 
of  Farel. — The  Catholic  Doctors. — Invectives  of  Viret  and  Farel  against  the 
Papacy. — Misery  of  our  priests. — Calvin  speaks. — Idea  of  his  reasoning. 

Chapter  XV.— The  Anabaptists.— 1537— 1538,  -  -  150 
Hermann  and  Benoit,  Anabaptists,  come  to  Geneva,  in  order  to  dispute  with 
the  ministers. — Conferences  with  the  Syndics. — Dispute  with  Calvin — The 
Anabaptists  cannot  defend  their  doctrines. — They  are  driven  away. — Perse- 
cutions against  the  Catholics. — Calvin's  catechism. — The  people  swear  to 
the  new  formulary. — Caroli  attacks  the  Genevan  ministers. — He  is  cited  be- 
fore the  synod  of  Berne, — and  condemned. — Violence  of  Calvin  against 
Coroli. — Luther  outraged. 

Chapter  XVI.— Despotism.     Exile.— 1537— 1538,  -         161 

Troubles  excited  at  Geneva  by  the  formulary.— The  Church  and  the  State.-—- 


CONTENTS.  667 

Balard  denounced  by  Calvin. — Various  features  of  religious  despotism.— 
Physiognomy  of  the  city. — Increasing  irritation  of  the  Eidgenoss. — The  In- 
formers. — Corault. — The  council  commands  Calvin  and  Farel  to  give  the 
Sacrament  to  the  faithful. — Obstinate  refusal  of  the  ministers. — The  people 
assemble  and  call  for  their  banishment. 

Chapter  XVIL— Pamphlets  of  Calvin.     Sadolet.     1537— '39,    171 

Examination  of  two  pamphlets  against  Catholicism,  published  at  Geneva,  by 
Calvin. — The  reformer  judged  by  M.  Galiffe. — The  Catholic  priest. — Sadolet 
at  Rome, — At  Carpentras. — Conduct  of  the  bishop, — His  letter  to  the  Gene- 
vese,  a  monument  of  charity  and  eloquence. — Calvin's  Reply. — Twofold  ap- 
preciation of  this  letter. 

Chapter  XVIIL— Calvin  at  Berne.     1538,       ...         185 

Journey  of  Calvin  to  Berne. — Dispositions  of  the  populations. — Arrival  at 
Berne. — Conz. — Portrait  of  this  minister. — Dispute  of  Conz,  Calvin  and  Fa- 
rel.— Berne  exerts  herself  for  the  recall  of  the  exiles. — The  Genevan  people 
in  general  assembly,  confirm  the  decree  of  exile  against  Calvin. — The 
church  of  Geneva  and  its  ministers  judged  by  the  reformer. — Debauchery, 
hypocrisy,  ignorance  of  the  reformed  clergy. — Calvin  at  Bale. — At  Stras- 
bourg. 

Chapter  XIX. — Calvin  at  Strasbourg.    His  marriage.  1539-40,    191 

Religious  physiognomy  of  Strasbourg. — John  Sturm. — Capito. — Hedio. — Bu- 
cer. — At  what  price  the  marriages  of  priests  were  effected. — Calvin  arrives 
at  Strasbourg. — He  is  named  professor  of  theology. — He  undertakes  to  get  a 
wife  for  Viret. — He  espouses  Idelette  St6erder. — He  loses  his  first  born,  and 
sheds  no  tears. 

Chapter  XX. — Doctrines   of   Calvin.       Predestination.       Free 
Will.     1539—1540,        .-..-.  203 

The  Sacristan  of  St.  Pierre-le-Jeune  at  Strasbourg. — Dispute  at  the  tavern  of 
the  Green  Tree. — That  with  God,  the  only  motive  to  save  or  reprobate  is  his 
own  good  pleasure. — There  is  no  innocent  man, — The  Lord  does  not  permit, 
he  ordains. — The  horrible  Decree. — God  wills  the  salvation  of  the  elect  only. 
— He  commands  sin. — The  work  of  the  sinner  is  the  work  of  God. — In  man 
there  is  no  liberty. — Concupiscence. — An  exposition  of  Calvin's  system  of 
Predestination. — The  reformed  church  vs.  the  Protestant  church. — The  Sa- 
cristan's tomb. 

Chapter  XXI. — Calvin  at  Frankfort,  at  Hagenau,  at  Worms,  at 
Ratisbon.     1540—1541, 216 

Double  labour  of  the  reformation. — Appeal  to  a  council  with  a  resolve  before- 
hand to  reject  its  decision. — Calvin  at  Frankfort. — His  opinion  on  the  Lord's 
supper; — On  the  ceremonies  of  worship. — His  discord  with  Melancthon— -Cal- 
vin at  Hagenau — Desires  of  Rome  for  peace. — Eck,  Bucer,  and  Calvin. — 
Accusations  brought  against  the  Genevan  reformer  by  his  co-religionists. 

Chapter  XXII.— De  Ccena   Domini.     1539—1540,  -        227 

Divergence  of  Protestant  symbols  regarding  the  Lord's  Supper. — Opinion  of 
Carlstadt, — Of  Zwingle, — Of  Luther. — System  of  Calvin  exposed  by  Bossuet. 
and  refuted  and  condemned  by  Luther  and  the  Saxon  church. — The  Catho- 
lic dogma  of  Transubstantiation  defended  by  various  Protestants. 

Chapter  XXIIL— The  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  -  -  238 
Character  of  the  Saxon  exegesis. — Luther. — Melancthon. — The  Catholic 
School. — Its  influence  and  progress  in  hermeneutics. — Calvin's  Commentary 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans. — Appreciation  of  this  work  — Examples  of 
various  texts  of  St.  Paul  tortured  by  the  reformer. — His  exegetical  system. — 
The  abvsses  into  which  his  interpretation  leads, 
47*' 


558  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  XXIV.^-Privale  Life  of  Calvin  at  Strasbourg,.  =  2^5^ 
Calvin's  lileran  friendships  at  Strasbourg. — Castalion. — The  Waldensian  bro- 
thers.— Indigence  of  the  reformer.— Farel  wishes  to  come  to  the  aid  of  his 
friend. — Calvin's  refusal. — The  booksellers,  Vendelin  and  Michel. — Calvin'S' 
books  meet  with  but  little  success  in  Germany;  and  why] — The  reformer's 
character.— He  denounces  the  misconduct  of  a  magistrate  from  the  pulpit. — 
He  complains  of  Bucer. — The  Jacobin's  recriminations. — Calvin's  avowals. 

Chapter  XXV.— The  Devil  and  the  Antichrist,.  ,        .         253^ 

The  Devil,  in  Luther's  life,  as  an  instrument  of  wrath  and  poetry. — The  doc- 
tor's temptation. — The  devil  in  the  life  of  Calvin. — Opinions  of  the  Genevan 
reformer. — Account  of  one  possessed. — The  opinion  of  Calvin  concerning 
epileptics  and  sorcerers. — The  Antichiiist  of  Luther  and  the  Saxon  church,. 
— The  reformation  still  at  this  day  teaches  that  the  Pope  is  the  Antichrist. — 
The  Protestant  Review  of  the  nineteenth  century. — Belief  of  Calvin — John 
de  MuUer. — Hugo  Grotius. 

Chapter  XXYL— The  Scriptures,.  ....        26S 

Opinion  of  Pighius  concerning  the  value  of  scripture  and  tradition. — Heinrich 
Bensheim  of  Hagenau. — His  vision. — Luther  and  Calvin  before  the  Supreme 
Tribunal. — Cotta,  the  woman  according  to  the  heart  of  God. — Calvin  opposed 
to  Calvin. — Avowals  of  modern  Protestants. 

Chapter  XXVlI.r— Calvin's   Catechism.     1541,.        -        -         272 

The  Catholic  catechism. — Catechisms  of  Luther;  the  doctrines  contained  in 
them. — Calvin's  catechism,  old  and  worn  out. — The  reformation  has  not  a 
church,  but  churches, — Father  Athanasius  of  Stanztadt. — That  Catholicism 
only  can  have  a  catechism. — All  the  truths  of  the  gospel  affirmed  and  denied 
by  the  reformation. — Various  proofs  extracted  from  Protestant  works. 

Chapter  XXVIIL— Calvin's  Recall.     1541,.     -        .        -         282 

Causes  of  the  recall  of  Calvin. — Miserable  condition  of  the  reformed  church  at 
Geneva. — Letter  of  J.  Bernard  to  the  exile. — ^Menaces  of  Berne. — Mission  of 
deputies  to  treat  of  different  points  in  litigation. — Their  return  to  Geneva. — 
TheCalvinistic  party  excite  the  population  against  the  patriots  who  signed 
the  convention  of  Berne. — The  Articulants. — Punishment  of  the  Captain 
General  of  the  militia. — Division  of  minds. — The  councils  think  of  recalling 
Calvin. — Letters  of  the  Syndics. — The  reformer's  refusal. — New  measures  of 
the  councils. — Adjuration.- — Calvin  yields. — Departure  for  Geneva. — St.  Ig- 
natius and  Calvin. 

Chapter  XXTX.r — Geneva  before  the  Reformation,  -         291 

Manners  of  the  Burghers  of  Geneva  at  the  epoch  of  the  reformation. — Character 

of  the  merchant. — Commerce,  the  source  of  wealth  and  nobility — The  people. 

— The  jurists. — The  physicians. — Calvin,. a  stranger  to  the  institutions  and 

life    of  the  city. — The  Libertines. — Calvin,  and  those  infected  with  the  pest. 

Chapter  XXX.^The  Clerical  System,.    1541—1543,.       -         301 

"What  the  reformation  would  have  been,  had  Calvin  been  born  at  Eisleben. — 
Hierarchical  ideas  of  Calvin. — The  ecclesiastical  order. — Pastors. — Elders. — 
Doctors. — Deacons. — The  consistory. — Examination  of  the  hierarchical  sys- 
tem of  Calvin. — Absence  of  unity. — The  Elder,  an  informer,  a  judge,  a  pope. 
— Tardy  return  of  Calvin  toCatholic  ideas,  cencerning  the  necessity  of  the 
Episcopacy. 

Chapter  XXXI.— The  Church  and  the- Priest  of  Calvin,.     -        311 
What  is  the  church? — How  is  it  to  be  recognized. — The  ecclesiastical  minis, 
try Twofold  vocation. — Spiritual  authority. — Discipline. — Excommunica- 
tion.— Civil  power.  ^ — Society. — Examination  ofCalvin's  hierarchical  system. 
— InsufHcienoy  of  the  marks  af  the  true  church  which  are  indicated  by  the 


COKTENTS.  559 

reformer. — Tlie  reformation  could  not  appeal  to  the  scriptures,  the  highest 
signs  of  which  are  denied  by  Protestants. — Proofs  in  support  of  this. Lu- 
ther in  opposition  to  Calvin,  concerning  the  legitimacy  of  pastors. — Beautiful 
avowal  of  M.  Ernest  Naville,  a  Protestant. — The  liberty  of  private  judgment 
and  its  abysses. — Previsions  of  Calvin. 

Chapter  XXXII. — The  Liturgy, 323 

Homages  of  Protestants  to  our  liturgy.— The  Catholic  temple  as  ancient  as 
chri'stianity. — Baptism. — What  Calvin  has  made  of  it.— What  it  was  in  the 

primitive    church. — The    Calvinistic    and    Catholic    Lord's    Supper. The 

Viaticum  existing   in  antiquity. — Marriage   at   Geneva. — Divorce  and  its 

causes. — Calvin  refuses  to  marriage  the  title  of  Sacrament. — Confession. 

Calvin  at  first  favourable  to  auricular  confession,  which  he  afterwards  abol- 
ishes.— Extreme  Unction,  Sacerdotal  Unction. — Avowals  of  some  Protest- 
ants.— Veneration  of  the  Saints.— What  Calvin  thinks  of  Mary. — Con- 
vents.— The  cross  prostrated  by  the  reformer. — Lamentations  of  Protestant- 
ism.—Chanting. — The  Psalms  of  Marot. — Fatal  influence  of  Calvin  upon 
the  arts. — The  reformer  judged  by  Baudouin,  the  jurist. 

Chapter  XXXIII. — The  Confession  of  Faith,  .        .         34^ 

Calvin   in  opposition  to  his  own  doctrines  regarding  private  judgment. He 

imposes  a  confession  of  faith  upon  Geneva. — What  the  reformation,  in  our 
day,  thinks  of  the  formularies,  or  symbolical  books. — A  session  in  the  great 
council  of  Lausanne. — ^Reactory  movement  of  different  reformed  churches 
against  the  confession  of  faith. — Prophetic  threats  of  Hammerschmidt. 

Chapter  XXXIV.— Calvin  the  Theocrat.  1541—1543,  -  352 
The  theocracy  of  Calvin. — His  legislative  code  is  written  with  blood  and  with 
fire. — Penal  laws  against  the  heretic. — Examples  of  punishment  inflicted  by 
the  legislator. — The  torture. — Colladon. — The  sorcerers. — Calvin's  proceed- 
ings against  them. — How  much  greater  was  the  mildness  of  the  Catholic 
church  at  Geneva. 

Chapter  XXXV.— The  Political  Struggle.     1543—1547,  360 

The  Libertines: — Calvin,  master  of  Geneva,  first  makes  war  upon  the  freedom 
of  intellect. — The  patriots  chastised. — Calvin  struggling  with  the  Libertines, 
What  we  are  to  understand  by  this  denomination. — The  philosophic  system 
attributed  to  them  by  the  reformer.  It  is  almost  entirely  extracted  from  Ser- 
yetus. — No  trace  of  it  is  found  in  the  history  of  the  Libertines.— Open  war 
is  declared  upon  them  by  Calvin. 

The  Pamphlets  : — Calvin  preaches  revolution  by  means  of  his  pamphlets. — The 
Nicodemites. — Political  character  of  the  Excvsatio  adPseudo-Nicodemitas. — 
Case  of  conscience  variously  resolved  by  the  Protestant  churches. — Literary 
form  of  Calvin's  libel  against  the  Nicodemites. — Letter  to  Luther. — Melanc- 
thon  retains  it. — Calvin's  anger  against  Luther. — Sodolet  an  idolater. 

The  Refugees: — The  emigrants  bring  with  them  to  G-eneva-  the  vices  of  great 
cities. — Bernard  de  Seswar. — How  Calvin  makes  use  of  the  refugees, — Peram- 
bulating missionaries.: — Colporteurs. — The  rights  of  citizenship  degraded, 
and  conferred  on  the  creatures^of  the  reformer. — Persecution  of  the  Libertines.. 

The  Informers  : — The  employment  of  spy  ennobled  by  Calvin. — The  Fox. — Fa- 
vre. — Dubois,  the  bookseller. — The  two  spies. — The  informers  at  the  consis- 
tory.— Physiognomy  of  Geneva.r— To  what  society  is  reduced  by  Calvin. 

Chapter  XXXVL— The  Drama  in  the  Street.  1547—1550,  38^ 
Peter  Ameaux  : — Labour  of  the  opposition. — Struggles  of  Calvin. — Calvinian 
duality.: — Henry  VIII.  and  Moses. — Revelations  of  the  Libertines. — Peter 
Ameux. — Nocturnal  Repast.: — Design  against  the  reformer. — The  counselor 
Ameaux  is  denounced  to  the  council  and  simply  condemned  to  pay  a  fine. — 
Wrath  and  menaces  of  Calvin. — Tlie  sentence  is  reconsidered. — Ameaux,  in 
his  shirt,  makes  the  amende  honorable. — Master  La  Mar  and  thespy  Texier.. 


550  CONTENTS. 

— The  gibbet  at  St.  Gervais.— Some  samples  of  despotism. — ^Abel  Poupin  in 
the  pulpit. 

Favre: — The  family  of  Favre. — His  daughter  Frances. — His  son-in-law,  Ami 
Perrin. — Favre  summoned  before  the  consistory,  and  accused  of  having  cried, 
live  liberty! — He  is  interrogated. — Calvin's  letter. 

Ami  Perrin: — Lawrence  Megret,  a  creature  of  Calvin,  denounces  Ami  Perrin 
to  the  council. — Means  employed  by  the  reformer  to  ruin  the  captain  gener- 
al.— Popular  commotion. — Calmed  by  Calvin. — Prosecution  of  Perrin. — Th® 
interrogatory. — Reaction. — Condemnation  of  Megret. 

Gruet  :--Placards  stuck  up  at  St.  Peter's. — Gruet  accused. — Seizure  of  his 
papers. — He  is  thrown  into  prison. — Tortured. — Decapitated. — Prosecution 
instituted  against  some  loose  leaves. 

Chapter  XXXVIL— The  Reformed  Word  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  403 
Luther  : — Renewal  of  the  dispute  on  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper. — 
Zurich  and  Wittenberg. — Calvin  vainly  essays  to  reconcile  the  two  church- 
es.— Luther's  decree. — Tergiversation  in  Calvin's  language  regarding  the 
Saxon  monk. — Luther,  the  Pericles  of  the  reformation  and  the  servant  of 
Christ.' — Moritz  Goltz,  the  bookseller. — The  Protestant  reformed  churches 
have  never  been  able  to  produce  a  uniform  symbol. 
Westphalius  : — Pamphlets  of  Westphalius.. — Dispute  with  Calvin. — Libels  of 
the  Genevese  reformer. — Various  citations. — Reflections  on  this  controversy. 

Chapter  XXXVIII. — Castalion  and  Human  Liberty,.  -  413 
Castalion,  the  type  of  the  learned  man  of  the  sixteenth  century. — A  Poet 
Rhetorician,  Philologist. — His  sojourn  at  Strasbourg.— Preceptor  at  Gen- 
eva.— Disputes  with  Calvin. — Is  exiled,^ — Controversy  concerning  freewill.— 
Polemics  of  the  reformer. — Calvin's  pamphlets. — Calvin  accuses  Castalion 
of  stealing. — The  poet's  defence. — Castalion  dies  from  hunger. — His 
epitaph. 

Chapter  XXXIX.— Bolsec,  the  Merit  of  Good  Works,  -  421 
The  pastor  Saint-Andre  preaches  Calvin's  predestination  at  St.  Peter's. — Bo-l- 
sec  attacks  the  preacher,  who  is  defended  by  the  reformer. — Bolsec  is 
thrown  into  prison,  and  interrogated. — His  defence. — He  is  retained  in  irons. 
— Interference  of  the  churches  of  Bale  and  Berne. — Zurich  demands  the 
death  of  Bolsec. — He  is  set  free,,  leaves  Geneva,  and  is  pursued  by  the 
hatred  of  Calvin. — History  of  Calvin's  life  and  morals.^— Bolsec  calumnia- 
ted.—He  is  vindicated  by  Protestant  writers. 

Chapter  XL.— Michael  Servetus.  1553,  ...  428 
John  Frellon,  printer  at  Lyons,  forms  Calvin's  acquaintance. — Servetus,  at 
Hagenau,  writes  against  the  Trinity. — His  erratic  life. — He  arrives  at  Lyons, 
and  attaches  himself  to  Frellon. — Leaves  Lyons,  and  establishes  himself  at 
Charlieu. — Afterwards  at  Vienne. — Peter  Palmier  protects  Servetus. — The 
Ptolemy. — The  Bible  annotated. — Frellon  brings  Servetus  into  relation  with 
Calvin,— Questions  of  Servetus  to  Calvin. — Disagreement. — Correspond- 
ence.  The  Christianismi  Restitutio. — Some   quotations  from  this  work.— 

Calvin  denounces  the  book  to  the  police  of  Lyons. — Fruitless  pursuit  of  the 
official  of  Vienne. — Calvin's  denunciation. — Arrest  of  Servetus. — His  flight. 

He  arrives  at  Geneva,  is  denounced,  and  imprisoned. — His  request  to  the 

council. — Interrogatory. — Calvin's  insults. — Prosecution  and  death  of  Ser- 
vetus. 

Chapter  XLI. — The  Reformation  and  the  Blood  of  Servetus,  456 
Letter  of  Calvin  to  Farel,  1546. — History  of  this  document. — George  David 
writes  to  his  brethren  of  Holland  in  favour  of  the  Spaniard.— The  Helvetic 
churches  consulted. — Advice  of  Berne,  Schaff"house,  Bale,  Zurich. — Me-^ 
lancthon  and  Bucer  congratulate  Calvin. — Castalion  attacks  the  reformer's- 
pamphlet,  de  HcsreticisjpunieJidis. 


CONTENTS.  561 

Chapter  XLIL— Theodore  Beza.     1549—1562,       -         -        462 

His  infancy. — His  poems. — Fears  the  parliament  and  leaves  France. — Arrives 
at  Geneva,  and  is  welcomed  by  Calvin. — Opposition  of  certain  ministers. — 
Beza  attempts  to  justify  himself. — Appreciation  of  his  apology. — Opinion  of 
the  Lutherans. — Disputation  with  Baudouin  (Balduinus). — He  pleads  in  fa- 
vour of  the  punishment  of  heretics. 

Chapter  XLIIL— Fall  of  the  Libertines.  1552—1557,  470 
Continuation  of  the  struggle  between  the  patriots  and  Calvin. — Various 
changes  of  fortune. — Philibert  Berthelier  is  accused  before  the  consistory 
and  excommunicated. — Sensation  of  Geneva. — Communion  at  St.  Peter's. — 
Refusal  of  Calvin  to  distribute  the  Lord's  supper  to  the  Libertines. — The 
council  resumes  the  right  of  excommunication. — Scene  played  by  Calvin.— 
The  council  yields. — Francis  Daniel  Berthelier. — Calvin's  motives  of  hatred 
against  this  citizen. — He  seeks  his  ruin  — Plot  brewed  by  the  police. — 
Death  and  exile  of  several  patriots. — Daniel  is  accused  of  conspiracy  against 
the  State. — Tortured  by  Colladon. — Stratagem  to  extract  confessions  from 
the  victim. — Punishment  of  Berthelier. — Historical  reflections. 

Chapter  XLIV.— Private  Life  at  Geneva.     1541—1560,  477 

The  learned  man  of  the  revival. — Luther  and  Calvin. — Political  and  literary 
labours  of  the  Genevese  reformer. — Solution  of  different  cases  of  con- 
science.— Intellectual  fecundity  of  Calvin. — He  loves  to  consult  his  friends. 
— His  co-labourers. — His  correspondence. — His  soul. — Death  of  Idelette. — 
Calvin  at  table. — In  his  dwelling. — His  usual  reading,  the  Bible. — Cajvin 
with  his  theological  adversaries. — Never  knew  any  thing  but  hatred.-  |  A 
tempts  to  justify  his  acrimony  of  style. — Maladies. — Domestic  troubles. 

Chapter  XLV. — Literary  Friendships,       .         -         .         .         493 

OcHiNo: — At  Sienna. — Success  and  estimate  of  his  preaching. — Tempted  and 
seduced  by  the  demon  of  pride. — Revolts  against  authority. — Is  summoned 
to  Rome,  and  refuses  to  appear. — Insults  the  papacy. — Flies  to  Geneva  with 
a  young  girl. — Associates  with  Calvin. — Desires  to  be  free. — Is  denounced 
and  banished. — His  dialogue  on  polygamy. 

Gentilis  : — Being  attracted  to  Geneva,  preaches  his  opinions  concerning  the 
Trinity. — Is  attacked  and  combated  by  Calvin. — Imprisoned. — His  retreat. 
— He  is  banished  from  the  city. — Decapitated  at  Berne. 

Chapter  XLVL — The  Clergy  of  Lvons.     Gabriel  de  Saconay. 
1560—1563.      ...'-.--.        503 

Calvin's  congratulation  to  Gabriel  de  Saconay. — Some  pages  of  this  libel. — 
Bretschneider  vaunting  the  urbanity  of  the  reformer, — Who  Saconay  was. — 
His  love  for  letters. — He  is  attacked  by  Calvin  on  the  subject  of  a  preface 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  Assertlo  of  Henry  VIII. — Idea  of  Saconay's  com- 
mentary.— Insults  of  Calvin. — Explained. — The  clergy  of  Lyons,  the  sa- 
viours of  our  liberties  and  our  faith. 

Chapter  XLVIL — Anarchical  Propagandism,    -         -         .         514 

Means  of  propagandism  employed  by  the  reformation. — Nocturnal  assemblies. 
— Sermon  with  closed  doors. — Colporteurs. — Libels  introduced  into  the  con- 
vents.— Calvin's  pamphlet  against  Paul  III. — Notion  of  this  work. — Protest- 
ants, after  the  death  of  Calvin,  reproduce  his  anarchical  doctrines. — Dia- 
logues of  Nicholas  de  Montard. — The  goods  of  the  clergy, — The  convents, 
— The  Maximum, 

Chapter  XLVIII.— Calvin's  Death.     1564,      ...         525 

The  Reformer  is  afflicted  by  various  maladies. — His  letter  to  the  physicians  of 
Montpellier, — Causes  of  his  last  sufferings. — His  doctrines  abandoned  by 
Zurich. — His  adieux  to  the  council. — His  last  testaments — The  approach  of 
death. — His  last  moments — His  funeral. 


562 


C  0  JS"  T  E  K  T  S 


Chapter  XLIX. — Calvin,  Considered  as  a  Writer,  -  -  534 
Calvin  and  Luther  in  the  pulpit.— Causes  of  Calvin's  oratorical  inferiority. — 
He  disdains  images.— The  Genevese  and  the  Wittenberg  auditories. — Self 
predominates  in  Calvin.— The  Libertines. — In  what  different  degrees  the 
reformers  are  masters  of  their  style. — Is  Calvin  one  of  the  creators  of  the 
French  language  ? — Syntactical  procedure. 

Chapter  L. — Injflaence  of  Calvin,  -  .  .  .  .  544 
Calvin  has  bestowed  upon  the  world  no  truth. — The  principal  articles  of  his 
symbol  are  rejected  by  the  Protestant  School. — He  has  corrupted  the  morals 
of  Geneva.— Testimony  of  M.  Galiffe.— He  has  perverted  the  instincts 
of  his  co-religionists. — Mania  for  disputation  introduced  into  theology. — The 
cultivation  of  the  arts  neglected — His  despotism  survives  the  reformer  and 
only  yields  place  to  anarchy  of  doctrine. 


r  wy 


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